"Since 3 pm, the General Staff of Civil Defense ordered a cyclone alert declared in the eastern provinces of Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Holguin due to tropical storm Erika," an official press release said.
Meanwhile, the provinces of Las Tunas, Camaguey and Ciego de Avila have activated an "information phase," which indicates they are preparing for Erika's potential arrival.
The governments of these states have been ordered to evaluate the possible impact of heavy rains and landslides, especially in cities and mountainous areas, while taking measures to protect people.
According to Cuba's Institute of Meteorology, Erika is maintaining maximum sustained winds of 85 km per hour.
Cuban experts forecast that in the next 12 to 24 hours, Erika will maintain its direction and speed, crossing over the Dominican Republic on Friday and crossing the eastern half of Cuba, or close to it, on Saturday morning. However, there is hope that it may weaken to a depression over the Dominican Republic.
Cuba is far from being the only country on an emergency footing due to Erika. By Friday afternoon, the storm had killed at least 12 people on the island of Dominica, although that number may rise.
Erika was lashing the islands of Turks and Caicos as well as Puerto Rico on Friday, with the Bahamas set to be hit on Saturday.
Although it will likely have weakened before it makes landfall in the United States, Florida Governor Rick Scott said the storm remained a "severe threat" and declared a state of emergency.
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
29/8/15
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- Florida declares state of emergency over storm Erika...
Florida has declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Erika, which has already wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, moves towards the US state.
The storm is expected to hit southern Florida on Monday after battering the Dominican Republic and Haiti with "life-threatening floods" over the weekend, the US National Hurricane Centre said on Friday.
Governor Rick Scott made his declaration that Erika "poses a severe threat to the entire state" shortly after forecasters adjusted the trajectory of the storm to show that it is predicted to go through the middle of the state.
The order calls for the activation of the US National Guard and gives authorities the ability to waive tolls and rules to allow emergency crews and vehicles to move throughout the state.
A hurricane has not hit Florida in 10 years. The latest forecasts show that Erika will remain a tropical storm when it makes landfall.
Carribean havoc
On Friday, Erika lashed Puerto Rico with powerful winds and heavy rain a day after killing at least four people in the Caribbean island of Dominica.
Emergency officials were searching for several missing people after rain-triggered landslides on the small, mountainous island of on Thursday, Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said in a radio broadcast.............http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/08/florida-declares-state-emergency-storm-erika-150828121455304.html
28/8/15
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