Date: Tue, 5 Sep 95 22:05:58 EDT

From: Emergency Information Administrator 

Subject: Caribbean: Hurricane Luis  OFDA-01







            U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID)

                                    

                 BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)

            OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)

                                    

                         CARIBBEAN - Hurricane 



Fact Sheet #1                                September 5, 1995



Background:  Hurricane Luis is moving across the Caribbean's

northern leeward islands.  The northeast islands from Dominica to

Puerto Rico have been placed under a hurricane warning.  A

tropical storm warning is in effect for Martinique.  Luis has a

diameter of approximately 700 miles.  It is producing maximum

sustained winds near 140 miles-per-hour (mph) and is moving in a

west-northwest direction at approximately 9 miles-per-hour (mph). 

The hurricane is expected to maintain this speed and direction

today and experts are working to predict its track beyond that. 

In the meantime, storm tides measuring up to nine feet in height

have been reported and rainfall of ten to twelve inches can be

expected along Luis' path.



Numbers Affected:  Estimates of the number of people affected

currently are not available although it is safe to assume that

the entire populations of the northern leeward islands are

threatened by Hurricane Luis.  



Current Situation:  As of 2:00 pm EDT today, Hurricane Luis was

leaving Antigua and Montserrat.  The storm currently is passing

through St. Kitts, Nevis and St. Maarten.  According to the

Antigua Red Cross, the islands were experiencing strong winds and

driving rain.  Many roofs have been reported lost.  As of 11:00

am today, the center of Hurricane Luis was located about midway

between St. Barthelemy and Barbuda.  The core of the hurricane

should continue to move over the northern leeward islands today. 

A U.S. reporting station on Antigua lost its wind recording

instrument this morning when gusts reached 146 mph.  Unofficial

sources reports gusts of up to 175 mph there.  



Hurricane Luis has knocked down telephone lines, disrupting

communication with many of the affected islands.  While

preliminary damage reports have been received, more precise

reporting on conditions will not be available until communication

links are restored and the storm clears the islands.  



U.S. Government (USG) Assistance:  The USG is monitoring

Hurricane Luis closely and is prepared to provide immediate

assistance once the needs have been identified by an assessment

and a disaster has been declared.  BHR/OFDA, the USG's foreign

disaster assistance arm, will manage the provision of emergency

aid to all non-U.S. islands affected by Hurricane Luis.  Two

BHR/OFDA disaster response experts and two communications experts

from Florida's Metro Dade Fire Department are en route to

Barbados where they will meet with their regional counterparts

and USG personnel.  The BHR/OFDA assessment team plans to

continue on to Antigua tomorrow - weather permitting - to

undertake aerial and on-the-ground assessments of the leeward

islands, to meet with local disaster managers and to recommend an

appropriate USG response.  More BHR/OFDA disaster response

experts are on stand-by, should their services be required. 

BHR/OFDA has relief commodity stockpiles in the U.S. and in the

region.  The stockpile managers have been alerted and relief

items could be dispatched very quickly once assessments verify

the needs.  



As the USG's domestic disaster responder, the Federal Emergency

Management Agency (FEMA) is in charge of providing assistance to

the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,

only.  A Washington-based BHR/OFDA disaster specialist has been

assigned to FEMA to serve as a liaison between the two USG

disaster responders.  FEMA has dispatched its own team to the

region to monitor the situation and make recommendations on

assistance to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  FEMA

maintains a cache of plastic sheeting for temporary shelter

purposes in BHR/OFDA's Panama stockpile.  BHR/OFDA will assist

FEMA in moving these commodities should they be required.  







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