Fay has wreaked havoc in Cuba and killed four people in the Dominican Republic, said the country's Emergency Operations Center. In Haiti more than seven have been killed by the storm, with dozens more missing.
According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, Fay's maximum sustained winds were 50 miles (85 kilometers) per hour shortly before 5 a.m. Miami time. The storm was located over central Cuba, about 105 miles east-southeast of Havana and 155 miles south-southeast of Florida's Key West, and heading north-northwest at 12 mph. A tropical storm warning has been issued.
``The center of Fay should be emerging into the Florida Straits later this morning and be very near the Florida Keys tonight,'' the center said. ``Fay is forecast to be approaching hurricane strength in the Florida Keys and to become a hurricane before it reaches the Florida peninsula.''
Fay is said to be bringing as much as 12 inches of rain, which could produce life-threatening flash floods and mud slides,'' forecasters at the Miami center said. “Heavy rains are expected to spread across South Florida today.”
In preparation for Fay, Key West International Airport will close around midmorning today, said airport manager Peter Horton. Cruise ships sailing from the port of Miami have been docked and some offshore oil platforms have been evacuated.