Jamaica a hurricane target once again

By Horace Helps

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) – For the second time in 10
days, Jamaica battened down on Friday for a strong hurricane as
Emily raced across the Caribbean Sea and revved up into a
threatening 125 mph (200 kph) storm.

Jamaican authorities told the island’s 2.6 million people
to make hurricane preparations and drew up plans to use buses
and other public transportation to evacuate residents from
flood-prone lowlands.

Hurricane Dennis killed one person when it struck Jamaica
on July 7, when its strong winds and storm surge hammered the
island although the powerful core stayed just off the north
shore. Dennis killed 70 people in Haiti, Cuba and the United
States.

“We still do not know the extent of damage in monetary
terms caused by Dennis, but we have to put in some corrective
action so as not to worsen matters in the event that Emily
hits,” Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the center of Emily was located about 465
miles east-southeast of Kingston and was moving to the
west-northwest at about 20 mph (32 kph), the U.S. National
Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Emily briefly reached Category 4 status on the five-stage
Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale on Friday when its sustained
winds hit 135 mph (217 kph). But it had weakened slightly by
midday.

Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and parts of the Dominican
Republic and Haiti were under storm alerts.

Emily slammed beleaguered Grenada on Wednesday and
Thursday. The tiny spice island of 90,000 people was still
recovering from last September’s Hurricane Ivan, which damaged
90 percent of houses and buildings and caused about $2.2
billion in damage, double Grenada’s annual economic output.

The storm damaged the roofs of Grenada’s general hospital
and the hospital on neighboring Carriacou. Authorities said one
person died in a mudslide.

In Trinidad and Tobago, rivers burst over their banks and
some houses were damaged as Emily swept past. No disruptions
were reported in oil and natural gas operations.

The hurricane center’s long-range forecast had Emily just
south of Jamaica on Saturday and crossing the northern tip of
Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula on Sunday before reaching the
Texas-Mexico border late on Tuesday.