Ivan Bears Down on Cayman Islands, Cuba

BULL BAY, Jamaica – Hurricane Ivan lost some strength as it bore down on the Cayman Islands and Cuba yesterday but was still capable of causing tremendous damage with winds near 155 mph.

Ivan killed 56 people across the Caribbean last week, including 34 in Grenada and 11 in Jamaica. Millions more people are in its path, with Ivan projected to go between the Cayman Islands, make a direct hit on Cuba and then either move into the Gulf of Mexico or hit South Florida.”If God doesn’t help us, I think this is going to be extremely tragic,” said Maria del Carmen Boza, a 65-year-old resident of Cojimar, a seaside community in Cuba once frequented by Ernest Hemingway.”All of Cuba is worried.This looks like it’s going to be really dangerous.”The storm smashed into Jamaica early Saturday with ferocious waves and wind nearing 155 mph.It strengthened to a Category 5 storm with 165 mph sustained winds later in the day but dropped back to 155 mph early yesterday, making it a Category 4 storm.However, forecasters warned Ivan could regain strength by today as it moved across warm tropical seas toward Cuba.Cuban President Fidel Castro said the government was doing everything it could to save lives and property.Jamaica, an island of 2,6 million, was saved from a direct hit when the hurricane unexpectedly wobbled and lurched to the west.”Whatever our religion, faith or persuasions may be, we must give thanks,” Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson said in an address to the nation.East of Kingston, the capital, dazed survivors stood in the rain and watched 25-foot waves crash onto beachfronts where a dozen houses used to stand at Harbour View.Associated Press reporters saw looters carrying boxes of groceries from a smashed storefront.Five people drowned or were struck by trees that crashed into their homes, said Ronald Jackson of Jamaica’s disaster relief agency.Patterson said 11 people had been killed, but he did not elaborate.Ivan also has been blamed for the deaths of five people in Venezuela, one in Tobago, one in Barbados, and four children in the Dominican Republic.Forecasters warned that Ivan could strike Florida, where buildings in the Keys were mostly boarded up, deserted by evacuating residents and tourists.Ivan is approaching hard on the heels of hurricanes Charley and Frances.In the wealthy Cayman Islands and in Cuba, people braced for the worst.Hundreds of Caymanians fled aboard 10 charter flights scheduled for an evacuation..The British territory has about 45 000 residents.National radio exhorted Cubans to “put into practice the solidarity that characterises our nation” by inviting neighbours in vulnerable homes to seek shelter in more stable buildings.More than 480 000 people across the island of 11,2 million were evacuated by Saturday evening, officials said.Jamaicans largely ignored government pleas for 500 000 people to flee flood-prone areas.Only 5 000 were in shelters when Ivan stalked the southern coast, coming to within 35 miles of Kingston.With Ivan passing away from Jamaica’s western edge, residents emerged to view the damage.At Caribbean Terraces, a middle-class seaside community at Jamaica’s Harbour View, a foot of mud and sand caked the floors of homes that withstood the storm.The street ran with floodwaters carrying splintered wood, cracked television sets, twisted air conditioning units and shredded clothing.Looters took all the electrical appliances Owen Brown had stowed on an upper story of his five-bedroom home, but they left the storm-battered red sedan in his garage.”They left me with absolutely nothing,” said Brown, 50, adding he was “shell-shocked” when he returned home after working through the night as a radio broadcaster.- Nampa-APMillions more people are in its path, with Ivan projected to go between the Cayman Islands, make a direct hit on Cuba and then either move into the Gulf of Mexico or hit South Florida.”If God doesn’t help us, I think this is going to be extremely tragic,” said Maria del Carmen Boza, a 65-year-old resident of Cojimar, a seaside community in Cuba once frequented by Ernest Hemingway.”All of Cuba is worried.This looks like it’s going to be really dangerous.”The storm smashed into Jamaica early Saturday with ferocious waves and wind nearing 155 mph.It strengthened to a Category 5 storm with 165 mph sustained winds later in the day but dropped back to 155 mph early yesterday, making it a Category 4 storm.However, forecasters warned Ivan could regain strength by today as it moved across warm tropical seas toward Cuba.Cuban President Fidel Castro said the government was doing everything it could to save lives and property.Jamaica, an island of 2,6 million, was saved from a direct hit when the hurricane unexpectedly wobbled and lurched to the west.”Whatever our religion, faith or persuasions may be, we must give thanks,” Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson said in an address to the nation.East of Kingston, the capital, dazed survivors stood in the rain and watched 25-foot waves crash onto beachfronts where a dozen houses used to stand at Harbour View.Associated Press reporters saw looters carrying boxes of groceries from a smashed storefront.Five people drowned or were struck by trees that crashed into their homes, said Ronald Jackson of Jamaica’s disaster relief agency.Patterson said 11 people had been killed, but he did not elaborate.Ivan also has been blamed for the deaths of five people in Venezuela, one in Tobago, one in Barbados, and four children in the Dominican Republic.Forecasters warned that Ivan could strike Florida, where buildings in the Keys were mostly boarded up, deserted by evacuating residents and tourists.Ivan is approaching hard on the heels of hurricanes Charley and Frances.In the wealthy Cayman Islands and in Cuba, people braced for the worst.Hundreds of Caymanians fled aboard 10 charter flights scheduled for an evacuation..The British territory has about 45 000 residents.National radio exhorted Cubans to “put into practice the solidarity that characterises our nation” by inviting neighbours in vulnerable homes to seek shelter in more stable buildings.More than 480 000 people across the island of 11,2 million were evacuated by Saturday evening, officials said.Jamaicans largely ignored government pleas for 500 000 people to flee flood-prone areas.Only 5 000 were in shelters when Ivan stalked the southern coast, coming to within 35 miles of Kingston.With Ivan passing away from Jamaica’s western edge, residents emerged to view the damage.At Caribbean Terraces, a middle-class seaside community at Jamaica’s Harbour View, a foot of mud and sand caked the floors of homes that withstood the storm.The street ran with floodwaters carrying splintered wood, cracked television sets, twisted air conditioning units and shredded clothing.Looters took all the electrical appliances Owen Brown had stowed on an upper story of his five-bedroom home, but they left the storm-battered red sedan in his garage.”They left me with absolutely nothing,” said Brown, 50, adding he was “shell-shocked” when he returned home after working through the night as a radio broadcaster.- Nampa-AP