Noel slams into Cuba, Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas – A powerful Caribbean storm drenched the Bahamas and Cuba on Thursday while rescue workers in the Dominican Republic headed out in boats and helicopters to reach dozens of communities isolated by floods and mudslides. The death toll rose to 115.

Noel was upgraded to a hurricane Thursday evening. But it did most of its damage as a tropical storm as it became the year’s deadliest tempest in the Atlantic region.

Hurricane Noel’s sustained winds had increased to 80 mph late Thursday night as it moved away from the Bahamas, the National Weather Service said.

Earlier Thursday, muddy rain-swollen waters overflowed a dam in Cuba, washing into hundreds of homes.

Cuban soldiers went door-to-door in low-lying areas and evacuated about 24,000 people, according to state radio and television reports.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Noel’s center center was 180 miles north-northeast of Nassau, Bahamas. It was moving toward the north-northeast about 20 mph.