Hurricane Warning issued for Jamaica August 28, 2008, 07:30 hrs EDT
ADVISORY #2
The Event: At 8am today (Thursday Aug. 28) The Government of Jamaica issued a Hurricane Warning for Jamaica. At 7:30 EDT. The centre of Tropical Storm Gustav was located near latitude 17.8 North…Longitude 75.6 West or about 80 miles (130Kilometres) east of Kingston Jamaica.
The Prognosis: Gustav remains a Tropical Storm but is expected to become a Hurricane later today. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 70 mp/h (110 km/h).
Gustav has moved very little overnight but is expected to resume motion toward the west south-west near 6 mph (9 km/h). A Turn toward the west is expected later today. The storm is expected to move to the West North-West on Friday. The Centre of Gustav is expected to pass very close to Jamaica later today.
Gustav is expected to produce total rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches over Jamaica with isolated maximum amounts of up 25 inches possible. Coastal storm surge of one to three feet above normal levels are also possible.
National Response: Jamaica
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has advised the Jamaican public that Jamaica has been placed on Hurricane Watch as Tropical Storm Gustav continues to strengthen.
The ODPEM has fast-tracked its emergency preparedness activities, including:
- All non-essential employees have been advised to stay home until weather conditions improve.
- The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) has been activated.
- A list of priority shelters has been published and Shelter managers have already been alerted to the threat of Gustav.
- The public has been advised to monitor radios and televisions for further advisories and to avoid areas that are at risk from flooding and landslides.
- The public has also been advised to take precautions in the event of heavy rains, flooding and landslides.
- Major focus on the southern portion of the island to advance their readiness actions.
Regional Response: The Regional Response Mechanism (RRM) remains on standby.
The CDERA Coordinating Unit has also placed emergency support personnel on standby for support to Jamaica should this become necessary.
CDERA CU remains in contact with ODPEM to provide any support or guidance and to inform actions to be undertaken through the regional response mechanism.
Next Advisory: CDERA will continue to monitor the situation and provide advisories as necessary.
Contact Details: The CDERA CU 24hr contact number is 246 425 0386
