Ivan now a category 5 storm; Florida at risk, Keys orders evacuation

Ivan kills 12, damages homes in Grenada

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - (AP) -- Hurricane Ivan killed at least 12 people in Grenada, damaged nearly all its homes and destroyed a prison, leaving criminals on the loose, officials said.

Details on the extent of destruction in Grenada did not come through until Wednesday because the storm cut communications with the country of 100,000 people.

''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,'' Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said.

Mitchell confirmed that the escapees included some of the 17 jailed for life for killings during a Marxist palace coup in 1983 but didn't know which ones.

Mitchell said 90 percent of homes were damaged and he feared the death toll would rise. He said much of the country's agriculture had been destroyed, including its primary export crop, nutmeg.

By IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writer

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - Hurricane Ivan took aim Thursday at Jamaica and possibly Florida after killing 23 people in five countries and devastating Grenada, where police fired tear gas to stop a looting frenzy and frightened students armed themselves with knives and sticks.

Ivan, the deadliest hurricane to hit the Caribbean in a decade, pummeled Grenada, Barbados and other southern islands on Tuesday. On Thursday, it strengthened into a Category 5 storm — the most powerful, with 160 mph winds — and was expected to hit Jamaica, where officials urged a half million people to evacuate coastal and flood-prone areas, on Friday.

http://www.wunderground.com/tropical

Flight From Keys Begins as Storm Hits Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Sept. 10 - Hurricane Ivan lashed Jamaica on Friday with powerful winds and driving rains, knocking down power lines and trees and ripping off tin roofs, as officials in Florida stepped up their efforts to evacuate the Florida Keys.

"Ivan is definitely here," Evan Thompson, a division chief at the national meteorological service in Kingston said an interview with Radio Jamaica. "We are definitely in the midst of a hurricane."

At 11 p.m., the eye of the hurricane was 35 miles south of Kingston and maximum sustained winds had increased to almost 155 miles per hour, with higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center in Miami reported. The center described it as "an extremely dangerous hurricane" that was approaching Category 5 strength, a storm with winds greater than 155 m.p.h.

As heavy rain blanketed Kingston, the capital, gunshots were heard and there were unconfirmed reports of looting. In the resort town of Montego Bay, the police said they had arrested several people for looting. In the hills above Kingston, the downpour touched off mudslides that blocked roads.

Barbara Carby, director general of the country's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, told Radio Jamaica her agency had received "many, many calls" from people who had lost roofs. Her advice: "Get in a closet or the bathtub and pull mattresses over you."

Following on the heels of Hurricanes Charley and Frances, Hurricane Ivan is the third powerful storm to plow through the Caribbean and southern Atlantic in the past four weeks. Already, weary and frustrated residents of Florida were bracing for yet another hit even as they continued to try to restore power and clean up damage from last week's storm, while residents and tourists in Jamaica were praying that Hurricane Ivan's powerful winds would not damage that island the way it did Grenada earlier in the week.

In Cuba, President Fidel Castro declared an islandwide hurricane watch. In Kingston, the streets were empty as night fell except for a few cars scurrying for cover past boarded and taped storefronts and homes.

At the request of Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, a state of emergency went into effect expanding police powers.

In Kingston and other towns and cities earlier, the authorities said they were having difficulty persuading residents in low-lying areas to leave their homes for shelter.

But in Montego Bay and other resort towns on the north coast, about 15,000 stranded tourists from the United States and other countries gladly agreed to move from waterfront hotels to heavily fortified concrete and steel resorts inland.

As the storm intensified, hotels around the country ordered guests from their rooms, many of them with floor to ceiling glass walls, and herded them into the safety of central ballrooms and dining areas.

"I think this is going to be a bad one," said Butch Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resorts, the largest hotel group in Jamaica, and chairman of Air Jamaica, the national flag airline.

Mr. Stewart, reached by telephone in Miami, had gone there after starting repairs to his hotels in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas that were damaged by Hurricane Charley last week. While Jamaica and Florida braced for Hurricane Ivan, rescue workers continued to try to get into Grenada, the tiny island in the southern Caribbean where more than 20 people died earlier this week as the stormed wrecked hundreds of homes and businesses.

A State Department official said Friday evening that by midmorning Saturday, planes would begin airlifting American citizens out of the devastated island to Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. Roughly 1,500 Americans were on the island when Hurricane Ivan hit, the official said.

About one-third of those were medical students studying at the American medical college in Grenada, St. George's University School of Medicine, said Jerry Cammarata, a doctor at Coney Island Hospital who has been in touch with the students' families. In Florida, the highway out of the Keys was clogged with residents in cars and trucks heading north out of harm's way. In Miami and other cities, people were rushing around to grocery and hardware stores to restock on water, canned food and batteries for flashlights and portable radios. Long lines formed at gasoline stations as drivers topped off their tanks.

Ken Seiffer, 42, from Key West, was at a gas station in Marathon on Friday afternoon, waiting to get gas with his wife and two children. "We're leaving, heading up toward Orlando where we have family," he said. "We've boarded up and secured everything so now it's time to go ahead and evacuate."

Two of the three hospitals in the Keys were being evacuated, the Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West and the Fishermen's Hospital in Marathon. In Montego Bay, Horace Peterkin, manager of Sandals Montego Bay and a vice president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourism Association, was getting the last of his guests out of his beachfront resort and keeping an eye on developments around the country.

He said he understood the government was preparing to forcibly evacuate some residents in dangerous areas. "A lot of people are still clinging to their houses and possessions," Mr. Peterkin said.

One reason people were unwilling to leave their homes, he said, was memories of looting during and after Hurricane Gilbert, the last powerful storm to hit Jamaica, 16 years ago.

The mood of Jamaica, he said, has shifted from widespread denial, based on 50 years of watching all but two big hurricanes skirt the island at what seemed to be the last minute, to very serious concern.

"Everybody is very, very nervous," Mr. Peterkin said. Early this afternoon, Tameka Cato, 17, was walking as fast as she could toward safety in her family's church, the nearby Kingdom Hall of Jehovahs Witness, with two younger brothers and her 7-year-old sister, Sangean, trying to keep up. Their parents planned to join them later.

Sangean in blue jeans and powder blue shirt was hefting a pink backpack stuffed with clothing and the others carried sacks of water and food along the deserted street. Nearly every business was shuttered in Kingston. But the tiny, gritty L & K Restaurant & Bar on Half Way Tree Road was open and so was Taylor's Funeral Home on East Street.

Elvis Gayle, one of the undertakers at the funeral home, said he had come in to help Ken Anderson, the caretaker, take down a sign that the wind might have blown away. They were determined to maintain the funeral home policy of being available to bereaved families 24 hours a day, every day, clear skies or not.

"Probably nobody is going to come out during the hurricane," Mr. Anderson said. "But we're staying open just in case."

Keith Sturridge, the burly owner of the bar, said he figured his business, with its concrete block structure and steel security bars on the windows, was a safer bet for riding out Hurricane Ivan than his 70-year-old home. He said he figured if he was going to be in the bar, he might as well be ready for business.

The counter stools and all the booths were empty in midafternoon as a light rain washed the front of the building. But Andre Jones, 30, a construction worker, and two other men were staying dry, just under the eaves of the bar's roof.

They laughed at the thought that like hundreds of thousands of evacuating Floridians, they might try to get out of the path of the storm. People could get away from the beaches in Jamaica to places like the restaurant , they said. But after that, there was no place to go on an island that was 150 miles long and 50 miles wide.

None of them had the money for a flight to Florida and the thought of that made them chuckle, too. "Florida is all mashed up and it's going to get hit again," Mr. Jones said. "What good is it going to do you to go there?"

Terry Aguayo contributed reporting from Miami for this article, and Perry Athanason from Marathon, Fla.

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica : Walls of waves crashed into seaside towns as deadly Hurricane Ivan lashed Jamaica with winds of 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour and threatened to grow stronger, with millions more people in its projected path.

"Rainfall amounts of eight to 12 inches, possibly causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, can be expected along the path of Ivan," it noted.

Ivan was pointed next at Cuba and the Florida Keys, the southern string of causeway-linked islands where mandatory evacuation was ordered, affecting some 80,000 people.

"Storm surge flooding of five to eight feet (1.5 to 2.4 meters) above normal tide levels, along with large and dangerous battering waves, are occurring primarily along the south coast of Jamaica," the US center added.

Jamaican authorities pleaded for 500,000 people to leave coastal areas most at risk from the massive storm, which has already killed 17 in Grenada, five in Venezuela, four in the Dominican Republic and one in Tobago.

The tiny spice island of Grenada, population 100,000, suffered catastrophic damage in the storm, according to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell.

The storm, the worst to hit the region in decades, has already killed at least 27 people in Grenada, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Tobago, and triggered panic buying and mass evacuations in parts of Cuba and Florida.

Seven-meter (23-foot) waves slammed the coastline of this mountainous, verdant Caribbean island nation of 2.7 million, where a state of emergency was declared at midday Friday.

Electricity was shut down across the island to protect the power grid, and rivers overflowed, sweeping away homes and flooding neighborhoods, with waist-high waters roiling with tree branches, boulders and debris. There were reports of scattered looting in Jamaica's crime-plagued capital, Kingston.

"There is widespread damage across Jamaica, roofs lifting everywhere and suburban residences around Kingston have been deeply affected, there is structural damage, ... power lines, live wires on the ground," O'Neil Hamilton, a Jamaican government spokesman in Washington, told AFP.

"Damage continues and it has been that way for the past 11 hours" and will continue given Ivan's slow forward motion, Hamilton said, noting there were no early reports of casualties.

He noted there were problems calling in to Jamaica, but "cell service is working still and land lines are working and people are calling out."

At 1200 GMT, Ivan's eye was located near just south of the western tip of Jamaica, or about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Montego Bay, hub of the island's critical tourist industry, the US National Hurricane Center reported.

The storm was churning west-northwest at about eight miles (13 kilometers) per hour, with 150-mile-per-hour (240-kilometer-per-hour) winds, and should move near the Cayman Islands in about 24 hours, the US center said.

Already a strong Category Four system out of a maximum of five, "some fluctuations in strength are expected but Ivan could become stronger during the next 24 hours," the center warned.

Up to 90 percent of buildings on the island were damaged, crops were destroyed and tourist resorts were in ruins. Looting and sporadic violence followed in the wake of the storm, prompting the United States to organize an evacuation of some 1,500 of its citizens living there.

About 60,000 people are believed to be homeless, with 5,000 to 8,000 people staying in 47 emergency shelters, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Relief Agency (CDERA) reported in Barbados.

"The Caribbean Disaster Relief Unit is now operational at both the air and sea ports and responsible for managing all incoming relief supplies" for Grenada, CDERA said.

In Cuba, where Ivan was due to hit Sunday, more than 40,000 of the island's 11 million people had been evacuated. The armed forces were ordered to prepare air raid shelters to operate as hurricane shelters.

Cuba's preparations come nearly one month after Hurricane Charley left five people dead there and an estimated one billion dollars in damage.

Forecasts showed the powerful hurricane could slam into Key West, Florida, the westernmost tip of the US archipelago, on Monday.

Thousands of cars, many towing boats, clogged the only road from the keys to the mainland late Friday.

"You can't take a chance," said Fernando Reyes, 37, as he finished packing his car in Key Largo for the trip north. "This one looks like it's going to hit and hit bad."

- AFP

Ivan rips through Cayman Islands

Category 4 storm predicted to hit western Cuba on Monday

Sunday, September 12, 2004 Posted: 4:21 PM EDT

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Ivan, blamed for at least 41 deaths in the Caribbean, pounded the Cayman Islands on Sunday, following a track toward the western tip of Cuba.

Communications with Grand Cayman were hampered by widespread power outages, but officials reported horizontal rain and major flooding over the island.

"Reports from ham radio operators and the Cayman Meteorological Service indicate that power is out throughout the island," said the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"Numerous buildings have lost their roofs. Water up to two feet deep covers the airport runway, and water as high as five feet is flowing through many homes."

With low-lying areas evacuated, many of the Cayman Islands' 45,000 residents hunkered down in shelters built to withstand strong hurricanes.

All but a few tourists left the island ahead of the storm, government spokeswoman Patricia Ebanks said.

All 100 residents of the smallest of the Caymans -- Little Cayman -- flew to Grand Cayman, 90 miles away.

Many of the 2,000 residents of Cayman Brac -- the second-smallest island -- were also in shelters on Grand Cayman, Ebanks said. Yet after the evacuations, the storm's path shifted westward, veering away from the smaller islands and more directly toward Grand Cayman.

Ivan strengthened to a Category 5 storm late Saturday, with winds topping 165 mph (264 kph) but weakened overnight to Category 4, with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph (240 kph).

Forecasters said it could regain Category 5 strength Sunday on its approach to Cuba.

At 2 p.m. ET, Ivan was moving west-northwest near 10 mph (17 kph), according to the center. Its eye was about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west of Grand Cayman.

Forecasters modified Ivan's predicted path again Sunday morning, saying it has not made as much of a northwesterly turn as expected.

The updated forecast put the storm farther west of Havana, Cuba, and well clear of south Florida and the Keys.

A chart of the storm's most likely path showed it passing over the western end of Cuba on Monday, heading into the Gulf of Mexico and hitting the northwest Florida Panhandle midday Wednesday, the hurricane center said.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the Florida Keys evacuated days ago, when forecasters were predicting the storm was headed in that direction.

Many of the people who live in the Keys have left, driving on U.S. 1 -- the only highway leading out of the island chain, Bush said.

A tropical storm watch was in effect for the Florida Keys from the Seven-Mile Bridge westward to the Dry Tortugas, the center said.

Ivan has been blamed for at least 41 deaths as it passed east to west through the Caribbean during the past week: 16 in Jamaica, 17 in Grenada, four in Venezuela and four in the Dominican Republic, according to officials from those countries.

Eight people drowned in the southern Jamaica town of Portland Cottage when a tidal surge pushed a wall of water into their coastal neighborhood, according to Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness. Another eight people died in other areas on the southern side of the island, disaster officials said.

Cubans expressed anxiety about the potential destruction predicted to hit their island Monday afternoon or evening.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Cuba from Pinar del Rio to Ciego de Avila, including the Isle of Youth. A hurricane watch remained in effect for the rest of Cuba.

Cuban President Fidel Castro went on television Saturday to warn residents to stock up on supplies and board up their homes.

"Whatever the hurricane does, we will all work together," he said.

Castro was quick to turn down any offer of relief that might come from the United States.

"From beforehand, I am saying we will not accept any help from those who have applied economic measures against our country," he said. "Save the hypocrisy of offering aid to Cuba."

Even with storm's center predicted to pass west of Havana, the Cuban capital was still in danger's way.

Many of Havana's 2.5 million residents live in dilapidated housing that has been poorly maintained for the past 45 years.

The government ordered everyone living above the fourth floor of any building to move to a lower level. Old and fragile buildings in Cuba have collapsed during thunderstorms.

Cubans usually take warnings to seek safer shelter seriously.

Without hardware stores in each community, Cubans are unable to board up their windows with plywood. Even tape is hard to find.

Last Updated: September 13, 2004 15:15 EDT

Western Cuba endures Ivan's fury

Ivan could sink New Orleans
From Doug Simpson in New Orleans
September 14, 2004

MORE than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans have been warned to get out amid threats Hurricane Ivan could submerge the Big Easy.

The 225km/h tempest continues to churn towards the Gulf Coast of the US, with weather watchers fearing it could be the most disastrous storm to hit the nation in nearly 40 years.

Residents streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic in an agonisingly slow exodus amid dire warnings that Ivan could overwhelm New Orleans with up to six metres of filthy, polluted water.

About three-quarters of a million more people along the coast in Florida, Mississippi and Alabama also were told to evacuate.

Forecasters said Ivan, blamed for at least 68 deaths in the Caribbean, could reach 257km/h and strengthen to category 5, the highest level, by the time it blows ashore. That could be as early as tomorrow.

"Hopefully the house will still be here when we get back," said Tara Chandra, a doctor at Tulane University in New Orleans who packed his car up with possession, moved plants indoors and tried to book a Houston hotel room.

Mr Chandra said he wanted to ride out the storm, but his wife wanted to evacuate: "All the news reports are kind of freaking her out."

With hurricane-force wind extending 170km from its centre, Ivan could cause significant damage no matter where it strikes.

Authorities have already strongly urged an estimated 1.9 million people in four states to flee to higher ground.

"I beg people on the coast: do not ride this storm out," Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said, urging people in other parts of the state to open their homes to relatives, friends and co-workers.

At 8pm Tuesday (9am AEST today), Ivan was centred about 523km south-south-east of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-north-west at 16km/h.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami posted a hurricane warning for a 480km stretch from Florida's western Panhandle to New Orleans and Grand Isle in Louisiana.

Forecasters said Ivan could bring a coastal storm surge of 3m to 4.8m, topped by large, battering waves.

"If we get the kind of tidal surge they are saying, the fishing boats are all going to be in the trees," said Jamee Lowry, owner of a bar and restaurant in Perdido Key, Florida, near the Alabama border.

New Orleans, the largest US city below sea level, is particularly vulnerable to flooding, and Mayor Ray Nagin was among the first to urge residents to get out while they can. The city's Louis Armstrong Airport was ordered closed last night.

Three metres below sea level in spots, New Orleans is a bowl-shaped depression that sits between the 800m-wide Mississippi River and Rhode Island-size Lake Pontchartrain. It relies on a system of levees, canals and huge pumps to keep dry.

The city has not taken a big direct hit from a hurricane since Betsy struck in 1965, parts of the city sunk under two metres of water. Betsy, a category 3 storm, was blamed for 74 deaths in Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. Experts say Ivan could be worse, sending water pouring over levees, flooding to the rooftops and turning streets into a toxic brew of raw sewage, gas and chemicals from nearby refineries.

In the French Quarter, businesses put up plywood and closed their shutters. A few people were still hanging out at Cafe du Monde, a favourite spot for French roast coffee and beignets, and a man playing a trombone outside had a box full of tips.

"They said get out, but I can't change my flight, so I figure I might as well enjoy myself," said George Senton, of Newark, New Jersey, who listened to the music. "At least I'll have had some good coffee and some good music before it gets me."

Urgent US military intervention needed in Grand Cayman

The following is the full text of an
open letter from Mr Timothy Adam
Chief Executive, Cable & Wireless
(Cayman Islands) Ltd

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Grand Cayman urgently needs military intervention to restore and to preserve law and order. This needs to happen TODAY.

No doubt US authorities are already aware of the widespread looting that has occurred. I have heard sporadic attempts at looting continue to occur. I got caught in traffic right beside a site where police had shot several times at a looter and had detained him, and there was a near riot - a very volatile situation to which police responded promptly with heavy assault weapon teams.

Last night there was a prison riot at HMP Northward in which a number of prisoners escaped. A prison guard was injured (I have heard it was not fatal) and a fire was started in the prison. ALL the island's law enforcement agencies had to be diverted to deal with this. The situation has been calmed down but it is still volatile, the police have had to go back there in force subsequent to the initial incident being calmed, and there now remains a serious weakness in the security force because a lot of the police and Special Constables are now diverted to handle the situation. Worse yet, there is a convicted rapist and a convicted murderer on the loose. Police have now been diverted from their already seriously stretched law and order duties to search for these dangerous criminals under difficult circumstances. The island's power supply has not been turned back on yet and even when it is, most of the electricity poles on the island have been broken, even huge concrete poles snapped, and there are NO streetlights ANYWHERE on the island. Police are operating in total darkness.

Police communication with outside law enforcement agencies have been very restricted due to the storm.

Our towers appear to have all withstood the storm and at least seven of them have anti-collision lights operating, which is great news because that means they still have electrical power. One of our top priorities is restoring the national transmission system links so that we can get those RBSs operational again. The Cable & Wireless core systems are now fully functional, including both GSM and TDMA core systems, local host exchange, ISC, internet, international submarine cable Maya 1, etc.

National transmission links have sustained damage and are out due to flooding and other physical damage inflicted by Hurricane Ivan. Restoration of national transmission links is one of our top priorities, and our teams are working day and night on this. Once we get transmission to our cell sites we are hopeful most of them will become operational again.

On-island communication is spotty. Police use cellular communication in addition to the Government radio system, but presently only a few areas have cellular coverage. There is a good Government radio communication network but in several areas the police are having to operate without any communication at all with headquarters or other units for backup.

Central Police Headquarters in George Town has been destroyed by Hurricane Ivan. The police have moved their headquarters to the first floor of One Technology Square, the island's telecommunication bunker owned and operated by Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd. of which I am Chief Executive.

This site is presently also housing the 911 Emergency Communications Centre, which we moved here as a temporary measure a couple of days in advance of the storm at the request of government due to their concerns about the survivability of their normal centre located in Central Police Station. Suffice it to say that proved to be a very wise decision!

I should emphasise (to the US Military) that in the present situation all the islands' internal and external telecommunications are entirely dependent on the continued operation of this site.

In summary:
If we lose this site, we have lost the country. This site needs to be defended with military assistance as a matter of urgent priority. The US Military also need to know that in this site and in an adjacent building (AT&T Wireless offices in Trinity Square on Eastern Avenue) there are in total at least 25 United States citizens who in my considered opinion need their country's protection NOW, hence I believe under US laws use of the military is justified or authorised. For the most part these are people who are very necessary to help in the telecommunications restoration work. PLEASE BE CLEAR: WE ARE NOT SUGGESTING THAT THE US SHOULD EVACUATE THEM; on the contrary most of these people need to remain here because THEY ARE VITAL TO THE REBUILDING PROCESS THAT IS GOING ON SO THAT THE COUNTRY CAN RECOVER FROM THE HURRICANE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE! There are a few of this number who are spouses and children of Cable & Wireless staff, families, and/or others who have taken refuge in One Technology Square, several of whom we are planning to evacuate through existing channels and military assistance is not needed for that.

I should also mention the thousands of United States of America citizens who are located elsewhere in the island, who for the most part are also necessary for the restoration effort. A bit of US Military help is required not just for One Technology Square, but to assist law enforcement across the island, and will no doubt contribute to the safety and security of those US citizens.

This will work best if the US Military works closely with the Royal Cayman Islands Police [RCIP]. It does not need an over-reaction, a heavy-handed approach, or imposition of martial law, but rather assistance and relief for the exhausted police team and the capability to execute no-nonsense law enforcement across the island, but the US Military must make it clear to British (and if necessary local) officials that either the RCIP will let them help or the US Military will do what is necessary without RCIP cooperation. If the US do not act in a measured way and if they come in with too heavy a hand, we risk losing the island's reputation for stability, and that will destroy our economy.

Let me emphasise that what is needed is for the US Military to provide the necessary relief to the limited and over-extended local authorities, and the local authorities need to accept that help. While the local law enforcement authorities seem to be "holding strain" and are maintaining peace and stability, this is not sustainable without some relief from the outside whether it is British or US but I am concerned that at this point the British are too far away.

Cayman Airways ran "first-come, first-served" evacuation shuttle flights to Miami yesterday from the time the runway opened up until nightfall prevented airport operations. The airport has NO navigational aids, NO PAPI, and only partially functional runway lights. They are hoping to have PAPI operational again by the end of the week. Air Traffic Control is operational, and inbound aircraft can use RNAV for approaches and landings. Kingston ATC is coordinating the air traffic. Grand Cayman ATC has had very limited outside communication due to storm damage to telecommunication faculties, but I have received word that that has been restored overnight.

The British appear to be "playing politics". The police force is a dedicated team of professionals who are determined to do their job - and do it on their own if they get no help - but they are very limited in number, they have been part of this tremendous group of people across this island who have brought us through the worst storm ever in these islands' known history without ONE SINGLE reported death so far, but the police are very limited in number and they are exhausted yet reports are that the British have refused to send in Royal Marines or Military Police to help. HMS Richmond and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tanker Wave Ruler are here, the navy has sent ashore several of their crew from the ships, but they are unarmed and not prepared to engage in law enforcement. We understand the civilian Governor Bruce Dinwiddy has asked the British for military assistance in maintaining law and order, but so far it has not been forthcoming and so far as I have heard, there is not even a promise that it will come. There may be some reluctance at the higher echelons of the Government and Law Enforcement as to the need for outside assistance, but at the senior operational leadership level my sense of the situation is that the police are desperate for outside help.

Please know that I don't want to criticise anybody who is here in Grand Cayman. We have been through a living nightmare, we have done this together, we are determined, willing, competent and know what it takes to work together to put this country back together FAST, we are not at present in a total breakdown of law and order, but we are very much on the edge right at the moment and we do need some help NOW.

If I do not see a positive response by US Military to help us get our country's law and order stable which will also protect US citizens and US interests, I will assume this message has either not reached the right people or that they do not believe or understand it. We will then have to rely entirely on US and international public pressure to have the US give us some assistance immediately and for the local officials to accept it. Therefore I have already provided a copy of this to a local publisher, and to his webmaster who is located overseas. This person is a personal friend of mine, a ""fellow believer", who is one of the over 460 people who took shelter in this one building during the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan. He has sworn an oath to embargo this until noon today, however if I do not advise him to the contrary (and/or if we lose contact with his webmaster) this will appear on a website that is receiving hundreds of thousands of hits a day from people wanting to know what's happening in Cayman right now. Yesterday it received 509,000 hits.

Miami is one hour by jet away from here, Guantanamo Bay about 30 minutes, British forces are too far away to be of use now even if the British make the decision to intervene.

BUT MY AIM IS THAT THIS IS NEVER TO BE MADE PUBLIC - it would cause a lot of unnecessary panic, it will get blown way out of proportion and so will the response. it's not that the situation is out of control right now: with some help the RCIP can keep it under control, but we have to have a bit of military help to give us a margin of safety as a temporary measure, and hence my precaution to use publication as a "last resort" to see that we get some help. I just pray that it works.

Trust me and listen loud!

Timothy Adam
Chief Executive, Cable & Wireless (Cayman Islands) Ltd

Power Outages Already Reported In Panhandle

Residents Flee Gulf Coast Ahead of Storm
By ALLEN G. BREED, AP

NEW ORLEANS (Sept. 15) -- With 135-mph Hurricane Ivan closing in with frightening intensity, this flood-prone city scrambled Wednesday to get people out of harm's way, putting the frail and elderly in the cavernous Louisiana Superdome and urging others to move to higher floors in tall buildings.

Ivan made a slight turn north on a path that could bring it ashore early Thursday at the Alabama-Mississippi line, near Mobile, Ala., but forecasters said everyone from New Orleans to the Panhandle should be worried. Even the tiniest adjustment in the storm track could change where Ivan comes ashore by hundreds of miles.

The effects from Ivan could be seen across the Gulf Coast several hours before the storm's expected arrival: The churning surf, ominous clouds, swaying traffic lights and escalating winds were all the reminders some people needed to take cover. The storm also claimed its first deaths in the United States, spinning off tornadoes that killed two people in Panama City, Fla. Others were trapped inside their damaged homes in the Panhandle city.

	Hurricane Resources
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''We have a report from a deputy that it looks like a war zone,'' said sheriff's spokeswoman Ruth Sasser.

Hurricane-force winds extended out 105 miles from the Category 4 storm, meaning a large swath of the Gulf Coast could get slammed with a storm surge of 10 to 16 feet and up to 15 inches of rain. After reaching land, Ivan threatened to stall over the Southeast and southern Appalachians, with a potential for as much as 20 inches of rain.

Ivan's monster waves - some up to 25 feet - were already destroying homes along the Florida coast Wednesday. Twelve-foot waves boomed ashore at Gulf Shores, Ala., eroding the beach. A buoy about 300 miles south of Panama City registered waves over 34 feet high.

''We're leaving today. All this is going under,'' surfer Chuck Myers said along the beach at Gulf Shores. ''We surfed it all day yesterday. It was glorious.''

At 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Ivan was centered about 125 miles south of the Alabama coast and was moving north at 14 mph. The storm has now killed at least 70 people in all.

Of the roughly 2 million who fled the path of the storm, often in bumper-to-bumper caravans on highways turned into one-way evacuation routes, 1.2 million were from greater New Orleans, a city particularly vulnerable to hurricanes because it sits below sea level, between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

In Louisiana, a cancer patient and an 80-year-old nursing home resident died after they evacuated and were caught in hours-long traffic jams.

Ivan's 11th-hour turn may have spared this bowl-shaped city a direct hit, but officials warned that the levees and pumping stations that normally hold back the water may not be enough to protect the city.

''If we turn up dead tomorrow, it's my fault,'' said Jane Allinder, who stayed stubbornly behind at her daughter's French Quarter doll shop to keep an eye on her cat.

Police began clearing people off the streets, enforcing a 2 p.m. curfew.

''I think it's safe to say we will have flooding in this city,'' said Mayor Ray Nagin. However, he contradicted a statement from his emergency preparedness director that the city needed at least 10,000 body bags to handle possible drowning victims.

Thousands of tourists were believed stranded in New Orleans, along with 100,000 mostly inner-city residents without cars. The mayor advised them to resort to ''vertical evacuations,'' suggesting they take shelter in buildings taller than two stories. If that is not possible, he said, they should go into an attic and take equipment with them that would let allow them to cut through the roof and get out.

Rick Pfeifer, a salesman from Washougal, Wash., was stuck in New Orleans with no flights out and no cars to rent after arriving earlier this week for a National Safety Congress convention. His storm rations included as many chips, pretzels and bottled water as he could buy.

''I'm going to ride it out in the high-ground area of the city,'' he said wryly. ''Fourth floor in a good hotel, with a good bar.''

Frail, elderly and sick residents unable to get out were moved to the 72,000-seat Louisiana Superdome, where 200 cots supplanted the dome's usual tenant, the New Orleans Saints.

LuLinda Williams wept after dropping off her bedridden grandmother, who is on oxygen, at the Superdome. Only one family member was allowed to stay with each patient, so Williams left her daughter.

''I thought they'd let the family stay with them,'' Williams said. ''Where are the rest of us supposed to go now? How are we supposed to know she's OK?''

Nagin later said the dome would also be opened as a one-night last resort for able-bodied storm refugees. The last time that happened, during Hurricane Georges in 1998, the 14,000 refugees nearly did more damage than the storm itself. Countless televisions, seat cushions and bar stools were stolen, and workers spent months cleaning graffiti off the walls.

As the storm drew near, streets along Mississippi's Gulf Coast were all but deserted, and homes and businesses, including its 12 floating casinos, were boarded up. Only patrol cars and an occasional luggage-packed car or van could be seen passing Gulfport's ''Welcome to the Gulf Coast'' billboard. Winds howled across Louisiana's bayous with enough force to topple trees and knock out power.

Majestic live oaks that line many Mobile streets swayed in gusting winds as the port city of some 200,000 braced for a hurricane expected to be even more destructive than Frederic, which killed five people 25 years ago.

Mobile bar owner Lori Hunter said her business would remain closed ''until the landlord takes the boards down off the windows.''

''We're staying,'' she said. ''I'm from New York. This is my first one. Terrorists scare me but not a hurricane.''

09-15-04 19:23 EDT

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.

GULF SHORES, Ala. - Hurricane Ivan slammed ashore early Thursday with winds of 130 mph, packing deadly tornadoes and a powerful punch of waves and rain that threatened to swamp communities from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. At least eight people were killed.

For the millions of Gulf Coast residents who spent a frightening night in shelters and boarded-up homes, the worst could be yet to come: up to 15 inches of rain and a storm surge of up to 16 feet.

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

This funnel cloud was photographed near Opal in northern Virginia.
From NBC12 News
Friday, September 17, 2004

What once was Hurricane Ivan spawned more than a dozen tornados across Virginia Friday, toppling trees, damaging buildings and bringing the risk of flooding. The Department of Emergency Management says at least 15 tornadoes were reported.

A tornado is being blamed for damage along Nuckols Road, from Twin Hickory to Wyndham in the West End. There were uprooted trees, downed power lines, pieces of rain gutters, vinyl siding and window shutters tossed from street to street.

Many trees were reported down in the Harvest Glen Subdivision near Short Pump (see photo above).

Fire officials in Caroline County say four twisters touched down between 4:30 and 6:30 Friday evening. No injuries were reported but there was damage to at least one home and a garage.

In Henry County, Sheriff Frank Cassell says a tornado tore the roof off a factory, flipped two tractor-trailer rigs off a four-lane highway (see photos below), damaged homes and ripped up or snapped thousands of trees.

The National Weather Service reported tornados near Roanoke and Bedford that flattened large trees, and tornadoes were reported in Fredericksburg and Manassas.

Governor Mark Warner declared an emergency because of the storms, allowing him to mobilize state police and National Guard units.

Heavy rain fell in many parts of already waterlogged Virginia with more forecast through tomorrow.

Ivan is also causing widespread power outages and flooding in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ivan is now responsible for more than 100 deaths -- more than 70 in the Caribbean -- and 38 in the U-S. The latest victims were in North Carolina -- where four people died in a mountain village hit by heavy rain.

Recovery from Ivan has been complicated by widespread power outages, washed-out roads and bridges, and ongoing gas shortages. In some areas, emergency workers had to be flown in by helicopters.

Authorities say it could take weeks to restore water, power and sewer services in parts of the hard-hit Florida Panhandle.

Insurance experts put Ivan's damage at anywhere from three to ten billion dollars. Hurricanes Charley and Frances had combined estimated insured damages between about eleven and 13 billion dollars.

(c) 2004. Jefferson Pilot Communications

HOUSTON (Sept. 23) - Ivan is making an encore appearance in the Gulf of Mexico, this time as a tropical storm that could come ashore along the coasts of Texas or Louisiana.

The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning for the Gulf of Mexico shoreline from the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana west to Sargent, Texas.

Ivan was upgraded to a tropical storm Wednesday evening after sustained winds were measured near 40 mph. The Hurricane Center said the storm could strengthen before landfall.

Forecasters said the center of the storm was poorly organized. At 5 a.m. EDT, Ivan had top sustained winds near 40 mph and was about 180 miles southeast of the upper Texas coast, forecasters said. It was moving north-northwest at about 15 mph.

The first round of Ivan and its remnants were blamed for at least 52 deaths in the United States and 70 in the Caribbean. Much of the destruction was caused by flooding.

Also Wednesday, North Carolina officials warned coastal residents they may have to evacuate as early as Sunday if Hurricane Jeanne continues on its projected path.

Jeanne sits several hundred miles east of the Bahamas, but is already causing high swells, dangerous rip currents and some erosion problems in North Carolina.

Several meteorological models used by the National Hurricane Center show the storm making landfall somewhere between Georgetown, S.C., and the Cape Fear River early next week. Other models show Jeanne affecting the Savannah, Ga., area.

While meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Jeanne and its 100-mph top sustained winds could hit as far north as the Carolinas, storm-battered Florida was a more likely target than it was a day earlier, said Eric Blake, a meteorologist at the hurricane center.

''It's time for Floridians to seriously pay attention,'' Blake said.

At 5 a.m. EDT, Jeanne was centered about 475 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It was moving west near 3 mph, a speed that would bring it near Florida by Sunday. An eventual turn to the northwest was predicted, but it was unclear if that would happen before Jeanne reached Florida.

Jeanne could first pass over the northwest and central Bahamas; those areas were under a tropical storm watch. Blake said it seemed less possible that Jeanne would curve back out to sea and avoid land.

Jeanne was blamed for more than 1,070 deaths in Haiti, where it hit over the weekend as a tropical storm and caused flooding. It moved out to sea before looping back toward land.

Many Floridians hoped that they were done with hurricanes this year. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan hit the state over a span of five weeks this summer, causing billions of dollars of damage and more than 60 deaths.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Karl stayed on an open-ocean course that only threatened ships, while Tropical Storm Lisa moved slowly far out in the Atlantic.

Karl, the seventh hurricane this season, had top sustained winds near 125 mph, up from about 110 mph a day earlier. It was expected to weaken as it moved over cooler waters. At 5 a.m., Karl was centered about 1,150 miles west-southwest of the Azores and was moving north-northeast near 23 mph.

At 5 a.m., Lisa had top sustained winds near 50 mph. The 12th named storm of the season was centered about 1,180 miles west of the Cape Verde islands and was moving west near 2 mph. Lisa was expected to turn toward the northwest, possibly following Karl's path in open seas.

The hurricane season ends Nov. 30. 

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press