Cuba Lashed by Tropical Storm Fay

Officials in Cuba have begun evacuating people along the country's southern and eastern coasts, as Tropical Storm Fay approaches.

The island was hit by strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday afternoon. The U.S. National Hurricane Center has warned that the tropical storm may strengthen into a hurricane as it moves westward over Cuba and north toward Florida.

In the U.S. authorities have issued a hurricane watch for parts of Florida.

Florida state officials have asked visitors to begin evacuating the Florida Keys, although weather was still calm in the island chain early Sunday. Many tourists and residents appeared to be ignoring the storm warning.

Tropical Storm Fay caused at least two deaths as it moved across Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Floodwaters killed one woman in the Dominican Republic and left two children missing while another person was killed by floods in northern Haiti.

Tropical storm warnings are also in effect for the Turks and Caicos islands and the southeastern Bahamas, while Jamaica and the Cayman islands have issued a tropical storm watch.

Fay is the sixth tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.