SANTO DOMINGO (AFP) -- At least nine people were killed as Tropical Storm Noel lashed the Caribbean island of Hispaniola shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, officials said on Monday.

As Noel made its way across Haiti, drenching the vulnerable country and stirring fears of dangerous floods and landslides, authorities in the Dominican Republic blamed nine deaths on the storm's passage since the weekend.
Several communities across the country were cut off by flooded rivers as bridges reportedly collapsed in several areas.
Among the fatalities were two brothers killed when a wall of their home collapsed on them in the Cienaga area, on the banks of the swollen Ozama river, the National Emergency agency said.
The storm also caused authorities to shut down the international airport in the capital, Santo Domingo.
In the neighboring island of Cuba, authorities prepared shelters, food supplies and medical facilities as it braced for potential flooding and evacuations eastern provinces that have been hit by heavy rain since early October.
At 2:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), the center of the storm was about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of Cuba's eastern tip, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
It packed maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers (45 miles) per hour with higher gusts, the NHC said.
The storm was expected to dump as much as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain on Hispaniola and up to 38 cm (15 inches) over Cuba.
Forecasters said the storm could dump as much as 38 centimeters (15 inches) of rain. ""These rains particularly in Hispaniola are expected to cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,"" the center said.
Tropical Storm Noel was expected to head back out to sea and move near or over the southeastern and central Bahamas or northeastern Cuba later Monday.