Ivan gets deadlier as it nears Cuba

BULL BAY, Jamaica – Hurricane Ivan strengthened to a rare Category 5 storm capable of catastrophic damage, leaving Jamaica and aiming for the Cayman Islands with winds reaching 165 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Saturday.

Ivan has killed 56 people across the Caribbean the past week, including 34 in Grenada and 11 in Jamaica.

Millions more are in its path, with Ivan projected to go between the Cayman Islands, make a direct hit on Cuba and then either move into the Gulf of Mexico or hit south Florida.

Forecasters warned that Ivan could strike Florida, where buildings in the keys were mostly boarded up, deserted by evacuating residents and tourists. Ivan is approaching hard on the heels of hurricanes Charley and Frances.

“If God doesn’t help us, I think this is going to be extremely tragic,” said Maria del Carmen Boza, a 65-year-old resident of Cojimar, a seaside community in Cuba once frequented by Ernest Hemingway. “All of Cuba is worried. This looks like it’s going to be really dangerous.”

President Fidel Castro sought to assuage such concerns.

“This country is prepared to face this hurricane,” Castro said Saturday night on state television, saying his government had mobilized to save lives and property.

A Category 5 storm is the most powerful, packing winds of at least 155 mph and causing a storm surge of at least 18 feet.

Saturday night, the hurricane’s winds were 165 mph and its well-defined eye was about 145 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman, a popular offshore banking center where secrecy laws protect transactions. Hurricane-force winds extended 60 miles and tropical storm-force winds another 175 miles. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 9 mph and was expected to reach the Cayman Islands today.

The storm could dump up to 1 foot of rain, possibly causing flash floods and mud slides, the Hurricane Center said.

If Ivan hits land in the Caribbean at its current strength, it would be the first Category 5 storm to do so since Hurricane David devastated the Dominican Republic in 1979, said Rafael Mojica, a meteorologist at the Hurricane Center in Miami. Hurricane Mitch was a Category 5 storm in the Caribbean Sea in 1998, but it hit Central America.

Only three Category 5 storms are known to have hit the United States. The last was Hurricane Andrew, which hit south Florida in 1992, killing 43 people and causing more than $30 billion in damage.

Jamaica, an island of 2.6 million known for its beaches, reggae music and Blue Mountain coffee, was saved from a direct hit when the hurricane unexpectedly wobbled and lurched to the west. Jamaica was ravaged by winds just below 155 mph.

Associated Press

Boats are strewn about a port in St. George’s, Grenada, on Saturday, days after Hurricane Ivan devastated the island nation.

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