Hurricane
Sandy has swept north over the Bahamas towards the US, having killed at least
two people as it tore through Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. Schools, offices,
airports and bridges had closed across the Bahamas as residents stocked up on
supplies. Forecasters warn the storm could pose a major threat to the US East
Coast. With maximum sustained winds of 165km/h (105mph) Sandy was moving north
at 20mph over Cat Island, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).
Florida
was already being lashed by heavy rain and high winds late on Thursday - as of
1700 EDT (2100 GMT), the state was under a tropical storm warning. Some US
broadcasters are already referring to Sandy as The Halloween Hurricane - or
even Frankenstorm - as it is expected to bring coastal flooding and power
outages around All Hallow's Eve - on 31 October. The storm is expected to head
north-west at a slower pace overnight into Friday, getting gradually larger all
the while. It is forecast to weaken, but remain a hurricane during the next 48
hours, said the NHC.
Guantanamo
battered
On Wednesday, Sandy had caused a storm surge
leading to severe flooding along Cuba's south-eastern coastline. In the popular tourist destination of Santiago
de Cuba, the island's second-largest city, TV footage showed fallen trees,
damaged buildings and debris-choked streets. More than 50,000 people had been
moved from their homes in the city as a precaution.
Strong
winds and rain also battered the US naval base and detention facility at Cuba's
Guantanamo Bay, confining some workers to their quarters and prompting a number
of prisoners to be moved to safer accommodation.
In
Jamaica earlier, more than 1,000 people sought refuge in shelters as Sandy
caused widespread power outages, flooded streets and damaged buildings. A 48-hour curfew was imposed in the island's
major towns to deter the looting that had accompanied previous storms.
Sandy
has left devastation in its wake as it moved north, killing an elderly man in
Jamaica when a boulder fell on a house and reportedly resulting in the drowning
of a woman trying to cross a swollen river in Haiti
BBC News
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