Hurricane Maria yesterday blasted toward the storm-battered eastern Caribbean and was expected to strengthen as it churned along a path similar to that of Hurricane Irma earlier in the month.
The new storm, which the US National Hurricane Center warned could become a “major hurricane,” threatens the French territory of Guadeloupe, the staging area for relief operations for several islands hit by Irma.
Guadeloupe yesterday was on “red alert,” with schools, businesses and government offices ordered closed, as was Martinique.
Photo: EPA / US National Hurricane Center
Each has a population of about 400,000 people.
The hurricane was expected to hit at about midday.
Warnings were also triggered for Dominica, St Kitts and Nevis, and the British island of Montserrat.
Photo: Reuters
French Minister of the Interior Gerard Collomb on Sunday said in Paris that “we will have major difficulties” if Guadeloupe is hard hit, adding that the territory is “the logistical center from where we could supply Saint Martin and organize all the airlifts.”
Irma killed 15 people on Saint Martin, an island shared by France and the Netherlands.
Officials in Guadeloupe predicted severe flooding in low-lying areas and urged residents to move to higher ground.
France, Britain and the Netherlands have been criticized for the pace of relief efforts and for struggling to contain lawlessness in their overseas territories amid widespread shortages of food, water and electricity after Irma.
However, in Guadeloupe’s capital, Pointe-a-Pitre, local official Josette Borel-Lincertin said authorities had ample experience in preparing for hurricanes.
“We have a culture of risk, we know what needs to be done,” she said.
Collomb said an additional 110 troops would be deployed to the region to reinforce about 3,000 people already at work tackling security problems, rebuilding infrastructure, and supplying food and water to hurricane-hit islanders.
He said up to 500 more people could be sent if needed.
Irma, a Category 5 hurricane, left about 40 people dead in the Caribbean before churning west and pounding Florida, where at least 20 people were killed.
Maria was a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 150kph.
Warnings were also in place in Antigua and Barbuda, Saba and Saint Eustatius, and Saint Lucia.
The tiny island of Barbuda was decimated by Irma on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 when it made its first landfall in the Caribbean.
The US National Hurricane Center said Maria could produce a “dangerous storm surge accompanied by large and destructive waves” that would raise water levels by 1.2m to 1.8m when it passes through the eastern Caribbean.
It also forecast a maximum potential rainfall of 51cm in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the US and British Virgin Islands through tomorrow night — conditions that could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.
A second hurricane, Jose, has triggered storm watches for the northeastern US.
Many scientists are convinced that megastorms such as Irma, and Harvey before it, are intensified by the greater energy they can draw from oceans that are warming as a result of climate change.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
A clandestine US Navy special missions unit colloquially known as SEAL Team 6 has been training for missions to assist Taiwan’s defense against an attack by China, the Financial Times said in a report yesterday. The navy commando team famous for killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, has been conducting training to take part in a Taiwan conflict at its Dam Neck headquarters in Virginia Beach for more than one year, it said, citing sources familiar with the matter. “The secret training underlines the increased US focus on deterring China from attacking Taiwan, while stepping up preparations for such an event,”
RSS