Port-au-Prince, Haiti ? Tropical Storm Lili veered away from Haiti late Wednesday as it headed toward Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, where U.S. military officials are holding nearly 600 Afghan detainees.

At 8 p.m. Lili was about 300 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic’s capital, Santo Domingo, and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph approaching western Haiti.

Although it made a slight shift away from the mainland, Lili began to drench Haiti with lashing rains.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for southern Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola.

Maximum winds were 45 mph and little change was expected in the next 24 hours. But officials in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba were preparing for flash floods and wind gusts.

In 1994, Tropical Storm Gordon killed at least 829 Haitians.

Lili could reach Guantanamo Bay Naval Base late Friday. The storm could carry enough winds and rains to warrant moving the 598 detainees to a secure location away from their seaside cells, U.S. military officials said.

The detainees, accused of links to the fallen Taliban regime of Afghanistan or al-Qaida terrorist network, are being held in trailer-like cells about 545 yards from the Caribbean.