Charley storms into category two

HAVANA: Hurricane Charley rapidly strengthened into a Category Two storm as it barrelled toward Cuba on its way to Florida yesterday, prompting authorities to evacuate tourists from an outlying island and herd livestock to higher ground. Forecasters said Charley could develop into a major hurricane by the time it hit Cuba Thursday night, after drenching the Cayman Islands and killing a man in Jamaica who died trying to save six people from flood waters.

A hurricane warning was in effect across Cuba’s western provinces: Pinar del Rio, Havana province, Havana city and Matanzas. In the western province of Pinar del Rio, farmers used plastic sheeting to protect precious tobacco leaves drying in curing houses and herded cows and goats out of low-lying areas. An estimated 1,300 foreigners vacationing on the small southern island of Cayo Largo del Sur were moved late Wednesday to Varadero beach, on the central-northern coast of Cuba’s main island, the National Information Agency reported. Because Charley was still a Category One — the weakest of all hurricanes with winds at 90 mph (145 kph) — when it struck the Caymans yesterday, minimal damage was expected in the wealthy British territory known for white sand beaches, diving and offshore banking.

But after the hurricane’s eye churned between the islands and took aim at Cuba, forecasters said the storm had rapidly strengthened into a Category Two, which requires sustained winds of at least 96 mph (154 kph). “They are still feeling the effects in the Caymans and it’s not over yet,” said Daniel Brown, a meteorologist at the US National Hurricane Centre. Charley was expected to pass yesterday over or just east of Cuba’s Isle of Youth, a small island off the main island’s southwestern coast. Forecasters at the US hurricane centre said in their 2 pm update that Charley could strengthen into a Category Three storm by the time it makes landfall on the southern coast of Cuba’s main island later in the evening. From there, it is expected to head over the capital of Havana, estimated population 2.2 million, between midnight yesterday and this morning. “We will have hurricane force winds over Havana for at least two hours,” Jose Rubiera of Cuba’s Meteorology Institute said in an early afternoon broadcast on state television. A Category Three has sustained winds of at last 111 mph (178 kph) and can cause extensive damage.

There were reports of flooding and downed trees that made some roads impassable in parts of Little Cayman, population 150, and a brief power outage in Grand Cayman’s East End. More than 300 people sought shelter on all three islands in the territory — 247 in Cayman Brac, 35 in Little Cayman and 29 people in Grand Cayman, authorities said. A hurricane warning was in effect for the Cayman Islands, parts of western Cuba and the Florida Keys, but was expected to be discontinued in the Caymans yesterday. All warnings were discontinued for Jamaica, where one man was killed as he disappeared beneath rising flood waters Wednesday night.

Byron Barret, whose age was not immediately known, died trying to rescue six other people from rising flood waters in St Elizabeth parish on Jamaica’s south coast, said Yvonne Morrison of the St Elizabeth Parish Council. Hurricane Lili killed three people in Jamaica in 2002 and left hundreds homeless. Airports were closed in the Cayman Islands. Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean said ships with scheduled stops there were being diverted. Sister islands Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, with a combined population of 1,300, also hunkered down for the hurricane. Sixty guests at the Divi Tiara Beach Resort in Cayman Brac got on their hands and knees, filling sandbags to protect the hotel against storm surges. In 1988, Category Four Hurricane Gilbert pummelled Cayman Brac, damaging homes and agriculture.