European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday september 16, 19b8 the stars and Stripe Page 3 Gulf coast bracing for Hurricane Gilbert by he associated press thousands were evacuating the marshy. Pood prone coast of Texas and Louisiana on thursday As Hurri Cane Gilbert churned in the Gulf of Mexico packing twice the Power of last week s Hurricane Florence this is very very serious said Wendell Curole Hurricane coordinator for Lafourche Parish on the Louisiana coast. Gilbert is a killer storm something a lot of people have never experienced even in this Gilbert already blamed for at least 2-1 deaths in the Caribbean was on a path toward Texas Early thurs Day forecasters said As the National weather service issued a Hurricane watch for the state s entire coast line. Hut with the unpredictable storm Only a Day away authorities met to review evacuation plans across hundreds of Miles from the Southern top of Texas to new Orleans. On the Bolivar Peninsula outside Galveston Bay Ucac goers and about 3,000 residents were urged to leave by Sundown and most were cooperating. The 1,600 students of the University of Texas medi Cal Branch on Gale Caslon Island and about 200 patients also were being evacuated. The army was setting up a crisis action Center in Washington to coordinate dispatching Active duty Mil itary personnel and equipment from fort Hood Texas and possibly fort Bliss to assist with evacuations. The Barrier Island town of grand Isle la., about so Miles South of new Orleans ordered a general evacuation of the Island s 2.100 residents and visitors. Mississippi s Gulf coast residents kept officials Busy answering phone Calls about Gilbert s path. Tampa Bay area officials still mopping up from four Days of torrential Rains last week worried that Florida s Central Gulf coast communities were especially vulnerable to Gilbert. The ground remained waterlogged said Bob Ander son Sarasota county s Deputy director of emergency management and floodwaters blocked the Only two roads from Manatee county s Barrier islands and other evacuation routes. Gilbert is s much larger and More dangerous storm than Florence which hit Southeastern Louisiana Fri Horace left and Greg Bryan of Surfside Texas just outside frn port gel ready As Gilbert approaches. . Jama cans oily to Homeland by he associated press jamaican americans rallied quickly to their Hurri Cane devastated Homeland s Aid and hundreds of Doc tors and nurses and tons of supplies waited for Clear Ance to Fly to the Caribbean nation. In the new York area Home to the nation s largest jamaican Community a Brooklyn health clinic began accepting food clothing and bedding for shipment to Jamaica and several focal Caribbean groups set up Relief funds. Dozens of the 50,000 to 60,000 jamaicans living in South Florida flocked to the jamaican consulate in Miami waiting nervously for word of conditions Back Home. Others staffed makeshift Relief Supply centers gathering tons of food Medicine clothing and build ing materials. Air Jamaica As Well As . Carriers Midway airlines and Eastern airlines promised to Fly supplies to Jamaica for free. But word of the wreckage Hurricane Gil Bert left in its aftermath Nide islanders double any Relief Effort would bring their country Back. Prime minister Edward Saga said Gilbert was the Island s worst natural disaster Ever. The jamaican Community of South Florida often is overshadowed by larger latin american communities. But the Community is closely knit and maintains Strong interest in its Homeland. A telex from inc jamaican government said Blan Kyls sheets cots tents medical supplies water and non perishable items Are badly needed. Day night flooding roads and knocking Down Power lines but doing Little major damage. You be got tropical Gale Force winds All the Way out 250 Miles from the Eye of the Hurricane said Bruce weather service in Miami. Evacuations started earlier this week when Oil companies used helicopters and Crew boats to take an Esti mated 10,000 workers from Oldshore rigs. Grocery and hardware stores were swamped with shoppers and lumber and water supplies were reported in Short Supply throughout inc Region. New Orleans residents lined up 10 to 15 deep a hardware stores where plywood for covering windows was the hot Selling item. A caravan of cattle trucks jammed a two Lane Road out of coastal Cameron Parish la., where purebreds Graze in the Lush Marshland. In Corpus Christi Texas school was cancelled for the rest of inc week. In the nearby Beach resort of port Arkansas officials handed out emergency passes to Resi dents leaving town to control Access and prevent loot ing in the event of a disaster. Damage report san Juan puerto Rico a Here arc reports of damage caused by Gilbert in inc Caribbean Jamaica extensive property dam age i brought the Island. Airports closed Al Kingston and Mon ceo Bay. Many roads closed. Nineteen killed and an Esti mated 500,000 left homeless. Sisty thou Sand housed in shelters. Dominican Republic flooding possible crop damage. Much of Santo Domingo the capitals blacked out. Five dead 100 families homeless. Cayman islands widespread flooding. Hundreds of Trees felled. Esti mated 5 percent to 10 percent of houses damaged. Utilities disrupted. . Virgin islands Power out across much of the islands. Some flood ing. British Virgin islands flooding and Power outages. Some livestock and crop loss. Puerto Rico toppled Utility poles and Power outages in a dozen Small town. Crop damage due to flooding Esti mated Al $200,000. St. Lucia estimated 1740,000 loss from damaged banana crop. Simitar losses reported by Guadeloupe is. Vin cent and Dominica. Officials say banana Plant which is Brittle and snaps off in High winds recovers quickly so Export losses should be temporary. 500,000 jamaicans homeless Kingston Jamaica a people filled Rescue centers As officials reported 500,000 jamaicans were homeless and 19 people were confirmed dead from the winds and torrential Rains of Hurricane Gilbert. Prime minister Edward Seaga called it the worst disaster in jamaican modern history. The storm also killed five people in the Domin ican Republic on its sweep Westward through the Caribbean before slamming into Mexico s Yucatan Peninsula wednesday with i go Mph winds. The jamaican embassy in Washington in report ing on the number of homeless Here also said air ports were open for emergency traffic Only electric Ity and water were limited All communications were extremely limited and Early reports indicated that hundreds of millions of dollars in dam age was done to property crops and the Island s roads Power plants and schools it said no reports of american victims had sur faced. In Washington the Agency for International development announced that the United Stales was sending 1396,000 in Relief supplies. In London the British government said it was sending 3835,000 Worth of emergency supplies. Canada said it will raise emergency Aid to is Mil lion a $600,000 increase Over the current level. Power outages forced some hospitals to conduct surgery by flashlight and most medical facilities were either flooded or had their roofs torn off. With Telephone service severely affected and its two International airports shut Down the Island s population of 2.3 million was largely Cut off. The tiny Cayman islands meanwhile began re turning to Normal after surviving the storm s fury with no reported deaths few injuries and much less damage than feared. Elsewhere in the Caribbean officials reported heavy crop damage and flooding but nothing of disaster proportions by far the hardest hit of the Caribbean nations was Jamaica where Gilbert swept the Island s entire 144-mile length leaving much of it in ruins. In Kingston the capital City with 150,000 people Trees roofs Telephone poles and billboards littered the streets. Gilbert dumped up to 10 inches of rain in Jamaica and elsewhere along its route. Saga said in would take some Lime before we can assess the full damage from the storm. But i have no doubt that this going to be the worst disaster that we have experienced in our modern the prime minister warned of severe economic repercussions from crop damage wrecked houses and buildings and lost tourism a mainstay of Jamaica s Economy. Gilbert strengthened from a tropical storm into a Hurricane saturday night 160 Miles South of puerto Rico and churned up squalls from Cuba to inc Bahamas More than 1,000 Miles apart. In the dominican Republic where five people were killed sunday officials reported widespread crop damage and the country s main electricity relay station remained out of service leaving half the capital of Santo Domingo without Power
