A tropical storm hit central Vietnam on Monday, threatening severe floods, landslides and substantial damage to coffee output from the world's second-largest producer of the crop.

Tropical Storm Noul, with winds of 88 kph (55 mph), made landfall around the beach resort of Nha Trang late on Monday and weakened to a tropical depression, state radio said.

Tropical Storm Paloma churned over Cuba on Sunday with rapidly weakening winds and a poorly defined centre that prompted sharply conflicting assessments about the storm's status from forecasters in the United States and Cuba.

Tropical Storm Paloma formed in the Caribbean on Thursday and could strengthen rapidly into a hurricane on a path threatening storm-weary Cuba, US forecasters said.

The 16th tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season posed no threat to vital US oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

At least two people were killed and dozens injured as a tropical storm with winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour lashed southern Bangladesh on Monday, officials said.

Thousands of homes were damaged, as the storm brought down electrical and telephone poles and uprooted trees. Many crops were also destroyed, officials said.

Launches remain stationary at Sadar Ghat in the capital yesterday as the government prevented them from operating in the inclement weather. Photo: STAR
The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal grew into Cyclone Reshmi yesterday, and was approaching the country's south-western coast with the possibility of making landfall by noon today.

Seeking special package for the farmers, Congress MLC and former minister Gulchain Singh Charak today appealed the state government to provide immediate compensation for the 100 percent loss of paddy crops suffered by the farmers of entire border belt including Bishnah.

A tropical wave about 950 miles (1,530 km) east-southeast of the Windward Islands had less than a 20 percent chance of developing into a storm over the next couple of days the US National Hurricane Center said in a report Thursday.

The 15th tropical storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season developed in the Caribbean on Tuesday while a 16th tropical system began to form off Central America and former Tropical Storm Nana unraveled and disappeared.

The 14th tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season faded rapidly on Monday but two new tropical systems developed in the Caribbean, threatening Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and also Central America.

Tropical Storm Nana, the 14th of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed on Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean east of the Caribbean islands, the US National Hurricane Center said.