Hurricane Isidore Buffets Cuba
Hurricane Isidore buffeted Cuba's small Isle of Youth with strong winds and drenching rains early Friday as it moved slowly toward the western tip of the main island and the Gulf of Mexico.
As Isidore approached with 85 mph winds, the communist government told tens of thousands of people to move to safer ground.
Isidore, the second Atlantic hurricane of the season, was expected to strengthen and drench Cuba's western half through the weekend. As much as 30 inches of rain might fall there, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Forecasters said Isidore is later expected to become a major hurricane in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for the lower Florida Keys and the area could see heavy winds and some rain, forecasters said. Winds could reach 35 to 50 mph.
"It's hard to tell where it will end up," said National Hurricane Center forecaster Daniel Brown. "Everyone in the southern Gulf coast should be aware that it is out there."
Specifically, points at risk extend from the central west Florida coast all the way through New Orleans.
Atmospheric conditions remained favorable for the hurricane to strengthen within the next 36 hours.
At 2 a.m., Hurricane Isidore's center was about 30 miles south of the Isle of Youth and 140 miles southwest of Havana.
Forecasters said Isidore was traveling northwest at about 8 mph and was expected to cross the main island's westernmost point later Friday.
Hurricane-strength winds extended up to 25 miles out from its center and a hurricane warning was in effect across western Cuba.
Isidore's maximum wind speeds reached 85 mph Thursday afternoon, with higher gusts, forecasters said. Tropical storms become hurricanes when sustained wind speeds reach 74 mph.
Cuba's state television said Thursday afternoon that more than 38,000 students were sent home as officials closed boarding schools in the western province of Pinar del Rio.
"This is all programmed, none of this spontaneous," said Lt. Col. Astul Castellanos of Cuba's civil defense program. Widespread evacuations are routine here in face of hurricanes. Most people seek temporary shelter with family or friends.
Castellanos told Cuban television Thursday night that about 100,000 people and tens of thousands of farm animals in the island's west were moved to safer ground.
As a category 1 storm, Isidore was far weaker than Hurricane Michelle, an extremely dangerous category 4 storm that battered central Cuba in November, causing an estimated $1.8 billion in damage.
Elsewhere in the western region, workers rushed to protect the wooden curing houses where precious tobacco leaves are being dried to make cigars, television reports said.
Heavy rains drenched Havana Thursday afternoon, and many businesses and offices closed as workers rushed home to secure doors and windows. Skies cleared later in the evening.
Earlier in the day, Isidore uprooted trees and flooded low-lying areas in the nearby Cayman Islands.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the Cayman Islands as emergency officials braced for additional rain and flooding.
Isidore first passed western Jamaica on Wednesday, but by Thursday the government had lifted a tropical storm watch there.
Gustav, which dwindled in the north Atlantic earlier this month, was the first hurricane of the season. The 2002 Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.