Tropical Storm Tomas approaches Haiti, Jamaica

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti urged hundreds of thousands of homeless quake survivors to flee tents and tarps for sturdier shelter Thursday as Tropical Storm Tomas closed in with rains that threaten to unleash devastating floods. Many stayed put — either to protect their few possessions or for lack of anywhere to go.

The storm was expected to brush Jamaica's eastern provinces and then regain hurricane strength before passing near the western coast of Haiti early Friday morning with heavy rains, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Haiti's government urged evacuation of the emergency camps set up after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

As the skies darkened over Port-au-Prince and roof-tarps started flapping in the wind Thursday morning, a policeman at the Corail-Cesselesse camp shouted through a megaphone: "The hurricane is not a joke! ... You need to get out of here!"

Survivors of the devastating earthquake have fought forced evictions, weathered storms, organized themselves into security committees, and rallied for better services and aid. Now they are being told to leave — and few have anywhere to go.

The government says more than 1,000 shelters are available, but that can refer to any building expected to stand up to high winds. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there is a need to identify safe potential storm shelters.

Painfully slow reconstruction from the quake, prior storms and the recent commitment of government resources to fight a growing cholera epidemic have left people with few options as overtaxed aid workers struggle to help.

"We are using radio stations to announce to people that if they don't have a place to go, but they have friends and families, they should move into a place that is secure," said civil protection official Nadia Lochard, who oversees the department that includes the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Fear and confusion have swept through many of the camps. Tensions boiled over into scuffles Wednesday at the Corail camp when managers tried to explain a planned voluntary evacuation of nearly 8,000 people from ShelterBox tents once promised to be hurricane-resistant.

The tentative plan there, as at several other camps, is to move some people to schools, churches, and other structures such as abandoned prisons. But most of the homeless are being told to seek out friends or family who can take them in.