In neighboring Belize, five fishermen were missing at sea in the slow-moving storm, authorities told Channel 5 Belize. A small plane owned by Blancaneaux Lodge, owned by film director Francis Ford Coppola, also went missing with a pilot and two passengers aboard, authorities told Channel 5.

The Honduran government made an urgent request for US helicopters to help rescue dozens of people left stranded on rooftops by floods and mudslides in the area of the Honduran northern Caribbean coast, said the Permanent Commission on Contingencies.

Commission official Hugo Arevalo said the government had asked for assistance from the US army helicopters which operate from the Palmerola Air Base north of the capital.

The helicopters took part in distributing emergency rations to victims of earlier hurricanes this year.

"Indications are that this thing could be with us for the next or three days, so we certainly are looking forward to a very wet weekend with possibly flooding occurring across the country," Belize's chief meteorologist Carlos Fuller said.

More than 11,600 people have been evacuated from areas struck by Tropical Storm Gamma on Friday and Saturday, the Honduran commission said.

Gamma, the 24th named storm in a record Atlantic hurricane season, was drifting erratically off the Honduras coast, and weakened slightly early Saturday.

In Cuba the Meteorological Institute warned Saturday that the storm could threaten the island as it was expected to move slowly northward.

"Pay attention to the development of the coming weather system," because "the unusual storm comes with a cold front," said Jose Rubiera, head of storm predictions at the institute.

"What we will have is a weather system alongside a cold front, which will be the first cold of the winter season," he said on local television.

He predicted "heavy rains, intense at times, but not long-lasting, along with winds of up to 90 kilometers (55 miles) per hour in the western part of the country," overnight Sunday and lasting until midday Monday.

At 0900 GMT, the center of Gamma, packing maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (65 km/hr) was located about 220 miles (350 km) east-southeast of Belize City and about 75 miles (120 km) northeast of Limon, Honduras, the US National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

"Gamma is drifting toward the north near 2 mph (3 km an hour). A continued slow motion toward the north or northwest is expected during the next 24 hours. However, some erratic motion will be possible since steering currents are forecast to remain weak," the center added

"Some fluctuations in strength are possible during the next 24 hours and Gamma could weaken into a tropical depression," the US forecasters said.

The Atlantic tropical storm season, which ends on November 30, is the most active ever recorded, with 27 named storms, 13 of which developed into hurricanes.

The United States has a fleet of troop and cargo transport helicopters at Palmerola, also home to 500 US troops.

The United States loaned the helicopters to ship, along with Honduran air force choppers, some 2,000 tonnes of food to about 14,000 people hit by hurricanes Katrina, Stan and Wilma in recent weeks.

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