Yet Again Another Hurricane! Hurricane Jeanne.

[Littledragon]

As of now it is a fierce tropical storm but experts say it can strengthen to a Hurricane.

SAN PEDRO DE MACORIS, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Tropical Storm Jeanne battered the Dominican Republic before heading to the Bahamas where the tempest, which has killed at least nine people, began to churn seas and stir deadly storm surges on Saturday.

Jeanne lost strength as it drove thousands of Dominicans from their homes by late Friday. But a few hours after being downgraded to a tropical depression, it strengthened again into a tropical storm with lashing winds.

Forecasters said it was too soon to predict if the storm would hit the United States. But Brian Jarvinen at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said he couldn't rule out the possibility that it might strike Florida, which has been struck by three hurricanes since mid-August.

The storm stalled over the Dominican Republic after coming ashore Thursday as a hurricane, with winds near 80 mph. It raged through Puerto Rico on Wednesday, dumping up to two feet of rain, flooding hundreds of homes and downing power lines.

Jeanne became better organized as it moved over the sparsely populated outer islands of the southeast Bahamas Saturday morning.

The storm was blamed for seven deaths in the Dominican Republic, Juan Luis German, spokesman for the National Emergency Committee said Saturday.

Police said 11-year-old Pedro Hernandez drowned after the Guaemate River in his town of Higuiey burst its banks and swept him away.

On Friday, two others were swept away by swollen rivers; one man was crushed by a falling palm tree; another couldn't reach the hospital while having a heart attack; and winds slammed a man riding a motorcycle into a telephone pole. A baby died when a landslide crushed part of her house on Thursday.

Residents shoveled mud from their homes and tried to salvage their belongings in a farming community near San Pedro de Macoris, birthplace of baseball star Sammy Sosa. The community was under 9 feet of water after the Soco River burst its banks.

By Saturday, the water had dried, leaving about 6 inches of mud on streets littered with mattresses, washing machines and sofas. Helicopters rescued about 200 people stranded on rooftops, but most of the 1,200 residents had evacuated.

"The only thing we all saved here was our lives," said Yolanda Florentino, 39, as she carefully laid out her six childrens' soggy birth certificates on a chair.

Crops, including bananas, green beans and tomatoes, were swept away.

Two people also died Wednesday in Puerto Rico, where rain was still falling Saturday morning and half of the 4 million residents were without running water for a fourth day. Seventy percent were without electricity.

President Bush declared the U.S. territory a disaster zone on Friday after Jeanne tore through the island as a tropical storm. Gov. Sila Calderon said the island's agriculture industry's losses were estimated at $100 million.

In Samana, a north-coast Dominican town popular with European tourists, people felt hurricane-force gusts driving horizontal sheets of rain. Jeanne tore off dozens of roofs in the town and brought down some concrete walls.

"My house is made of wood so I know it can't hold up to these winds," said Amanda Cibel, 23, who had fled to a shelter in Samana, 60 miles northeast of Santo Domingo. "It's going to be terrible to go home and find nothing."

More than 8,200 people were evacuated and took refuge in shelters set up in schools and churches, officials said.

"I've seen strong storms but never like this," said Elizabeth Javier, 12, standing where her family's living room used to be. The storm demolished one wall and the entire roof.

At 8 p.m. ET, Jeanne was between the Bahamas' Mayaguana Island and the Turks and Caicos islands. It was moving north-northwest at about 6 mph with maximum sustained winds near 45 mph. Storm-force winds extended up to 85 miles.

Out at sea, the 11th named storm of a busy Atlantic hurricane season formed. Hurricane Karl, which had sustained winds near 85 mph, posed no immediate threat to land, forecasters said.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Javier weakened steadily as it closed in on the northwest Pacific coast of Mexico on Saturday. The storm was centered about 80 miles southwest of Cabo San Lazaro in Baja California Sur state and moving toward the north at 10 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Carrying maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, Javier was expected to reach the Baja Peninsula early Sunday.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Anyone still going to be living in the Southeast by December-or are they all going to have moved!

 

[Littledragon]

Storm kills at least 250 in northern Haitian city!

GONAIVES, Haiti (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Jeanne has killed at least 250 people in the northern Haitian city of Gonaives, and the death toll could go higher, a U.N. spokesman said Monday.

Toussaint Kongo-Doudou, a spokesman for the U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti, said 250 deaths had been confirmed in flooding and mudslides in the coastal city.

Kongo-Doudou had said earlier that about 80,000 of the city's 100,000 residents have been affected by the flood, calling the situation "desperate."

"Almost the entire town is under water," he said Sunday.

Flooding caused most of the deaths, but some victims were believed to have died in mudslides after the storm dumped up to 13 inches of rain on the area.

The base housing Argentine troops from the U.N. force was among the buildings that were flooded, he said.

Prime minister to appeal for aid
Haitian interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue visited Gonaives on Sunday and plans to appeal for international assistance in dealing with the disaster, Kongo-Doudou said.

Jeanne, which briefly attained hurricane strength as it hit the Dominican Republic last week, was reduced to a tropical storm by the time it struck Haiti.

Earlier it had swept over Puerto Rico.

The storm picked up strength as it headed out into open waters Sunday night and Monday morning.

At 11 a.m. ET Monday, Jeanne was 345 miles (555 kilometers) east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph).

The storm was headed in a north-northeasterly direction and is no longer a threat to land, said the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

 

[Littledragon]

Jeanne could loop back toward U.S.!

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- Deadly Hurricane Jeanne could head back toward the United States and threaten the storm-battered Southeast coast, including Florida, as early as this weekend, forecasters said Wednesday.

It was too soon to tell where or if Jeanne would hit, but forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami warned residents from Florida to Maryland to watch the storm with 90 mph top sustained winds.

Some computer models had Jeanne curving out to sea and missing land, but others had it hitting the United States on Saturday or Sunday, forecasters said.

Jeanne was blamed for more than 700 deaths in Haiti, where it hit over the weekend as a tropical storm and caused flooding. It had been moving out to sea, but it appeared to be looping back toward land, forecasters said. (Full story)

At 5 a.m. EDT, Jeanne was centered about 525 miles east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It was moving south near 3 mph, but was expected to head west by early Thursday.

Dangerous surf and rip currents along with large swells are possible along the southeastern U.S. coast over the next few days, forecasters said. If Jeanne hit Florida, it would follow Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan, which caused billions of dollars of damage and more than 60 deaths across the state.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Karl weakened slightly and stayed on an open-ocean course that only threatened ships, while Tropical Storm Lisa moved slowly far out in the Atlantic.

Karl, the seventh hurricane this season, had top sustained winds near 115 mph, down from about 120 mph a day earlier. At 5 a.m., Karl was centered about 1,500 miles west-southwest of Fayal Island in the Western Azores and was moving north near 17 mph.

At 5 a.m., Lisa had top sustained winds near 65 mph, down from about 70 mph a day earlier. Forecasters said Lisa was a small storm and its wind speed was expected to fluctuate. The 12th named storm of the season was centered about 1,150 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and was moving west-northwest near 7 mph.

The hurricane season ends November 30.

 

[Littledragon]

Jeanne downgraded to tropical storm!

MELBOURNE, Florida (CNN) -- Jeanne was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday after sweeping across Florida and knocking out power to more than a million customers.

At 2 p.m. ET, Jeanne was centered about 20 miles southeast of Brooksville, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds were near 70 mph and the storm was moving northwest near 10 mph.

Jeanne was expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico and then move northward along the west coast of Florida.

Officials urged Gulf Coast residents to make their way immediately to higher ground.

State Community Affairs Secretary Thaddeus Cohen said it would be several hours before initial assessments of damage could be made. "It's too early," he said. "We still have tropical storm force, hurricane force winds out there, and our focus is on safety."

Hurricane Jeanne made landfall with 120 mph winds just before midnight Saturday near the southern end of Hutchinson Island, 5 miles southeast of Stuart. Hurricane Frances made landfall not far from there on September 5.

Mayco Villafana, a spokesman for Florida Power and Light, the state's largest power utility, said, "The storm is not over and we have not been able to get out there yet ... to make an assessment of the damage."

The company said about 1.5 million of its customers were without power as of noon Sunday and Villafana predicted that number would rise. Some areas, power officials said, may be without electricity for as long as three weeks.

Progress Energy Florida, another of the state's largest power companies, reported 223,000 customers statewide without power at 11 a.m.

Power officials urged residents to stay indoors and away from downed power lines until crews can get to the affected areas.

Once out in the Gulf, Jeanne is not expected to gain any significant strength before it makes landfall again somewhere along the Florida Gulf Coast, forecasters said.

'It just doesn't stop'
CNN's Gary Tuchman reported seeing "intense devastation" around Fort Pierce, just north of landfall, early Sunday.

Stuart Mayor Jeff Krauskopf, hunkered down in his home, ventured out with other city workers during the two hours of calm as the eye passed directly over his town.

Krauskopf said Stuart is suffering from hurricane fatigue. "It just doesn't stop," he said. "It's like that song, Frances to the left of me, Ivan to the right, and Jeanne, I'm stuck in the middle with you.

"The howling is hellish," he added.

Stuart's Martin Memorial Hospital North lost half its roof, but the 50 patients inside were taken to a safe area and were not hurt, Krauskopf said. The hospital also was damaged from Hurricane Frances, and had completed interim repairs.

In Martin County, emergency operations officials now believe a car plunged off the causeway connecting Hutchinson Island to the mainland during the height of the storm.

Two callers to the 911 dispatcher reported seeing a car drive off the bridge and fall into the Intracoastal Waterway, but at the time conditions were too dangerous for them to respond.

When the winds died down as the eye passed through, a Coast Guard ship discovered a breach in the guardrail, suggesting the 911 callers were correct.

National Guard aircraft have been requested for an aerial assessment of the island, said Martin County spokesman Jeff Alter said.

The two bridges to Hutchinson Island, the location of Jeanne's initial landfall, are impassable, making it impossible to know how the estimated 200 residents who refused to evacuate have faired in the storm, he said.

All county officials left the island Saturday ahead of Jeanne's arrival, warning residents they would be without help, he said.

Joe Baird, Emergency Management Director for Indian River County north of Fort Pierce, said although the worst of the storm had passed, 100 mph winds were still slamming Vero Beach.

"We think we have severe damage like we've never had before," he said. "We have not been able to respond to calls due to high winds. With all the water we've had, we assume we're going to have severe flooding."

Millions ignore evacuation orders
Despite the dangers, millions of residents opted to ignore mandatory evacuation orders and stay in their homes.

Officials said far more people left for shelters when Frances hit. (Web sites offer safety, evacuation tips)

Since hurricane information has been recorded, Florida has never been hit by four hurricanes in the same year, according to Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

Texas was hit by four hurricanes in 1886, he said.

Jeanne follows hurricanes Charley and Frances, which battered the Florida peninsula, and Ivan, which pounded the Florida Panhandle, though its eye made landfall on the Alabama coast.

Jeanne stalled and strengthened between Haiti and the Bahamas, triggering flooding in Haiti that killed more than 1,300 people.(Full story)

CNN's Gary Tuchman, John Zarrella, Anderson Cooper, Rob Marciano and Chad Myers contributed to this report.

 

[Jules]

My father took another direct hit from Jeanne too, just like he did Francis.

 

[Amos Stevens]

Sorry to hear that Julie-I have a feeling that come hurricane season next year you will find a lot of people having moved or atleast left for the season!