George On Path Of Destruction
Hurricane Georges continues to spin through the Caribbean Islands this morning. It has made a direct hit on the northern Islands near the Virgin Islands and St. Maarten. Areas of St. Maarten have been reportedly receiving wind gusts of over 90 miles-per-hour this morning.
Hurricane Georges barreled into the northeastern Caribbean with 110-mph winds Monday, flooding roads, toppling trees and utility lines and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
More than 2,000 people sought shelter in schools and public buildings in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, where Georges was expected to strike later Monday. Both U.S. territories declared states of emergency and activated National Guard troops to help evacuations.
"This hurricane has the characteristics of being the strongest that we have confronted in Puerto Rico in decades," warned Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Rossello.
At 8 a.m. EDT, Georges was centered about 75 miles east of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was moving west-northwest at 17 mph. Hurricane-force winds of at least 74 mph extended up to 85 miles from the eye, mostly to the northeast.
Georges' strength diminished considerably from a monstrous 150 mph on Sunday, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center warned the storm was "extremely dangerous" and capable of extensive damage.
Its winds howling, Georges downed trees and utility lines, ripped wooden and galvanized roofs from homes and pelted sheets of rain into residences in Antigua and St. Kitts and Nevis. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The storm really messed us up real bad. We got a pounding, a real pounding, said Norman Thomas, manager of ABS radio in Antigua, where 5,700 people spent the night in shelters.
Winds gusted above 90 mph in St. Martin, where Hurricane Luis caused hundreds of millions of dollars' damage in 1995. Storm waves crested over the city pier in Frederiksted, St. Croix, where storm-tossed ocean waves battered the coast and the city pier.
In St. Kitts and its sister island of Nevis, residents ventured out briefly to survey storm damage and check on neighbors when Georges' eye passed overhead before dawn. They scurried back inside as the hurricane's rear wall returned with a vengeance.
"It's pretty rough right now," said Everett Herbert of Voice of Nevis radio.
In the French island of Guadeloupe, raging seas flooded roads in the northern towns of Anse-Bertrand and Campeche and forced residents living near the beach to head for shelter inland. France was sending a team of 170 civil defense workers to help recovery efforts.
Swirling winds knocked out power in several Guadeloupe towns. "An incredible sound" from a darkened, angry sea is how Jean Barfleur, mayor of Port-Louis, described the hurricane's roar.
In Antigua families huddled in basements and shop owners erected sandbag barricades to stop flooding. In St. John's, Antigua's capital, civil defense workers distributeflashlights, mosquito coils, water and toilet paper to nervous shelter residents.
A hurricane warning was issued Monday for the Dominican Republic, while residents in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands furiously boarded windows and jammed markets to stock up on ice, water and canned food.
"Why take chances with something that we cannot change?" said St. Croix resident Marion Jones as she put up storm shutters on her home.
U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Roy Schneider imposed a 8 p.m. curfew and asked President Bill Clinton to declare a federal state of emergency that would release federal aid.
Advance teams from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FBI and the American Red Cross arrived in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico to coordinate disaster response. FEMA also organized a 62-member search and rescue team in Miami to fly to Puerto Rico after the storm passes. Teams from Virginia and Maryland went on alert for St. Croix and St. Thomas.
In Puerto Rico, Gov. Rossello announced a ban on liquor sales, activated the island's National Guard, and ordered officials to open more than 330 shelters. Banks and schools closed Monday, major airlines canceled flights to and from the U.S. mainland, and with 20-foot seas forecast, ferry service to the eastern islands of Culebra and Vieques was suspended.
More than 1,000 people left their homes for shelters in San Juan, Arecibo, Mayaguez and other cities. Up to 15 inches of rain was expected in Puerto Rico's mountains, raising the threat of mudslides.
Written by Robert Hoffman