THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
MONDAY AUGUST 20, 2007
NEWS 9A
》 HURRICANE DEAN
Hurricane mars Jamaica, residents refuse to leave
Dean predicted to reach Category 5 by mainland
BY HOWARD CAMPBELL ASSOCIATED PRESS
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hurricane Dean pummeled Jamaica with gusting winds and torrential rains Sunday after the prime minister made a last-minute plea for residents to abandon their homes and for shelter. Many residents ignored the call, however, while tourists holed up in resorts with hurricane-proof walls.
late Saturday.
The storm, which had already killed eight people on its destructive march across the Caribbean, triggered evacuation calls from the Cayman Islands to Texas, and forced the Space Shuttle to cut short its mission. Cruise ships changed course to avoid Dean, but some tourists in Jamaica could not get away before the island closed its airports
Hurricane-force winds began lashing Jamaica on Sunday afternoon, said meteorologist Rebecca Waddington at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Forecasters said Jamaica would take a near-direct hit with Dean's eye passing just to the south later Sunday night.
Two women look for shelter during light rain and strong wind from Hurricane Dean as it moves along Hawaii's southern coast on Sunday in Les Cayes, about 92 miles from Port-au-Prince.
tained winds of 160 mph before crashing into the Cayman Islands on Monday and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula after that. The Mexican mainland or Texas could be hit later.
The government set up more than 1,000 shelters in converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena. Authorities urged people to take cover from the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph and was expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain on the island.
The National Hurricane Center said the first hurricane of the Atlantic season was projected to reach the most dangerous classification, Category 5, with sus-
ASSOCIATED PRESS
In Galveston, Texas, residents remembered the 2005 Hurricane Rita evacuation when motorists from the coast ran into residents fleeing Houston, clogging evacuation routes for miles. Officials said they worked out the kinks in the system, but many Galveston residents remain skeptical.
In the Cayman Islands, authorities ordered tourists to board shuttle buses for the airport. Hundreds of frantic vacationers lined up at ticket counters for special flights home, and many slept on the airport floor. Cayman Islands Gov. Stuart Jack said all but 1,500 tourists were evacuated from the British
territory by Sunday afternoon.
In Mexico, tourists also streamed out of resorts on Yucatan peninsula and formed long lines at the airport to try to fly home. Twelve empty planes arrived Sunday to move travelers out, said airport spokesman Eduardo Rivadeneira. The state government set up 530 shelters with a capacity of 73,000 people.
as 20 feet as it passed the Dominican Republic on Saturday, flooding roads and drowning a boy. At least two people were killed and about 150 homes were destroyed in Haiti, emergency officials said.
The hurricane created massive waves and surges as high
》 HURRICANE DEAN
Southern Texas preparing for storm despite uncertainty
BY MONICA RHOR ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Even with powerful Hurricane Dean days away and its path uncertain, officials in sadden south Texas left little to chance Sunday, ready planes, gasoline and hundreds of buses to get residents out in a hurry.
Authorities passed out sandbags, evacuated inmates and opened emergency operations centers in a region still soaked
from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin, which caused severe flooding and at least one death Sunday in Oklahoma.
"We're preparing for Hurricane Dean just as if it is going to be direct hit," said Johnny Cavazos, the chief emergency director for Cameron County at the state's southernmost tip.
A state of emergency was declared in the resort town of South Padre Island. About 3,300 jail and prison inmates in the area were to be bused to correctional facilities elsewhere by Sunday night.
In Washington, R. David Paulison, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said up to 100,000 people might have to be evacuated from the state's southeastern coast and its immigrant shantytowns near the Mexican border. The storm is on course for northern Mexico, but could shift and hit the region around Brownsville, Texas, Paulison said.
In Oklahoma, what was left
of Erin flooded homes and roads and blacked out thousands of customers, mostly in the Oklahoma City area. One drowning was blamed on the flooding and a motorist was missing, local and state officials said.
The level of preparation for Dean was influenced by memories of two destructive hurricanes that hammered the Gulf Coast region in 2005.
"In part, it is because of the unfortunate events from Rita and Katrina," Cavazos said.
During Rita, the evacuation quickly turned into a nightmare of clogged highways, stalled traffic and sweltering heat, as motorists from the coast ran into residents fleeing Houston. Gas stations ran out of fuel and supplies, and drivers sat for hours on gridlocked evacuation routes.
Dean was a Category Four storm Sunday, threatening to pour as much as 20 inches of rain on Jamaica. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said it was projected to reach the
most dangerous hurricane classification, Category 5, with wind of 160 mph before crashing into the Mexican coastline near Cancun on Monday night or Tuesday.
The storm was forecast to make landfall Wednesday, likely somewhere along the coast of northern Mexican or southern Texas, the hurricane center said.
Even if Mexico gets the brunt of the storm, Texas could still get soaked by Dean's outer bands of heavy rain, Cavazos said.
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