Ivan heads for US as Grenada left devastated
National Hurricane Centre forecasters predicted Ivan could hit the Florida Keys late on Sunday or early on Monday.
“Ivan remains an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane as it heads in the general direction of Jamaica,” it said.
The hurricane has left at least 20 people dead and damaged 90% of homes on the “spice isle” of Grenada. It also destroyed a 17th century stone prison that left criminals on the loose as looting erupted, officials said.
“We are terribly devastated ... It’s beyond imagination,” Prime Minister Keith Mitchell said.
Before it slammed into Grenada on Tuesday, Ivan gave Barbados and St Vincent a pummelling, damaging hundreds of homes.
Thousands of people remained without electricity and water yesterday.
In Tobago, officials reported a 32-year-old pregnant woman died when a 40-foot palm tree fell onto her home, pinning her to her bed.
A 75-year-old Canadian woman was found drowned in a canal swollen by flood waters in Barbados. Neighbours said the woman, who had lived on the island for 30 years, had braved the storm to search for her cat.
Mr Mitchell, whose own home was flattened, said 90% of houses on the island were damaged and he feared the death toll would rise.
Ivan was expected to reach Jamaica yesterday and Cuba by the weekend, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said.
Tourists and residents were ordered to evacuate the Florida Keys yesterday because Ivan could hit the island chain by Sunday.
It is the third evacuation ordered in the Keys in a month, the previous two coming for Hurricanes Charley and Frances.
