[NYTr] Cuba, Mexico Brace for Hurricane Dean; Jamaica Hit Hard Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2007 20:52:41 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * 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 capitalbs 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. bToo much crime in Kingston. Ibm not leaving my home,b 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: bWe 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.b 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 islandbs 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-cC:n and the Riviera Maya, requested that no more tourists arrive until the hurricane had passed. A spokesman for First Choice holidays said that the companybs 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: bWe 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.b * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================