[NYTr] Cuba, Mexico Brace for Hurricane Dean; Jamaica Hit Hard

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[Jamaica is holding elections in a few days and international observers
were due to start arriving early next week. Prensa Latina had a headline
that the elections had been postponed but I couldn't raise the story.
None of the other international media are reporting this, and word from
Jamaica itself on the net is at leat 24 hours old. -NY Transfer]

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Cuba Prepared to Face Dean

Havana, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) Facing Dean hurricane"s threat, coming
through the Caribbean, Cuba put its prevention system to face natural
disaster to the test in order to preserve the population and national
economy.

Since 6:00 Sunday Morning, the Civil Defense declared cyclonic alarm
for Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba and Granma, while Pinar del Rio and
Isle of Youth Special Municipality went on alert stage.

Holguin, Las Tunas and Camaguey are also on alert and the rest of the
municipalities remain on information alert.

The weather Institute reported that Dean can reach category five due to
Caribbean sea"s atmospheric conditions favourable to intensification in
the next few hours that will make it become a powerful hurricane.

Dean is moving to Haiti Republic south and will continue moving to the
Western Caribbean so that authorities on alerted territories ordered
the necessary measures to avoid its impact facing increase of rain.

                         ***

Mexico on Alert Facing Dean Hurricane

Mexico, Aug 19 (Prensa Latina) Mexican authorities intensify security
measures facing the movement of Caribbean Hurricane Dean that is
threatening Yucatan states with its devastating force.

The phenomenon was carrying wins up to 149 mph and four on the Saffir
Simpson scale of five although experts predict it could reach five
maximum.

Quintana Roo and Yucatan districts have been declared on yellow alert
where the island's evacuation began along with the resorts, while
airlines are only taking tourists out of Rivera Maya which are
calculated in 80 thousand.

Campeche, Tabasco and Veracruz, with coasts to the Caribbean sea, are
also monitoring the evolution of the meteor and preparing shelters
properly equipped in case of contingencies.

The schools are used as shelters too.

The National Coordinator of Civil Protection, depending on the
Government Secretariat, allocated resources from the National Fund of
Natural Disasters to train the settlers in order to face up the weather
phenomenon.

sus abo jf PL-13

                         ***

Times of London - Aug 20, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2289170.ece

British tourists told to stay away as deadly hurricane hits Jamaica

by Tim Reid in Washington

A hurricane with 150mph winds battered Jamaica last night after
claiming at least eight lives as it tore through the eastern Caribbean.

Tourists fled, locals streamed inland and the Jamaican Prime Minister
declared a state of emergency before Hurricane Dean arrived in the
capital, Kingston, late last night, after pounding the eastern end of
the island.

Fallen trees and telegraph poles blocked the capital’s streets as heavy
rains fell. Roofs were ripped off and one man was missing after trees
came down on his house. Mudslides were reported in several parts of the
island.

Many residents of areas around Kingston ignored the plea by the
Government for them to go to shelters, fearing that their possessions
would be looted. “Too much crime in Kingston. I’m not leaving my home,”
Paul Lyn, a resident of Port Royal, east of the capital, said.

Forecasters predicted that the storm, about 700 miles (1,130km) wide,
could dump at least 20in (50cm) of rain and bring mass flooding.

Dean, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, was on course to
become a rare and potentially catastrophic top-level Category 5 storm.
It is expected to hit the lowlying Cayman Islands, a British territory
and financial tax haven, today. A compulsory evacuation order from
Little Cayman was issued yesterday.

As it approached Jamaica, the hurricane lives in the Lesser Antilles.
Two people were killed on Martinique, a woman and her son died in a
landslide on Dominica, a teenage boy was swept to sea in Santo Domingo,
and a man drowned in a river on St Lucia while trying to save a cow.
Two people died in Haiti and ten were missing.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advising against all
nonessential travel to Jamaica. It said: “We now advise against all
travel to Jamaica until further notice. Both international airports
(Norman Manley in Kingston and Sangster in Montego Bay) closed on the
evening of Saturday. There will be no flights in or out until airports
reopen after the hurricane passes.”

It also told visitors to stay away from the sea for fear of storm
surges.

According to the Federation of Tour Operators, about 4,000 Britons are
listed as travelling with large tour operators in Jamaica, and most are
believed to have sought shelter on the island to ride out the storm.

The Jamaican authorities cut off the island’s electricity supply before
the storm hit. The National Water Commission turned off many water
pumps, especially in areas prone to flooding.

The last hurricane to hit Jamaica was Ivan in September 2004, killing
17 and destroying thousands of homes.

A 48-hour curfew was imposed and all shops and businesses were ordered
to shut until tomorrow. Portia Simp-son-Miller, the Prime Minister,
called for a halt to campaigning for the general election on August 27.

Although many tourists flew home, Nicola Madden-Greig, spokeswoman for
the Jamaica Hotel Association, said that some tourists, unable to get a
flight or curious enough to witness a hurricane, were still in many
hotels.

Meanwhile, the US space shuttle Endeavour hastily departed from the
International Space Station after being ordered back to Earth a day
early amid fears that the storm could damage its mission control centre
in Houston. It will now land tomorrow.

Dean could strike the Texas coast on Wednesday. President Bush, with
memories of the Hurricane Katrina debacle of 2005 still fresh, signed a
preemptive disaster declaration yesterday, allowing the Federal
Government to move people, funds and supplies into the state. Fuel
tankers were sent to coastal areas, storm-response task forces were put
on alert and supply lorries were put on standby.

Energy companies were tracking Dean nervously, with the storm expected
today to enter the Gulf of Mexico, which has 4,000 oil and gas
platforms. Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, including Katrina, toppled
scores of oil rigs. Oil workers in the Gulf of Mexico were evacuated to
Galveston, Texas.

The Foreign Office advised against all nonessential travel to the
Yucatan peninsula. The authorities in the state of Quintana Roo, which
includes Can-cún and the Riviera Maya, requested that no more tourists
arrive until the hurricane had passed.

A spokesman for First Choice holidays said that the company’s next
flight to the region was bound for Jamaica on Tuesday, when the
hurricane is expected to have moved away from the island. David
Marshall, a spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents,
said: “We advise people due to fly out to the area to contact their
travel agent, tour operator or airline and they will be able to advise
on the current situation.”