Jamaica getting ready to face «monstrous» hurricane Dean
Montego Bay. The fight will be uneven. Jamaicans who could afford it, boarded up their houses (photo Jean-Cosme Delaloye) on Saturday August 18 2007 to face Dean, a monstrous category 4 storm. Others like Nelson, a man living in Orange Bay, on the western Coast of Jamaica, are forced to rely on their good fortune. « I have not boarded up my house, he says. There is nothing we can do. We can only wait and hope. Everything is going to be ok». Jamaica converted schools, churches and the indoor national sports arena into shelters and imposed a curfew. On Sunday, people were still boarding up their houses to take cover from a house that is poised to hit their country later on today.The Jamaican Red Cross is concerned about people’s access to drinking water in rural areas of the island. On Saturday night, Prime minister Portia Simpson Miller urged Jamaicans to get ready to face the storm. “Do not wait for the last minute to make the decision to move from where you are”, she said. “Decide now and begin to make arrangements to leave now.” Airports were shut early last night. On Saturday afternoon, the streets of Lucea, capital of Hanover parish, were very busy. TV networks are tracking Dean. People still remember the damage done by hurricanes Gilbert in 1989 and Ivan in 2004 and jammed supermarkets to buy water, canned food and batteries. In Negril, the grocery store had no bread left and there only a few bottles of water left. In Montego Bay, Kady, a young Jamaican who is studying in New York, came back home to face Dean with her family. « My parents are here, she says. My brothers and my boyfriend too. If I had stayed in New York, I would have been extremely worried. It is better for me to be here». Dean, a dangerous category 4 storm, did not prevent charters full of European and American tourists to land in Montego Bay on Saturday. With national elections a bit more than a week away, this Saturday should have been another busy day of campaigning. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller asked everybody to stop any political activity before Dean hits the island. Jamaica has been placed on full alert. Emergency workers have been summoned. Many people have already been evacuated to the more than 1000 shelters around the island as Dean and 150-mph winds makes its way toward Jamaica. The usually lively streets of Negril are totally empty on this Saturday night. Restaurants are mostly closed as people are waiting to see what damage could cause in Jamaica. «You can’t fight a hurrycane, says Noel. The only thing you can do, is wait for it to go by ». In his office, Kenric Davis, president of the Negril Area Environmental Trust, says he is « concerned ». « If Dean hurts us, the country will be out of commission for 4 or 5 days, he adds. The question is not to know whether Dean will hit us, but when ». CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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