Tropical Storm Hanna roared past the edge of the Bahamas today before a possible hurricane hit on the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 137 dead in Haiti.

Tropical Storm Hanna roared along the edge of the Bahamas today, ahead of a possible hurricane hit on the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 61 dead in Haiti.

A hurricane watch has been posted in North and South Carolina ahead of Tropical Storm Hanna, which is now passing near the Bahamas.

Tropical Storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas and authorities from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for evacuation as it moved north, growing into a hurricane.

Haitian families scrambled on to rooftops and screamed for help today in a city flooded by Tropical Storm Hanna, as United Nations peacekeepers and rescue convoys tried in vain to reach them.

Gustav swelled into a fearsome Category four hurricane with winds of 145 mph today as Cuba raced to evacuate more than 240,000 people and Americans to the north clogged motorways fleeing New Orleans.

Rescue workers were today considering evacuating New Orleans as it faced a hurricane threat three years to the day that Katrina devastated the city.

Tourists and oil workers fled today as Hurricane Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force.