Subtropical Storm Olga Hits Puerto Rico and Heads to Haiti

Subtropical Storm Olga blasted the northern coast of Puerto Rico early today, almost two weeks after the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season, and bore down on Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Olga's center was 130 miles (209 kilometers) east-southeast of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and was moving west at 15 miles (24 kilometers) an hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on its Web site at 10 a.m. Miami time. Olga's maximum sustained winds blew at almost 45 mph.

Olga may trigger flash floods and mudslides in Puerto Rico and produce heavy squalls and near-gale force winds across the Virgin Islands early today, Brown said. Olga's wind field is large, extending out as far as 270 miles.