Gustav Preps & Observations Thread for the nw Caribbean

[artist]

Surprised this has not been made yet. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those that have been or may be affected by Gustav.
Please post your observations or any links you may have.

[artist]

from Jamaica from http://www.stormcarib.com -

update Roofs blown off,trees uprooted and powerlines downed in EasternJamaica,Center of Gustav moving across Jamaica
From: Blayz Brooks <blayzbrooks at yahoo.com>
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:40:55 -0700 (PDT)

Minutes after posting the have picked up in Montego Bay.We has a gust to 35mph.

The National Hurricane Centre is reporting, the centre of Gustav has made landfall along the Eastern Tip of Jamaica (Morant Point)at 18oo UTC or 1pm local time. The met service of Jamaica is reporting the center has passed over Morant Point, the Norman Manley International Airport and is currently passing over St.Catherine . Winds at the time were near hurricane force, but Gustav was not upgraded as the data was not convincing enough. Western Jamaica, not much activity with the exception of intermittent showers and occasional gust up to 30mph.Eastern Jamaica has been taken a battering. Persons are calling radio and television stations reporting roofs ripped off, downed powerlines, uprooted trees and storm surges. In fact, the Mancheneil Primary School, which was being used a shelter had its roof blown off and evacuees had to be moved. Some reported a sudden calm, so some persons are experiencing the “eye”.Persons are now steaming in to shelters.

The Nwa is reporting 16 reports of flooded and blocked roads.

The current track takes the center of Gustav right over Montego Bay in about 12 hours time. So I will be getting the worst of it.

So Far

lowest pressure reported

990mb as Gustav passed over the Norman Manley International Airport.

Highest winds

50mph Norman Manley International Airport

picture taken Thursday,August 28,2008 6:15edt

Comprehensive local radio coverage

http://www.nationwidenewsnetwork.com/

Spoke too soon...
From: Corinne.Smith at digicel.blackberry.com
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:52:22 +0000

The power went off just after my last post, which is about the time the wind
pickeD up, a tree fell across the road just down the hill, and then
transformers started blowing all around the neighbourhood. Its been very calm
for the last two hours or so; perhaps it was the eye? Its picking up again now,
and coming from the opposite direction so hopefully this means the end of
gustav soon. For Kingston, at least.

Corinne

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

[artist]

listening to callers on Power 106, some of the callers has mentioned it feels like a strong cat 1. There have also been power lines on fire in I believe it was Ochos Rios which is on the north central coast.

[artist]

sounds like lots of flooding and trees down. Also reporting roofs are missing. A retaining wall on Bull Bay collasped. There was a bus that was trapped but they finally got them to safety. There are cars that getting caught due to the rising water.
Doesn't sound good. My thoughts are with them all.

[artist]

Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE #14
Issued on: Thursday August 28, 2008 at 9:00 p.m.

T.S. Gustav Now Moving Across Central Jamaica – Country Still Under Hurricane Warning

The Met Service continues the Hurricane Warning for Jamaica as Tropical Storm Gustav moves along the coast of south-central parishes. This means that the island may experience dangerously high water or a combination of dangerously high water and exceptionally high waves, and average winds of 118 km/h (75 mph) or higher.
The public is being advised to treat the situation seriously, as the current path will see the storm moving along Jamaica’s South Coast, resulting in widespread impact.

Affected Communities:

ParishCommunitiesHazardPortlandHappy GroveWind damage (2 roofs lost)Grange HillWind damage to roofLong BayStorm Surge and roof damageSt. ThomasJohnson Mountain1 house destroyedSpring Bank3 houses destroyed
Status of National Infrastructure:

ParishRoads/BridgesStatusAlternate RoutesSt. AndrewNew Castle Main RoadImpassable-PortlandLong Bay to ManchionealBlocked by debris-Hope Bay to St Margaret’s BaySlippery-Non Such, Fairy Hill, Sherwood Forrest Blocked by Fallen trees-St. ThomasWindsor ForestBlocked by fallen trees-Bath to bath FountainBlocked by fallen trees-Winchester main Road, Stokes hall“-Bath to Hordely Crossing“-Bath to Barrette Gap“-Whitehall to Golden Valley“-Whitehall to Golden valleyLandslideNo alt. routeSt. MaryJunction RoadFallen RocksExercise cautionHIghgateFallen lightpole--St. AnnChalky HillRoad Accident-Round-about at St Anns Bay HospitalRoad accident-ManchesterSpur TreeTanker overturned-
Evacuations:

The St. James and Trelawny Infirmaries have been evacuated.
Voluntary evacuation of sections of Bull Bay community

There are also unconfirmed reports of a motorcar being washed away in the Eleven Miles Fording in Bull Bay.

from http://www.stormcarib.com

[Ed Mahmoud]

Is this going to be the Lousiana and neighboring states thread, or will there be a new one?

[artist]

probably a new one Ed.

updates from stormcarib.com Read from bottom to top.
There has also been a bridge collapse that has cut off what I understood to be more than several thousands of people.

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- Quick news
From: "sue morris" <sue.island at cwjamaica.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:12:47 -0500

Real quick from Ochi

DSL is up and down so will try to send this - Rain, rain, rain in Ochi at the moment.
Irie FM are talking about all the Good things that a storm brings and they are great

Trees prune themselves
Phonecard man and likkle shop - "sell off"
Plenty fish to pick up off the roads

more later on those

Ochi at the moment is wet and some winds, ocean has calmed right down, some slight flooding on Main Street and a little debris - I am in contact with emergency personnel who are traversing Milford road and into Fern Gully and Parrytown as we speak, so will update later on that.

Hopefully of the rains ease up we will be okay with mudslides into the town. One of my staff who lives in Brownstown just called to tell me "plenty rain" up there and he can't get out yet.

Our phones lines are out, Flow is out, C&W - DSL is working sporadically, but I think that is the bad phone line connections. We still have the other utility which I am not going to mention as it may jinx it.

Just came on the radio that White River has some flooding due to drain blockages. Looks like we will all be at home for another day.

Cayman - Heads up people - This gentleman is Nasty and he means business. Stay safe and take NO risks.

More later

Sue M


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- Still wet and tired!!!
From: NegrilTracy at aol.com
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:38:31 EDT

Corinne and Ellie: DITTO!!!
We just had to refuel the generator and the tarp blew away earlier so I had a flashlight in my teeth while holding an umbrella in one hand over the tank and the funnel in the other while my husband poured in the driving rain...we got soaked to the bone then laughed till we hurt...LOL!!!

We should all have a drink when this is over...???

One Love,
Tracy






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It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.


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- News Release No. 17 TS Gustav
From: cnichols at odpem.org.jm
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:29:22 -0500

Please see the attached
(See attached file: Press Release17_Friday August 29, 2008.doc)
Cheryl A. Nichols
Training Manager
ODPEM
12 Camp Road
Tel: 928-5111/4
Fax: 928-5503
Email: cnichols at odpem.org.jm
Attachment: Press Release17_Friday August 29, 2008.doc
Description: MS-Word document


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- Update
From: Corinne.Smith at digicel.blackberry.com
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:08:01 +0000

Still no relief in kingston. Thanks all again for thoughts and prayers. Heavy
rain, winds howling.
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel


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- Kingston update 5am
From: "Ellie Grennan" <blacksandsja at yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:09:46 -0600

Heavy Rains and winds lashing Kingston, wind continues to swing westerly w heavy gusts in the 40 mph range, many streets turned into rivers, very few cars visible on the roads, looks like most of the KSA (Kingston St Andrew) flat has power – although ours is out again after coming back for a bit in the night.



One Love



EHG



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- ODPEM Press Release #16: Bog Walk Gorge Closed As T.S. Gustav Continues to Bring Rain to Jamaica
From: KMorris at odpem.org.jm
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:59:21 -0500


Good Morning Ladies & Gentlemen:

Please see attached ODPEM Press Release #16 concerning T.S. Gustav's impact on Jamaica thus far:



You can read past Press Releases from the ODPEM National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on T.S. Gustav and Jamaica at http://www.odpem.org.jm/news/default.asp.

With kind regards,

Ms. Kerry-Ann Morris
Information Officer
Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM)
12 Camp Road, Kingston 4, Jamaica
Tel: (876) 928-5111-4 * Fax: (876) 928-5503 * Email: kmorris at odpem.org.jm
"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." Mother Teresa

If you are receiving this mail in error or you want to remove yourself from future mailings, please to send your request to kmorris at odpem.org.jm with "Removal Request" as the subject.
Attachment: Press Release16_Friday August 29, 2008.doc
Description: Binary data


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- Kingston update!!!
From: NegrilTracy at aol.com
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:54:38 EDT

Title: AOL Email
It has been raining SO hard for hours now and the wind is howling which actually drowns out the generator(even our neighbors said they can't hear it)!!!
Our roof is leaking around the edge seams as well as the door and window frames so we have floods to deal with and all the towels are all over the place but that's all for the moment as far as damages go aside from the tons of wet stuff to deal with when this is over in spite of all our precautions.
When will the rain let up, any ideas?!?!?!
FYI: Flow is down in all respects despite all their reassurances of emergency backups to keep it on in a storm so I am using GPRS on my cellphone to send this but it is SO slow...LOL!!! Our C&W DSL stayed on all through Dean and our old cable provider kept a few channels running as well last summer so I am not impressed but things could be a lot worse.
Stay safe,
Tracy






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It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.


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- Montego Bay
From: Patricia Steffan <daventrish1 at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:43:16 -0400

Well, Gustav is everything they said he was then some. We have had steady rain from 9 pm and the winds are very strong easily 50 to 70 mph. Never get over the creepy sounds at night during a hurricane, I can see the Parish offices are all lit up and people are inside moving about. I am glad we still have power. Look out Caymans!

Dave and Trish

[artist]

it is the Harbourview Bridge in St. Andrew that collapsed.

[RBDnhm]

For Texas and/or southwest Louisiana evacuees, you might look at http://www.tacvbemergency.net/searchrooms to see what rooms are available in Texas hotels.