[NYTr] Cuba on Alert as Hurricane Dean Churns Northwest

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles

Cuba on Alert as Hurricane Dean Churns towards Jamaica

Havana, Aug 19 (acn) Cuba´s civil defense authorities are taking 
measures to save lives and property as powerful Hurricane Dean moves 
through the Caribbean and approaches Jamaica.

The southeastern Cuban provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba and
Granma are now under the Alarm stage which includes the evacuation of
people living in low lying areas and other high risk zones.

The Alert stage, which includes preventive measures prior to Alarm, has 
been issued for western Pinar del Rio and the Isle of Youth to the far 
west of the island. Dean is currently moving west-northwest at 30 
kilometers per hour. Also on Alert are the eastern provinces of Las 
Tunas and Camaguey.

In its 9:00 a.m. advisory on Sunday, the Cuban Meteorology Institute
said that Dean was located at 260 kilometers East-Southeast of
Kingston, Jamaica, after having crossed the eastern Caribbean, where it 
reportedly left considerable damage.

Dean is expected to continue all the way through the western Caribbean
and the Institute predicts heavy rains and flooding on the southeastern
Cuban coast with sustained winds of over 60 kilometers per hour.

The Cuban meteorology service maintains an ongoing tracking of the
storm as civil defense authorities lead the actions being undertaken by
local institutions, armed forces and other ministries, and supported by
the population. Cuban TV, radio and online media offer frequent updates
on the status of the hurricane.

During its passage through the Eastern Caribbean, Dean left considerable
damage and some deaths mainly in Martinique, St. Lucia and the Dominican
Republic, according to preliminary reports.

At least three people died as a consequence of the hurricane in the
Dominican Republic, said Z-101 Radio in Santo Domingo. The identity of
the victims, one Haitian and two Dominicans has not been disclosed,
said the radio station.

Another victim was reported in Saint Lucia when a man was swept away by
a flooded river when he tried to rescue part of his cattle herd, Prensa 
Latina reported.

In Martinique, nearly the entire banana production and 70 percent of
sugar cane plantations were destroyed by Dean, said France’s Overseas
State Secretary Christian Estrosi, who according to news reports
arrived in that eastern Caribbean island to assess the damage inflicted
by the hurricane.

Meanwhile, Jamaicans are bracing for the imminent hurricane strike in
the coming hours. Prime Minister Portia Simpson and her cabinet are
leading the evacuation and other preventive actions. Dean is expected
to cross over Jamaica with very strong winds, currently at 235
kilometers per hour.

In Mexico, some 80,000 vacationers were evacuated from the Cancun and
Cozumel tourist resorts. Hurricane Dean also poses a significant threat
to many oil facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, said El Universal
newspaper.

Predictions indicate that Dean will hit the Yucatan Peninsula early in
the week and then advance towards northeastern Mexico and Texas, the
paper warned.

Some 7,000 Spanish vacationers were set to abandon tourist facilities 
in the Carmen and Tulum beaches in the state of Quintana Roo, reported 
EFE, which also said that the mayor of Cancun, Francisco Alor had 
ordered the deployment of a 300-strong police force to prevent looting
in the city if Dean hits the area.