Storm Beta Upgraded Into a Hurricane

arthurracoon · October 29th, 2005, 01:05 AM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051029/...hurricane_beta

SAN ANDRES, Colombia - Hundreds of villagers on a tiny Caribbean island hiked into the mountains on Friday, fleeing a powerful storm that engulfed Providencia in heavy winds and rain.

Beta hit Providencia as a tropical storm and became a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday while still whipping the Manhattan-sized island. It was the 13th hurricane this year, a record for the Atlantic season.

Beta was expected to slam into Nicaragua by Sunday, but was not expected to affect the United States. Thousands of people in Nicaragua were being evacuated and army soldiers were brought in to help.

At 2 a.m. EDT, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the hurricane was centered just northwest of Providencia and was traveling northwest at 4 mph. Its maximum sustained wind speed had increased to 74 mph, the threshold for a hurricane, and was expected to strengthen.

The island's 5,000 residents rode out the storm, with some 300 of them and a dozen tourists fleeing wooden homes along the coast for sturdier brick shelters in the highlands, officials said.

"Extensive damage to homes has occurred on the island, and all communications to Providencia have been lost," the hurricane center said.

There were no reports of injury but scores of homes sustained mainly damaged roofs, Capt. German Collazos, chief of ports for the island, told The Associated Press earlier. He said five Americans were among the tourists on the island.

This year has seen 23 named storms, more than at any point since record keeping began in 1851. The previous record of 21 was set in 1933.

In the larger neighboring island of San Andres, also Colombian-owned, only the storm's outer bands touched the island, bringing just light rains and wind. After the storm passed, tourists returned to the beaches.

The islands, popular with scuba divers, are located about 450 miles to the northwest of Colombia but just 125 miles off Nicaragua's coast.

Hurricane Wilma, the most recent storm to hit the United States, has caused widespread outages and gasoline shortages across Florida; and the U.S. Gulf Coast is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which caused chaos and devastation in New Orleans and surrounding areas in August.

Nicaragua issued a hurricane warning for its entire Caribbean-side coast, and forecasters warned of storm surges of up to 13 feet. Late Friday, strong winds and heavy rain began lashing the coastal town of Puerto Cabezas, about 250 miles northeast of Managua, where 32,000 residents were preparing to ride out the storm.

Some 8,000 residents of low-lying coastal communities, mainly Indians, were evacuated to local schools. A local hospital evacuated patients, and residents lined up to buy supplies.

"These things are terrifying," said shopkeeper Ofelia Rivera, 63. "No hurricane has ever hit here before."

Classes were canceled, and businesses were warned against price gouging.

"We can't do anything about damage to property," said President Enrique Bolanos. "We will see about that afterward. The important thing is to save lives."

Bolanos said the government was sending in food, medicine, clothing and other emergency supplies.

In Jamaica, forecasters issued flash flood warnings Friday amid projections that rain from Beta would cause already swollen rivers to overflow their banks and set off mudslides and flooding.

In Honduras, where Beta may also hit later this weekend, officials set up shelters and sent food and other supplies to areas that might be affected by the storm.

arthurracoon · October 30th, 2005, 12:25 AM

Beta Upgraded to Category 2 Hurricane

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051030/...hurricane_beta

PUERTO CABEZAS, Nicaragua - A strengthening Hurricane Beta dumped heavy rains and whipped up winds on Central America's Caribbean coast Saturday, prompting Nicaraguan troops to evacuate thousands of people from low-lying areas as Honduras declared a maximum state of alert.

Earlier on Saturday, the record 13th hurricane in the Atlantic this season lashed the tiny Caribbean island of Providencia with harsh winds, heavy rains and high surf.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm had been upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane with wind topping 105 mph and it was expected to strengthen further. Forecasters predicted Beta would reach the northeastern coast of Nicaragua near the border with Honduras early Sunday.

At 11 p.m. EDT, the hurricane center said Beta was located about 45 miles east-southeast of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua moving west at about 5 mph. It warned Beta could bring a storm surge up to 17 feet when it made landfall and said 10 to 15 inches of rain could fall in Central America.

The hurricane center said there was a chance Beta could become a dangerous Category 3 storm before it reaches the mainland Sunday. It was not expected to hit the United States.

Troops in Nicaragua evacuated 10,000 people from the far eastern coastal port of Cabo de Gracias a Dios, and from along the River Coco, both on the Honduras border, said Nicaragua's national civil defense director, Lt. Col. Mario Perez Cassar.

The Civil Defense Department sent 100 army rescue specialists along with various land and water vehicles. A tent hospital also was set up, while universities and public schools were closed and converted into shelters. Flights to the Nicaraguan islands Islas del Maiz were canceled.

Residents of low-lying neighborhoods in Puerto Cabeza also were taken to provisional shelters on higher ground as heavy rains and wind began to batter the coast, flooding some low-lying neighborhoods. Businesses raised food prices in response to the heavy demand, while bottled water supplies ran out. Authorities threatened to sanction the price gougers.

Mayor Gustavo Ramos said 10 people were reported missing after their boat disappeared in the storm, trying to escape the storm.

In Honduras on Saturday, President Ricardo Maduro declared a maximum state of alert as strong winds and intense rains from Beta began to batter the Atlantic coast. Authorities evacuated more than 50 people due to flooding in a coastal city also known as Gracias a Dios, on the border with Nicaragua.

Schools were closed in La Ceiba, 215 miles north of the capital, Tegucigalpa, and officials also shut down the international airport there.

Maduro stressed the importance of being prepared to avoid a tragedy like the one caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. That storm stalled over Honduras with 120 mph winds, sweeping away bridges, flooding neighborhoods and killing thousands.

El Salvador went on preventive alert, although the storm is not projected at this point to reach the country.

The storm began pummeling the mountainous Colombian island of Providencia late Friday, tearing roofs off wooden homes and causing hundreds of people to move to brick shelters in the highlands. Electricity and telephone service were knocked out for the 5,000 people on the Manhattan-sized island.

Several people were slightly injured, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said. The calming news is that there were no fatalities," Uribe said Saturday in Bogota before boarding a plane for the region.

Colombia's social welfare minister, Diego Palacio, told The Associated Press that several houses and a popular tourist footbridge were damaged, but there was little flooding. Phones and power remained off on the island, a former pirate outpost inhabited mostly by descendants of slaves who speak English as their first language. It lies about 125 miles off the Nicaraguan coast.

Beta was the 13th hurricane this year, more than any Atlantic season on record. This season has also seen 23 named storms, more than at any point since record-keeping began in 1851. The previous record of 21 was set in 1933.

Last week Tropical Storm Alpha formed, the first time a letter from the Greek alphabet has been used because the list of storm names was exhausted.

Hurricane Wilma, the most recent storm to hit the United States, caused widespread outages and gasoline shortages across Florida; and the U.S. Gulf Coast is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which caused chaos and devastation in New Orleans and surrounding areas in August.

wallyburger · October 30th, 2005, 07:12 AM

Global warming SUCKS!