NASSAU, Bahamas — Tropical Storm Hanna roared along the edge of the Bahamas on today ahead of a possible hurricane hit on the Carolinas, leaving behind at least 61 dead in Haiti.

Hurricane Ike, a still-more dangerous Category 4 storm, was advancing from the east.

Hanna was forecast to pass east of the Atlantic archipelago before striking along the coast of North or South Carolina by Friday night, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Hanna's sprawling bands of outer winds are likely to hit far sooner. Tropical storm force winds extended outward as far as 290 miles (465 kilometers) from the center.

Haitian authorities today blamed Hanna for 61 deaths, most due to flooding.

Civil Protection Department spokesman Abel Nazaire said 21 of the deaths were in the northern city of Gonaives, which has been almost entirely cut off by floodwaters.

The storm also was blamed for one death in Puerto Rico.

Hanna's heart was about 280 miles (455 kilometers) east-southeast of Nassau — and about 760 miles (1,220 kilometers) south-southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, around dawn today.

It was moving toward the northwest near 12 mph (19 kph).

Its maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph) were just a little short of hurricane force, and forecasters said it could strengthen.