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Hurricane Jose weakens after hammering Antigua

Countries
Anguilla
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Sources
Reuters
Publication date

By Colin James

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Hurricane Jose weakened on Thursday to a minimal hurricane, but not before pummeling the tiny islands of the northeastern Caribbean.

The eye of the storm and its fiercest winds passed on Wednesday directly over Antigua, a tourism-dependent island badly damaged by Hurricane Luis four years ago.

Winds clocked at 100 mph (160 kph) blew off roofs, downed power lines and knocked over trees. Residents were cautioned to stay inside.

But by 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) on Thursday, the speed of Jose's maximum sustained winds had dropped to less than 75 mph (121 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A speed of 74 mph (119 kph) marks the threshold between a tropical storm and a hurricane.

Higher gusts were reported, especially over islands with elevated terrain, and little change in wind strength was forecast for the next 24 hours.

Jose was on a track expected to take it close to the British Virgin Islands, the hurricane center said.

A hurricane warning remained in effect for the British Virgins, as well as for Montserrat, Barbuda, Nevis, St. Kitts and Anguilla. The warning also covered St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.

WARNINGS DISCONTINUED, DOWNGRADED

But the hurricane warning for St. Maarten, St. Eustathius and Saba was discontinued, and that for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico was downgraded to a tropical storm warning.

Earlier, the 10th storm of the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season had gained strength, its sustained winds rising from 90 mph (144 kph), as it churned into an area of scattered islands including independent nations as well as British, Dutch and French colonies.

Antigua's National Office of Disaster Services said one person was missing and 17 were injured as winds clocked at 101 mph (162 kph) raked the 108-square-mile (280-sq-km) island. Antigua and Barbuda, an independent country within the British Commonwealth, is home to some 65,000 people.

"We're getting the worst of it now. Everybody's inside just trying to ride it out," a resident of St. John's said at the height of the storm as debris flew through the air and power poles tumbled.

Several residents called radio stations to report their roofs had lifted off. At least 140 people took refuge in public shelters and boats were reported damaged in English Harbor, officials said.

The power company turned off electricity in Antigua as a precaution before the storm hit. Antigua sustained severe losses in September 1995 when Hurricane Luis hit the island, damaging 75 percent of its homes and battering the tourism industry.

TOURISTS DEPART OR GET SAFER ROOMS

As residents of the Leeward Islands hunkered down, people in the British Virgin Islands scrambled to make last-minute preparations. Many tourists left ahead of the storm, hotels moved their remaining guests from waterfront to interior rooms, and boaters set extra lines to tie boats to piers.

Grocery stores were crammed with residents stocking up on canned goods, batteries, candles and water before a late-afternoon curfew took effect.

"People don't do anything until the last minute. They don't want it to happen, so they wait until the last minute," said a clerk at Big Ben's Supermarket near West End, Tortola.

At 5 a.m. EDT, the center of Jose was near latitude 18.5 north, longitude 64.5 west, or about 30 miles (48 km) east-northeast of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

The hurricane was moving west-northwest at almost 14 mph (23 kph) and was expected to turn to the northwest later on Thursday, the Miami center said.

Jose carried 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 cm) of rain and was causing higher-than-normal tides and dangerous battering waves.

Officials in Montserrat, which has struggled with the ravages of the Soufriere Hills volcano for the last four years, warned that heavy rains could trigger mudslides on the mountain's ash-covered flanks.