WHILE MAKING preparations for an 'in-your-face' encounter with Hurricane Dennis this weekend, Jamaicans in Florida still had time to think about their homeland and want to do what they can to help persons here who have been affected by the hurricane.
Dahlia Walker-Huntingdon, Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board member (Southern United States), told The Sunday Gleaner Friday: "We are relieved for Jamaica because it was not looking good for a while. We had everyone in our prayers and we are still waiting to hear from ODPEM (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management) what needs there are (in Jamaica) so we may respond where we can."
Although they anticipated some kind of encounter with the hurricane, they were not expecting it to slam into their backyards with any ferocious force. Ms. Walker-Huntingdon said: "In Broad County, where there are the highest concentrations of Jamaicans and where I live, there were not many preparations being made. We are all watching the weather reports as usual.
EXPECTED THE WORST
"In Dade County and Point South, there is a tropical storm warning. People were advised to take up their plants and anything that might be blown around by high wind. We expected some wind and some broken tree limbs but not much really. People I know are stocking up on water though."
Despite the faith of the Jamaicans in Florida, the deadly Hurricane Dennis left behind a battered Cuba with shattered houses, shredded power lines and debris-littered streets on Saturday and reintensified over the warm Gulf of Mexico after a Caribbean rampage that killed at least 32 people.
Dennis weakened as it crossed Cuba, from a ferocious 150-mph (240 kph) hurricane to a 90-mph (144 kph) storm, but immediately regained some of its lost strength when it hit open water and skirted Key West, the popular tourist island at the end of the Florida Keys chain.
The storm headed on a north-west track that threatened key oil and natural gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico, from where a quarter of U.S. production comes, and was expected to hit the U.S. mainland between the Florida panhandle and Mississippi on Sunday.
HAVANA POUNDED
Roaring winds with gusts of up to 100 mph (165 kph) and driving rain pounded blacked-out Havana all night. Authorities cut off power to avoid accidents from fallen cables.
A weakened 'Dennis' ploughed through the countryside just east of the capital city of two million, knocking down trees and power lines, but causing relatively minor damage.
"The wind was terrible and there was so much rain, but we are in one piece here," said the owner of a pizzeria in Guanabo, a beach town 15 miles (23 km) east of Havana.
Cuban authorities evacuated more than 600,000 people in different parts of the country as Dennis approached the southern city of Cienfuegos on Friday with 149 mph (238 kph) gusts. But the measures, which usually allow the communist island to escape hurricane strikes with minimal casualties, failed to prevent 10 deaths on Thursday night.
Reuters and AP News services
