11:19 25Sep2004 Hurricane Jeanne nears Bahamas, threatens Florida

MIAMI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Deadly Hurricane Jeanne was closing in on the
northern Bahamas on Saturday on its way to deliver yet another hit on
Florida, already buffeted by three hurricanes in the past six weeks.
Hundreds of thousands of people on Florida's east coast were told to
leave their homes again in anticipation of the storm, which may have killed
up to 2,000 people when it caused devastating floods in Haiti last weekend.
Jeanne was strengthening on Saturday on its westward journey through the
Atlantic Ocean, with top sustained winds reaching 105 mph (170 kph) from 100
mph (160 kph) on Friday night.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm was expected to
grow stronger in the next 24 hours "and will likely become a major hurricane
later today."
The storm was forecast to move over the Bahamas' Abaco Islands in the
next few hours and approach the southeastern coast of Florida on Saturday
night or early on Sunday, threatening an area pummelled by Hurricane Frances
just three weeks ago.
If Jeanne slams into Florida, it will be the first time since
record-keeping began in 1851 the state has been hit by four hurricanes in
one season, the hurricane centre said.
At 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Saturday, the center of Jeanne was near latitude
26.5 north and longitude 76.2 west, about 55 miles (90 km) east of Great
Abaco Island in the northwestern Bahamas and 240 miles (385 km) east of the
southeast coast of Florida. The storm was moving toward the west near 14 mph
(22 kph).
A hurricane warning, meaning residents should prepare for hurricane
conditions in 24 hours, was in effect along the Florida east coast from
Florida City northward to St. Augustine. A hurricane warning was also in
effect for the northwestern Bahamas, including the Abacos, Grand Bahama
Island and New Providence, which includes the capital, Nassau.
A hurricane watch remained in effect for the northeast Florida and
Georgia coasts from north of St. Augustine to Altamaha Sound, Georgia, and a
tropical storm warning was in effect on the west coast of Florida from East
Cape Sable northward to Anclote Key.

'WE CANNOT BE COMPLACENT'
Authorities in more than a dozen Florida counties, including the
populous southeast urban area of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, urged
residents to leave vulnerable coastal areas such as barrier islands and
mobile homes that could be ripped apart.
"We cannot be complacent, I know there's been a lot of issues about
hurricane fatigue," Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas said after
acknowledging people were tired of having to put up shutters and spend their
days listening to television and radio. "We must be prepared."
Much of Florida, the fourth most populous state, with a population of 17
million, is still stunned after an extremely rare series of three
hurricanes -- Charley, Frances and Ivan -- since Aug. 13 that caused tens of
billions of dollars in losses and hammered sectors such as the citrus
industry and tourism.
Some 280,000 people were told to leave their homes in Miami-Dade and
Broward counties and hundreds of thousands more were urged to evacuate along
the coast.
In the Bahamas, a 700-island chain with a population of 300,000,
residents of Grand Bahama and Abaco islands, both still recovering from the
ravages of Frances three weeks ago, packed into shelters as the storm
loomed.
Silbert Mills, chairman of Abaco's disaster preparedness committee, said
there was a feeling of "ubiquitous melancholy" on the island in the face of
the approaching storm.


Saturday, 25 September 2004 11:19:47RTRS [nN25364875] {C}ENDS

14:15 25Sep2004 DJN-DJ Hurricane Jeanne Gathers Strength, Bears Down On
Bahamas

FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP)--Hurricane Jeanne gathered strength Saturday as
it bore down on the Bahamas, where hundreds of people took refuge in schools
and churches ahead of an expected direct hit.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami warned of 5-10 inches of rain,
huge waves and a storm surge four to eight feet above normal tide on the
north side of Grand Bahama Island when the storm hits later in the day.
Winds were 105 mph, up slightly from Friday.
"The wind is howling," said Richard Fawkes, a 52-year-old Bahamian
taking refuge at the Abaco island shelter. "It's really coming with
intensity now."
He said the metal shutters on the windows were rattling in the fierce
gusts, and water was seeping inside.
About 700 evacuees crowded into a school in the town of Marsh Harbor as
Jeanne's outer winds and heavy rains lashed Abaco island Saturday. The storm
is then expected to continue up to Florida.
The scene was all too familiar for islands still recovering from
Hurricane Frances. People waited in long lines at gas stations; crowded into
stores to stock up on food, water and batteries; and rushed to nail plywood
over their windows.
"We expect two of our islands to get hit hard -Abaco and Grand Bahama,"
said Jeffrey Simmons, a meteorologist at the Bahamas weather service. The
capital of Nassau was projected to be brushed with winds of up to 73 mph, he
said.
Officials urged people to evacuate low-lying homes, and shelters opened
on the islands of Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama.
"We fear that it's going to bring more water damage," said Richard
Fawkes, a 52-year-old Bahamian reached by phone at the Abaco island shelter.
He said he boarded up his beachfront home and was laying out a quilt to
sleep atop several desks. "I think people have a lot of battle fatigue from
(Hurricane) Frances."
Flooding from Jeanne has already killed more than 1,100 people in Haiti
last weekend and left more than 1,250 others missing.
The circuitous storm had threatened the Bahamas last week as well,
after it battered Haiti and the Dominican Republic a first time. It instead
turned east, heading out into the Atlantic Ocean, raising hopes it would
spare the Bahamas and Florida.
But the storm then turned a loop and headed back west toward the
Bahamas. At 8 a.m. EDT, Jeanne's center was very near Marsh Harbor on Abaco
island in the northwestern Bahamas. It was 190 miles east of Florida's
southeast coast, moving west near 14 mph.
About 750,000 Florida residents were urged to evacuate and several
cruise ships were diverted. Grand Bahama's airport was closed Friday night.
"We're shutting down everything," said Christina Williams, an employee
at the Great Abaco Beach Hotel. "All the guests left yesterday."
She said the only remaining guests were insurance adjusters who planned
to ride out the storm.
The repeated hurricanes are disrupting tourism, which the government
says accounts for more than half the jobs in this country of 300,000 people.
Some hotels damaged by Frances remain closed.
Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Jeanne
was likely to strengthen to a major hurricane later Saturday The storm was
forecast to stir up dangerous surf and rip currents, and dump up to 10
inches of rain.
At least 16 shelters were opening in the Bahamas, said Greenslade, who
used a tractor to rescue flood victims stranded by Frances three weeks ago.
That storm killed two people and damaged thousands of homes when it
tore through the low-lying Bahamas. It toppled rows of power lines,
flattened homes and uprooted trees during a prolonged two-day lashing of
Grand Bahama Island.
Many homes still have roofs patched up with plastic sheeting.
Electricity has been restored to half the homes on the island of more
than 70,000 people, and officials declared the drinking water supply safe
only a week ago, said Harold Williams, a Freeport city council member.
On Great Abaco island, residents secured their boats in port as
officials urged those in flood-prone areas to evacuate to shelters. The
hurricane was expected to bring tidal surges capable of causing severe
flooding.
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center, http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
Weather Underground storm site, http://www.wunderground.com/tropical

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

16:49 25Sep2004 RTRS-UPDATE 2-Hurricane Jeanne slams Bahamas on way to
Florida


MIAMI, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Deadly Hurricane Jeanne strengthened rapidly
as it crossed the northern Bahamas on Saturday on its way to deliver a
record fourth hurricane strike in one season to densely populated Florida.
Up to 3 million storm-weary Floridians were told to evacuate coastal
islands, mobile homes and flood-prone areas. Others battened down the
hatches one more time, stocking up on batteries, water and gasoline and
shuttering homes, or streamed into public shelters.
Many on the storm-scarred Atlantic coast, emboldened by having survived
Hurricane Frances three weeks ago, vowed to remain at home, an act of
defiance that alarmed authorities.
As Jeanne's 115 mph (185 kph) winds, up from 105 mph (169 kph)
overnight, and 8-foot (2.4-metre) storm surge lashed Great Abaco island in
the Bahamas, a 700-island chain of 300,000 people stretching from Haiti to
off the Florida coast, U.S. officials urged residents not to be complacent.
Gov. Jeb Bush said people living in Florida's coastal areas could not
assume they could ride out Jeanne just because they had survived the
previous hurricanes.
"People on the barrier islands who think they can ride this storm out
should think again," Bush, brother of President George W. Bush, told
reporters. "It is getting bigger and stronger."
By 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), the storm, which has already killed up to 2,000
people in Haiti and 31 in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, was just
west of Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, at latitude 26.6 north and longitude
77.6 west, or 155 miles (250 km) east of Florida.
Jeanne picked up speed overnight and was traveling westward at 14 mph
(22 kph).
The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned the storm, now a strong
Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity,
could strengthen further over warm water between the Bahamas and the
southeastern United States.
Along Florida's Atlantic coast, including the densely populated counties
of Broward and Miami-Dade, 3 million residents were told to evacuate.

MILLIONS IN HARM'S WAY
State officials said computer models showed 4.7 million of the state's
17 million people were in harm's way, and estimated that 1.2 million
buildings could be damaged, leaving around 142,000 families without homes.
In some parts of the likely strike zone near Ft. Pierce in St. Lucie
county, home owners have barely had time to patch over damaged roofs with
blue tarpaulin, or to clear piles of tree limbs and debris left behind by
Hurricane Frances, or the soggy remnants of Hurricane Ivan last week.
"It's horrible. This is just unprecedented," said St. Lucie county
emergency management spokeswoman Linette Trabulsy.
When Jeanne comes ashore on Florida as expected late on Saturday or
early Sunday, it will make history -- the first time since records began in
1851 that Florida has been walloped by four hurricanes in a single Atlantic
storm season. The season lasts from June to the end of November.
Hurricane Charley kicked off a season likely to dent the state's
reputation as a tourist destination when it slammed ashore on the southwest
Gulf Coast on Aug. 13 as a Category 4 storm -- the second most powerful. It
had winds of 145 mph (233 kph), killed 33 people and caused $7.4 billion in
insured damages.
Frances, a weaker but much larger storm with 105 mph (169 kph) winds,
spread destruction along the Atlantic coast on Sept. 5, killing 30 and
causing $4.4 billion in damages.
Ivan, at one point the sixth most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever
recorded, ripped into the Gulf Coast between Florida and Alabama with 130
mph (209 kph) winds on Sept. 16, killing at least 45 people across the
United States and causing up to $6 billion in damages.
"It's all part of living in Florida. You live in California, you deal
with earthquakes. You live in Texas, you deal with drought and fire. You
live in Kansas, you deal with tornadoes. I'd rather live somewhere it's
warm," said Broward county emergency management spokeswoman Alinda Montfort.
In the Bahamas, residents of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco islands, both
still recovering from the ravages of Frances, packed into shelters.
Silbert Mills, chairman of Abaco's disaster preparedness committee, said
there was a feeling of "ubiquitous melancholy" on the island in the face of
the approaching storm.

Saturday, 25 September 2004 16:49:08RTRS [nN25366289] {EN}ENDS

17:38 25Sep2004 DJN-DJ Death Toll Climbs To 1,500 In Haiti After Jeanne

DJ Death Toll Climbs To 1,500 In Haiti After Jeanne

GONAIVES, Haiti (AP)--The staggering death toll from Tropical Storm
Jeanne shot upward to an estimated 1,500 people Saturday, with 900 Haitians
still missing as a thunderstorm drenched the homeless who are living on
rooftops and sidewalks.
U.N. peacekeepers said they were sending reinforcements to help keep
order among desperate survivors who have been looting aid trucks and mobbing
food distribution centers.
Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue estimated more than 1,500 dead,
said Paul Magloire, an advisor. At least 900 more were missing. Some 300,000
are homeless, most in the northwestern city of Gonaives.
With gang members trying to steal food out of the hands of people at
aid centers, 140 Uruguayan soldiers were on their way to reinforce about 600
U.N. peacekeepers already in this hard-hit city, said Toussaint
Kongo-Doudou, a spokesman for the U.N. mission.
"Security is one of our major concerns," he said.
Officials said gangsters had forced their way into distribution centers
and stolen food. Kongo-Doudou said troops had been able to chase them away
without violence.
A U.N. humanitarian relief coordinator, Eric Mouillesarine, said people
were mobbing relief workers and "there's nothing we can do."
U.N. troops from Argentina fired smoke grenades Friday when about 500
men, women and children tried to break into a schoolyard where CARE
International was handing out grain and water to an orderly line of women.
The sunburned, unwashed flood victims returned in surges once the air
cleared.
The director of the World Food Program's Haiti operation, Guy Gavreau,
said Friday that aid groups had been able to get food to only about 25,000
people this week -one-tenth of Gonaives' population.
During the night, lightning bolts lit the sky above blacked-out
Gonaives, thunderclaps exploded and sheets of rain lashed the thousands
living on the street and on concrete roofs of flooded homes.
The rain cleared up Saturday morning, but floodwaters rose again in
some mud-coated areas of the city that had dried out in the week since
Jeanne struck.
Some people said they hoped to evacuate the city.
"If one person gets sick, we'll all be sick," said Ysemarie
Saint-Louis, who spent the night on her roof with more than 30 relatives who
crowded under a small tin shelter during the thunderstorm. When the rain let
up, they went back to sleep on wet mattresses and blankets.
Saint-Louis said she and the others hoped to go elsewhere in Haiti,
such as the capital, Port-au-Prince, but she wasn't sure where.
Genevieve Montaguere, a nun from Guadeloupe, said relief deliveries
were being limited to women because gangsters had bullied their way in
earlier to make sure that only their buddies got food.
The strongest gang, the Cannibal Army, began a rebellion here in
February that quickly was joined by soldiers of Haiti's disbanded army and
led to the February ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The rebels
refuse to disarm, keeping the country unstable.
It was unclear which gangs were causing trouble, Kongo-Doudou said.
"The city is just filled with gangs."
The thunderstorm hit as floodwaters finally were beginning to recede in
Gonaives, where mud contaminated by overflowing sewage was forming a crust.
People tried to fight the stench by holding limes or kerchiefs to their
noses.
Kongo-Doudou said a team of specialists would begin to clean up the
contamination. "We have to prevent the spread of diseases," he said, adding
that the United Nations would be making an urgent appeal for more emergency
aid from the world's nations.
A truck carrying relief supplies from the Church of God was attacked
Friday when it entered Gonaives. People jumped on the moving truck, pried
open the doors and threw out boxes of supplies.
U.N. peacekeepers shoved people off the truck and then escorted it to
the mud-caked camp of Argentine troops, who stood guard as church members
threw out bananas, bottles of cooking oil and secondhand clothing. A
stampede erupted, with people diving into mud to grab what they could.
Planeloads of relief supplies from several nations and aid groups have
arrived in Port-au-Prince, but delivery has been delayed by damaged roads
and security fears.
Aid trucks must ford floodwaters and mudslides on National Route 1,
likely to be more hazardous after the new rains. At least three trucks were
mired in ditches along the road Friday.
Chilean troops in the Brazilian-led U.N. force were ferrying in
supplies by helicopter, but not enough.
The floods from Jeanne destroyed all of the rice and fruit harvest in
the Artibonite, Haiti's breadbasket, "so now the country can't even feed
itself without outside help," said Gavreau, the World Food Program official.
The crisis was only the latest tragedy in Haiti, a country of 8 million
people that has suffered 30 coups. Last weekend's storm was worsened by
Haiti's nearly total deforestation, which left valleys surrounding Gonaives
unable to hold water dumped during some 30 hours of pounding by Jeanne.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

19:46 25Sep2004 DJN-DJ Rains Begin, Curfew Set As Jeanne Approaches Fla E
Coast

DJ Rains Begin, Curfew Set As Jeanne Approaches Fla E Coast

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP)--Hurricane Jeanne got stronger, bigger and
faster Saturday, forcing anxious Floridians to hurriedly shutter their homes
and buy last-minute supplies as the storm bore down on the state's Atlantic
coast with winds near 115 mph. Three million people were told to evacuate.
If it hits Florida late Saturday or Sunday as predicted, it would be
the fourth hurricane to slam the state this season, a scenario unmatched in
more than a century. Jeanne strengthened into a Category 3 storm Saturday,
and Jack Beven, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in
Miami, warned that a Category 4 storm with winds of at least 131 mph "is not
out of the question."
At 2 p.m. EDT, Jeanne was centered about 145 miles east-southeast of
Vero Beach and was moving west at 14 mph. Sustained winds were 115 mph, up
from 105 earlier Saturday. A hurricane becomes a Category 3 storm when it
reaches sustained winds of 111 mph.
About 3 million people were under mandatory or voluntary evacuation
orders, state emergency operations spokesman Mike Stone said.
After its expected northward turn over the Florida peninsula, Jeanne
was expected to stay inland over Georgia and the Carolinas through Tuesday.
Hurricane warnings were posted from south of Miami to St. Augustine in
northeast Florida, and a hurricane watch was up from St. Augustine northward
to Altamaha Sound, Ga. A hurricane watch also was issued for Florida's Gulf
Coast from Englewood in southwest Florida to the Suwanee River north of the
Tampa Bay area.
Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected in the storm's path,
and flooding could be a major concern because previous hurricanes have
already saturated the ground and filled canals, rivers and lakes.
Already blamed for more than 1,500 deaths in Haiti, Jeanne was poised
to slam some of the same areas hit by the earlier storms, potentially
transforming still-uncleared piles of debris into deadly missiles. The
storm's outer edges were already dropping rain and kicking up winds along
Florida's east coast Saturday afternoon.
From Melbourne south to West Palm Beach, law enforcement officers
announced over the radio that anyone outside their homes after a 6 p.m.
curfew would end up in jail.
Across Palm Beach County, residents frantically gathered last-minute
supplies after awaking to a forecast that had Jeanne making a direct hit in
less than 18 hours.
"I can imagine a lot of people here this morning started freaking out,"
said Lynn Tarrington of Lake Worth, who was leaving her home near the water.
"Yesterday I was hoping we wouldn't lose power again and now I'm hoping I
have a house left when I come back."
Airlines began canceling flights at airports in Miami and Fort
Lauderdale, which were planning to close, stranding some passengers.
Authorities urged storm-weary residents to speed up plans to secure their
property and evacuate if necessary.
Jean McArthur, of West Palm Beach, was buying supplies at a Wal-Mart.
She had bags full of water, batteries, flashlights and snacks for her three
kids.
"We've all been thinking, `This really can't come at us again.' Now
that it's just a few hours away, everyone is being forced to take it
seriously. I've stopped laughing about it at this point," said McArthur, 39.
No state has been struck by four hurricanes in one season since Texas
in 1886. Jeanne could turn into the latest in a devastating chain of
hurricanes that have rattled southwest and central Florida (Charley), the
state's midsection (Frances) and Florida's Panhandle (Ivan). Combined, the
storms have caused billions of dollars of damage and at least 70 deaths in
Florida.
Gov. Jeb Bush warned that Jeanne could be stronger than Frances, which
caused more $4.1 billion in insured damages in Florida and killed at least
24. He referenced the destruction of Ivan, which devastated barrier islands
in the Panhandle and killed at least 23.
"I can't imagine someone not taking this seriously after the last six
weeks," Bush said Saturday.
Charley hit Aug. 13 as a Category 4 on the Safford-Simpson scale with
winds of 145 mph. Frances hit on Labor Day weekend as a Category 2 with
winds of 105 mph, and Ivan hit last week as a strong Category 3 with winds
of 130 mph.
Crews with heavy machinery worked Friday to clear the mess of flattened
homes, torn roofs and snapped trees left by Frances. But many acknowledged
it was a losing battle.
"They're trying their best but there's a tremendous amount of debris
out there. Realistically it doesn't really seem like it would be possible to
get it all gathered before this storm hits," said Theresa Woodson, a
spokeswoman for Indian River County.
After causing deadly flooding in Haiti, Jeanne looked early in the week
like it had turned north and was headed safely out to sea, but it made a
jagged loop that brought it toward the Bahamas and Florida.
On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov