Tropical Storm Emily to Make Direct Hit on Haiti, Florida Possibly in its Path

A weakened Tropical Storm Emily heading for Haiti could make landfall on Wednesday and could become a low-level hurricane if it survives passing through the mountainous island.

As of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Emily was located at about 145 miles southeast of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour, or 85 kilometers per hour. Emily is still on a westward movement at a speed of 14 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

This storm could pose some serious problem for Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, which is still struggling with the aftermath of 7.0-magnitude earthquake that shook the capital Port-au-Prince last year.

An approximately 1.5 million people were house in make-shift settlements after the earthquake, according to Al Jazeera, which also reported that more than a year later, some 630,000 Haitians remain homeless.

But as Haiti and the Dominican Republic prepares for a direct hit, the governments in other Caribbean islands are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Emily.

The National Weather Service said the government of The Bahamas already issued a tropical storm watch for the central Bahamas, where Emily is expected to hit around Thursday. Watches and warnings are still in effect for Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos.

Reuters reported that the National Hurricane Center has revised its tracking guidance to reflect that Emily possibly would cut a northward path up the Florida peninsula beginning on Friday night.

"Uncertainty in the track forecast remains larger than usual beyond 48 hours," the National Hurricane Center told Reuters.