Message:  Monitoring Dangerous Hurricane Ike as Hanna moves away from the Bahamas

Hurricane Ike
Ike is now an extremely dangerous Category Four Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale with maximum sustained winds near 140mph (220km/hr).  Ike is over the open waters of the West Central Atlantic and it is too early to predict the land areas that might be affected by this hurricane. However, forecasters are advising that its progress should be monitored closely by the Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

At 11.00 a.m. today, September 4, 2008 the centre of hurricane Ike was located near latitude 23.2 North and longitude 57.0 West or about 525 miles (845 km) northeast of the Leeward Islands.  Ike is moving toward the west–northwest near 16 mph and a gradual turn toward the west and the west-southwest is expected over the next 48 hours.

Tropical Storm Hanna
Hanna is now moving away from the Bahamas and is expected to be near the Southeast coast of the United States later today. Warnings have been discontinued for the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas.  As at 11.00a.m a Tropical Storm Warning remained in effect for the central and northwestern Bahamas.  Hanna was located near latitude 24.5 north and longitude 73.5 west or about 245 miles (400km) east of Nassau, Bahamas.

CDERA has remained in contact with the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas during the passage of Hanna.  With this new threat on the horizon CDERA urges all its participating states that are likely to be in the path of Hurricane Ike to continue to monitor and ensure that the necessary precautionary actions are being carried out.

CDERA continues to monitor and with the collaboration of the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology will develop scenarios that will be used in forward planning for response operations. Advisories will provide as necessary.

Contact Details: The CDERA CU 24hr contact number is 1 246 425 0386