After battering three islands at the center of the Eastern Caribbean chain, Hurricane Tomas is heading straight for Haiti and Jamaica, where governments and national emergency units are hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

The US National Hurricane Centre in Florida, the key information center during the annual Caribbean hurricane season, says Tomas slowed down after hitting Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Saturday and Sunday, and is heading for the two neighboring northern English and French-speaking Caribbean island states.

In Haiti, where 1.3 million victims of the a devastating earthquake over a year ago are sharing 1,300 overcrowded shelters and a sudden outbreak of cholera took hundreds of lives just weeks ago, is bracing for another possible natural national disaster.

In Jamaica, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has met with his Cabinet and the country’s emergency teams to prepare for the system, which can upgrade on its way up the island chain.