Jamaicans
have taken refuge in shelters and their homes as Hurricane Sandy makes landfall
near the capital, Kingston.
Heavy
rains and sustained winds of 125km/h (80mph) are pounding the island's south
coast, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC). Schools and airports
are closed, and a curfew has been imposed in major towns to keep people safe
and deter looting. Forecasters warned the category one hurricane could
strengthen further.
The
NHC said Sandy was moving north across Jamaica at about 20km/h. Tropical storm
conditions were also expected to hit Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas before
reaching Florida's east coast. Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson cut short
a visit to Canada and flew home before the island's international airports shut
down.
Leaks
The
number of people seeking refuge in shelters is rising, according to Ronald
Jackson, the head of Jamaica's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency
Management. "We now have over 437 persons in emergency shelters though
those numbers could be higher at this time," he said.
The
country's meteorological service expressed its concern over damage from
mudslides and flash floods. Much of the island's infrastructure is in a poor
state of repair, and a lack of effective planning regulation has resulted in
homes being built close to embankments and gullies.
On
Tuesday, a resident of Standpipe, one of the poorer quarters of Kingston, was
trying to complete repairs to a roof which leaks badly even during a lesser
downpour. "We don't have much time," said Andre Howt. "We heard
on the radio that the hurricane was coming this way. We'll be getting
wet." While Jamaica was ravaged by winds from Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the
eye of a hurricane hasn't crossed the island since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.
Almost
50 people were killed by that storm, and the then Prime Minister, Edward Seaga,
described the hardest hit areas near where Gilbert made landfall as looking
"like Hiroshima after the atom bomb".
BBC News
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