LES CAYES, Haiti — Tropical Storm Ernesto battered Haiti, claiming at least one life, then menaced Cuba today as it followed a track that could carry it toward Florida as a revived hurricane.

Cuba ramped up emergency preparations, and forecasters said the storm would be close to the island's southeastern coast this morning — possibly as a hurricane.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared an emergency, ordering tourists to evacuate the Florida Keys.

"We do expect it to reach the Gulf, maybe as a Category 1 hurricane, possibly a Category 2," said John Cangialosi, a meteorologist with U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. "It's difficult to say where it will be, but in three days we're projecting it anywhere from the eastern Gulf near the Florida panhandle to the western Bahamas."

Ernesto became the Atlantic season's first hurricane on Sunday morning with maximum sustained winds of about 75 mph. But it weakened into a tropical storm, with 45 mph winds today.

Apparently diminished by Haiti's mountainous southwestern peninsula, Ernesto was expected to regain strength after passing the rough terrain.

Forecasters issued a hurricane watch today for the southern peninsula of Florida. A hurricane watch remained in effect for all of the Florida Keys.

Marie Alta. Jean-Baptiste, director of Haiti's civil protection agency, said one person on Vache island off Haiti's south coast died in the storm, but she could not give details.

People put goats and cows into shelters, and fishermen pulled nets ashore.

Forecasters said up to 20 inches of rain could fall in some mountain areas of Haiti, raising fears of flash floods in the heavily deforested country.

"The only thing we can do is just wait and keep our fingers crossed," said Frantz Gregoire, 42, owner of the Bay Club, a thatch-roofed seaside restaurant. He said he would send his workers home if the storm worsened.