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Topic: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/15 (Read 575 times)

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Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/15
« on: Sep 8^th, 2004, 4:01pm »

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Hurricane Ivan devastates Grenada
Storm strengthens as it heads for Jamaica

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) -- Hurricane Ivan made a direct hit on Grenada with ferocious winds, causing "incalculable damage" and killing at least nine people as it turned concrete homes into rubble and hurled hundreds of the island's trademark red zinc roofs through the air, officials said Wednesday.

The most powerful storm to hit the Caribbean in 14 years reportedly devastated Grenada's capital, St. George's, and damaged homes in Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent. Thousands were without water, electricity and telephone service just days after Hurricane Frances rampaged through.

"We are terribly devastated here in Grenada," Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said in comments broadcast Wednesday by radio stations in Barbados. "It's beyond any imagination."

The prime minister, whose own home was destroyed, spoke from aboard the British naval patrol vessel HMS Richmond, apparently by satellite telephone.

Ivan strengthened even as it was over Grenada on Tuesday, becoming a Category 4 storm. It got even stronger as it headed across the Caribbean Sea, passing north of the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.

Mitchell said at least nine storm-related deaths had been reported and he feared the toll would rise.

"If you see the country today, it would be a surprise to anyone that we did not have more deaths than it appears at the moment," he said. "I don't think anyone expected the kind of damage that they saw."

Sporadic looting also was reported in St. George's, a British Royal Navy spokesman said on condition of anonymity, speaking from London. HMS Richmond and a British supply ship were providing disaster relief to the former colony, he said.

The storm was threatening to cross right over Jamaica by Friday morning or Saturday, and then Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said.

"After Jamaica, it's probably going to hit somewhere in the U.S., unfortunately," said meteorologist Jennifer Pralgo of the Hurricane Center. "We're hoping it's not Florida again, but it's taking a fairly similar track to Charley at the moment."

Hurricane Charley killed 27 people in southwest Florida last month and caused an estimated $6.8 billion in insured damage.

Ivan terrorized Grenada for about two hours, said Hugh Cobb of the Hurricane Center.

"They took a really bad beating," he said, adding this grim warning: "Whoever gets this, it's going to be bad."

Ivan's sustained winds were clocked at 120 mph as it raced through the Windward Islands. But it strengthened to 140 mph with gusts just over 160 mph.

Cobb said Ivan would be the first Category 4 storm to hit Caribbean islands since Hurricane Luis in 1990.

He said that if Ivan hit Jamaica, it could be more destructive than Hurricane Gilbert, which was only a Category 3 storm when it devastated the island in 1988.

Howling winds raged through the hilly streets of St. George's, Grenada's capital, trashing concrete homes, uprooting trees and utility poles, and knocking out telephone service and electricity. The islands were cut off and transmission was halted from the Grenada Broadcast Network.

ChevronTexaco said it evacuated nonessential staff from a natural gas well off Venezuela's Atlantic coast.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency based in Barbados said St. George's "suffered incalculable damage" and Grenada's emergency disaster office, at the 19th century Great House at Mount Wheldale, was destroyed. Grenada's airport also was damaged and an air charter company in Barbados said it was refused permission to fly in.

The Barbados agency said it was sending a relief team to Grenada.

St. George's main hospital also was damaged, the agency said, as were some shelters. "The population in public shelters is 1,000 and climbing," the agency said.

No news could be had from other islands in Grenada, which has about 100,000 residents and is best known for a 1983 U.S. invasion following a left-wing palace coup

There were unconfirmed reports that storm damage allowed prisoners to escape Grenada's crumbling and overcrowded 17th century prison, a zinc-roofed stone edifice on a hilltop. The prison has held former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard and 16 others convicted of killings in the 1983 coup.

Two private boats near Grenada have sent out distress signals, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It had no details.

Cobb said Ivan's heaviest rains likely will sweep the southern peninsula of Haiti, where deforestation and shacks make any excessive downpours deadly. Heavy rains in May triggered floods that killed 1,700 people and left 1,600 missing and presumed dead in Haiti and neighboring Dominican Republic.

Haiti posted a hurricane watch for its southwest peninsula Wednesday.

At 2 p.m. EDT, Ivan was centered about 105 miles northeast of Bonaire and was moving toward the west-northwest at nearly 16 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 70 miles and tropical storm-force winds another 160 miles. The storm raised battering waves that the Hurricane Center warned could cause storm flooding of 3-5 feet and above normal tides with 5-7 inches of rain that could cause flash floods and mudslides.

Earlier Tuesday, Ivan damaged 221 homes in Barbados and left many residents without water and electricity, the Caribbean disaster agency said. It had reports of one death in Barbados, but could not confirm it was hurricane-related. Power was being restored Wednesday.

In neighboring St. Vincent and the Grenadines, more than 1,000 people were in shelters, 19 homes were destroyed by storm surges in coastal areas, and another 40 homes were damaged, the agency reported. It said the country remained without electricity Wednesday.

A half-dozen houses in St. Lucia and two schools in Tobago lost their roofs.

Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao were under a hurricane warning, a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning remained posted for Colombia's Guajira peninsula and Venezuela's northern coast, and a tropical storm watch covered the southwest coast of the Dominican Republic.

Ivan became the fourth major hurricane of the season Sunday, coming hard on the heels of Hurricane Frances, which killed two people in the Bahamas and 14 in Florida and Georgia.

« Last Edit: Sep 15^th, 2004, 1:19pm by Insane 4 Survivor »

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #1 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 9:03am »

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Florida Keys to be evacuated because of Hurricane Ivan

Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. - Emergency officials began the total evacuation of the Florida Keys on Thursday because the powerful Hurricane Ivan could hit the island chain as early as Sunday.

All tourists, recreational vehicles and mobile home residents were urged to evacuate the Keys beginning Thursday. A phased evacuation of Monroe County's other residents will begin Friday. About 79,000 people live in the Keys.

National Hurricane Center forecasters predict that Ivan could hit the Keys late Sunday or early Monday before possibly hitting the Florida mainland later Monday. The Category 5 storm was packing top sustained winds of 160 mph at 8 a.m Thursday and was about 1,000 miles southeast of Miami and 455 southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. The storm could weaken to a Category 4 if it hits Cuba before approaching the Keys, forecasters said.

Monroe County emergency officials said the evacuation order was effective for visitors at 9 a.m. Thursday. It is the third time visitors have been ordered out of the Keys in a month, the previous two coming for Hurricanes Charley and Frances.

Mobile home residents were urged to begin evacuating at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The last time the Keys were totally evacuated was in 2001 for Hurricane Michelle, a Category 4 storm with top sustained winds of 135 mph that missed a direct hit on the chain. Officials estimated that only 15 percent of Keys residents left.

Given the damage other parts of Florida received from Charley and Frances, "I don't think that people will think twice (about evacuating) when we tell them it's a Four heading right at us. I think they will be pretty responsive," said Monroe County emergency manager Irene Toner, who supervises the Florida Keys.

Some businesses have seen a steep drop in the number of tourists since Charley and Frances. Hog's Breath Saloon in downtown Key West has had its worst six weeks of business since 1988, general manager Charlie Bauer said.

"It's been a financial disaster since Charley, but its hard to complain when the rest of the state is without air conditioning," he said.

Bauer said he normally rides out hurricanes in the Keys, but not this time: "I won't even hang around for a Category 3."

Isaac James moved to the Keys a month ago because he was tired of his job as a service manager for a Fortune 500 company in Kansas City, Mo. The freshly trained dockmaster at Whale Harbor Marina in Islamorada, midway along the Keys, was arranging the removal of a dozen small boats from the docks Thursday.

The 26-year-old is living with his parents in "a great little community," he said. "We have a concrete house with I think about a 3-year-old roof on it, so I think the house could sustain a Three, possibly a Four. But a Five, I don't know what could sustain a Five down here."

His mother, a Texas native, was anxious about the forecast, but the family had not decided what to do before the evacuation order for residents came out.

"When the wind blows a little hard, she gets a little nervous. I love her for it but she definitely wants to fly out of here and get back to Texas now," he said. "We cross our fingers and hope for the best. We haven't actually made any solid plans yet. Never follow the herd and never panic. That doesn't do anything for you other than lead you in the wrong direction."

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #2 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 9:04am »

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We're "looking forward" to it next week. Sad

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #3 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 9:07am »

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Oh Ivan, Please spin out to infinity!

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #4 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 9:50am »

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LL,
Is your area preparing for Ivan? Hopefully he'll just disapate but as of this morning he's a category 5.

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #5 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 12:57pm »

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No, we are just watching at this point. But the projected path is heading this way in the Gulf.

Hurricane Ivan kills up to 26 in Caribbean

19 minutes ago

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AFP) - Hurricane Ivan tore across the Caribbean after devastating the island of Grenada and leaving up to 29 dead in Grenada, Tobago and Venezuela.

The terrifying storm packed winds of up to 255 kilometers (160 miles) per hour as it headed toward Jamaica where the authorities ordered the population to take emergency precautions.

Ivan has increased in strength to become a top category five storm on the five level Saffrir-Simpson scale.

Twelve people were confirmed killed on Grenada and the toll is expected to climb, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) said. A Trinidad radio station FM 95.5 said there were 24 dead in Grenada, but that was not immediately confirmed.

There were four dead in Venezuela, according to the national authorities, and one in Tobago.

Grenada, a tiny island nation of 90,000 inhabitants, was 85 percent destroyed by the storm, according to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. Power lines were down and hundreds of people have taken refuge in shelters.

Mitchell's official residence was destroyed and the prime minister took shelter on a British navy frigate, HMS Richmond.

"We have really taken a tremendous hit in every respect," Mitchell told BBC radio by telephone.

"You are talking hundreds of millions of dollars of damage," he said. "I have declared the country a national disaster and I have contacted our international friends and indicated that."

He said the main prison had been destroyed and all the inmates had escaped.

British sailors from HMS Richmond and the supply vessel HMS Wave Ruler, were helping the emergency operation in Grenada, Britain's Defence Ministry said. The two ships were on patrol in the Caribbean.

Grenada is a former British colony and remains a member of the Commonwealth with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (news - web sites) as its head of state.

"This is the biggest single-island disaster" that the CDERA has responded to, "because almost all of the island is wrecked," CDERA spokesman Terry Ally told AFP from Bridgetown.

At 1500 GMT, Hurricane Ivan was heading for Jamaica and the western Caribbean, according to the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center (news - web sites). It called the storm "dangerous".

Storm surge flooding of 0.9 to 1.5 meters (three to five feet) above normal tide levels, along with large and dangerous battering waves, could be expected near the center of Ivan in the hurricane warning area, the US center noted.

Rainfall amounts of 12-18 centimeters (five to seven inches), possibly causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, can also be expected, it added.

Jamaica had already issued a hurricane warning for the densely populated island of 2.7 million.

At 1500 GMT, the eye of Hurricane Ivan was about 695 kilometers (430 miles) east-southeast of Kingston. It was moving toward Jamaica at about 24 kilometers (15 miles) per hour and was expected to hit Jamaica on Friday.

The CDERA spokesman said that in Grenada the security situation had also deteriorated.

"There has been a lot of looting. The situation has worsened," Ally said, adding that "the prison has been destroyed and prisoners are on the loose."

In Tobago, a woman was killed by a falling tree, according to local media.

The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning headed to Tobago to view the destruction. His government has promised 1.6 million dollars to the island of St. Vincent to help with construction. Hundreds were evacuated to shelters.

In Venezuela, a man was crushed to death when hurricane-force winds toppled a wall in a coastal town near Caracas, emergency service officials said, adding that another person was hurt and 150 people were affected by flooding.

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #6 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 1:35pm »

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It can also turn west and head straight for our gulf border states, instead of Florida. Kind of iffy at this time!

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #7 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 3:39pm »

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Here is the projected path from the weather servec

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #8 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 4:02pm »

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Oh please oh please let Florida be spared

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #9 on: Sep 9^th, 2004, 4:58pm »

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It's not looking too promising right now Sad

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/13
« Reply #10 on: Sep 13^th, 2004, 10:07am »

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Powerful Ivan whacking western Cuba
8:09 A.M. ET Mon.,Sep.13,2004
Buzz Bernard, Sr. Meteorologist, The Weather Channel

Hurricane Ivan Bottom Line

Extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph as of 8 a.m. ET

Ivan is now headed toward western Cuba

Hurricane Warnings now in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula, Cayman Islands, and Cuba

Tropical Storm Watch for the Florida Keys

All interests from Florida to central Gulf Coast should monitor Ivan closely

Extremely powerful Hurricane Ivan is slamming western Cuba with heavy rain and strong winds this morning. The eye of Ivan is still 100 miles south of the western tip of Cuba, but outer rainbands from the big storm already have spun into the lower Florida Keys. And high, thin cirrus clouds from Ivan have fanned out as far north as Lake Okeechobee. The eye of the very dangerous category five hurricane probably will try to slip through the Yucatan Channel (between Cuba and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula) into the south-central Gulf of Mexico later today. Ivan's U. S. target remains unclear, but all residents along the central and eastern Gulf Coast should pay very close attention to the future track of the hurricane. Best guess at time of landfall would be Wednesday night or early Thursday. And even though Ivan may be somewhat weaker by then, it still could be a major (category three) hurricane.
In the eastern Pacific, Hurricane Javier (105 mph) is growing stronger about 400 miles WSW of Acapulco, Mexico. Javier, in fact, may reach major (category three) hurricane status as it plows toward the northwest over the next several days, but is expected to parallel the coast, remaining several hundred miles offshore. Large swells can by expected to roll into the west-central Mexican coast.

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #11 on: Sep 13^th, 2004, 10:12am »

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Looking like it will miss Florida. Cool

I'm up for taking the brunt of it if it spares those poor folks.

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #12 on: Sep 13^th, 2004, 10:42am »

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I was hoping it hit Ocala lol (Ex wife lives there)

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #13 on: Sep 13^th, 2004, 3:10pm »

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Heading straight for my doorstep.

« Last Edit: Sep 13^th, 2004, 3:15pm by lakelady »

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Re: Hurricane Ivan - Update 9/9
« Reply #14 on: Sep 13^th, 2004, 3:23pm »

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LL, I just posted that! How awful, evacuate to somewhere! Shocked

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