Ivan pounds Jamaica as Category 5 storm
Many businesses were shuttered and streets were largely deserted Saturday as tourists and residents fled from this normally bustling island resort town, but some die-hards said they were determined to face the potential wrath of Hurricane Ivan.
The deadly storm smashed into Jamaica early Saturday with ferocious waves and wind nearing 155 mph. Ivan, which strengthened to a Category 5 storm with 165 mph sustained winds later Saturday, was headed for the Cayman Islands and Cuba on a path that could take it near the Florida Keys on Monday.
At 5 p.m., Ivan was centered about 145 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman. After drifting for several hours, the storm resumed a west-northwest track at 9 mph.
While the National Hurricane Center’s five-day forecast track showed South Florida likely out of harm’s way, hurricane-force winds and rain could still affect the Lower Keys, said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center. He advised that interests in the Keys should still monitor the hurricane.
“They absolutely made the right decision (to evacuate),” Mayfield said Saturday. “With a storm like this, you can’t play around.”
Forecasts put the storm north of Cuba and in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, then possibly threatening the west coast of Florida or the Panhandle later in the week.
Ivan had killed at least 50 people in the Caribbean as of Saturday afternoon.
Hurricanes Charley and Frances were blamed for 50 deaths in Florida.
State officials, still manning round-the-clock operations since hurricanes Charley and Frances struck in the last month, were preparing for a potential strike on the Keys, charting plans to reach storm victims by air and by sea for search-and-rescue efforts and to deliver relief supplies if any of the bridges that connect the islands to the mainland are impassable.
“If those roads and those approaches are damaged, we won’t be able to drive into the Keys. We have to have an alternative to get teams in there,” said Craig Fugate, the state’s director of emergency management.
Officials said some operations helping in the recovery from Charley and Frances were being shifted or temporarily suspended but stressed that support for victims of those storms would continue as Ivan approached.
“We’re working together to make sure that we continue to provide for the recovery of Charley, for the relief of the people that were hit by Frances and now the preparation for what appears to be an even bigger storm,” Gov. Jeb Bush said.
“Sometimes I wish that these things wouldn’t all happen in our state all at once, but if there was a place that could rebound from this, it’s Florida,” he said.
About 738,000 homes and businesses still lacked power Saturday on Florida’s east coast, where Frances struck on Sept. 5. In addition to the lack of air conditioning, many Palm Beach County residents faced nuisances such as overflowing sewers that created an unbearable stench.
“People are so stressed. They still don’t have power, so there’s no air (conditioning).
They’ve got a lot of attitude,” said Kathy Wilmore, 43, who sat at an outdoor cafe in downtown West Palm Beach while crews worked to fix the roof of her damaged apartment building.
Many Keys residents tried to take the impending storm in stride. Michael Barnes, an attorney who has seen several hurricanes during his 15 years in Key West, said preparations for Ivan had a bright side.
“Anything that comes to Key West and takes away the trains and trolleys and tourists is not all bad,” he said. “The worst have been the ones who put out the electricity that prevent me from having ice for my drinks.”
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
Florida Emergency Management: http://www.floridadisaster.org
Monroe County Emergency Management: http://www.co.monroe.fl.us/pages/psd/MCEM/
Florida Keys Tourism: http://www.fla-keys.com/