Preparations Hurricane Dean

1 preparations

1.1 lesser antilles
1.2 greater antilles
1.3 mexico
1.4 belize
1.5 gulf of mexico
1.6 other regions

preparations

hurricane dean s smooth , well-predicted track gave unusually advance warning of nations in path , allowed them time prepare storm s impact. because of advance warning , dean s extraordinary strength, nations of central america , caribbean set hundreds of shelters, readied thousands of disaster recovery experts, evacuated hundreds of thousands of vulnerable residents, , prepared millions of dollars of emergency supplies.

lesser antilles

as hurricane dean approached lesser antilles local meteorological services issued watches , warnings, advising residents prepare storm. hurricane warnings issued st. lucia, dominica, martinique , guadeloupe , dependencies. hurricane watches issued saba , st. eustatius. tropical storm warnings issued barbados, antigua, barbuda, st. kitts, nevis, , st. maarten st. vincent , grenadines, u.s. virgin islands, , british virgin islands. tropical storm watches issued sint maarten, st. vincent, grenada , dependencies, montserrat, , anguilla.

local authorities closed airports, set shelters, , readied emergency service personnel. authorities in martinique canceled memorial victims of west caribbean airways flight 708 , began set shelters. in dominica, tourists evacuated concrete shelters , vast majority of foreign medical students ross university school of medicine evacuated island. government of dominica canceled leave emergency service personnel , evacuated princess margret hospital, fearing roof might vulnerable storm s winds. martinique s main airport , both of st. lucia s commercial airports closed when last airplanes landed on night of august 16 , storm s outer rainbands began sweep on island.

in anticipation of dean s significant damage, several emergency response groups gathered funds , readied personnel. on august 14 caribbean disaster emergency response agency (cdera) placed regional response mechanism on standby , contacted national disaster coordinators of member states in lesser antilles. on august 15 u.s. agency international development (usaid) dispatched teams barbados, dominica, , st. kitts in advance of hurricane provide damage assessment should hurricane affect islands. eastern caribbean donor group convened meeting on august 16 under chair of resident representative united nations development programme barbados in anticipation member states require international assistance.

greater antilles


hurricane dean, prominent eye visible, photographed astronauts on international space station

hurricane warnings issued of jamaica, haiti port-au-prince dominican border, , dominican republic barahona haitian border. tropical storm warnings issued rest of hispaniola , coastal cuba between camagüey , guantánamo. hundreds of thousands evacuated vulnerable low-lying , coastal areas , disaster management programs activated throughout greater antilles.

jamaica, forecast bear brunt of hurricane dean, underwent extensive preparations. jamaican government executed long-standing evacuation plans, including converting country s national arena shelter , relocating inmates 2 maximum security prisons. political parties in island suspended campaigning august 27 national elections, allow residents prepare storm. curfews put in place parts of island, while off-duty essential personnel called work. more 1,000 schools , churches converted emergency shelters, residents occupied 47 of them before storm s arrival. evidently country s high crime rate led islanders fear belongings should abandon homes. unicef prepared 4 emergency health kits , 1,000 water containers , copa airlines agreed fly supplies jamaica on scheduled august 22 flight, if possible. world food program prepared food stocks in nearby haiti, ready move them jamaica if needed. united nations disaster assessment , coordination (undac) team tried reach jamaica, 1 member arrived before incoming flights canceled. united states confirmed offer aid if needed, , north-west caribbean donor group met decide actions need taken.

hms portland followed dean through caribbean, prepared support damaged islands if necessary.

the island of hispaniola predicted heavily affected storm. workers world vision supplied food, clean water, medicines , emergency generators in southern provinces of dominican republic, , in southern departments of haiti hurricane warnings had been issued. in low-lying areas, 1,580 residents of dominican republic , more 1,000 haitians evacuated storm approached. small craft advised stay in port, while haiti s toussaint louverture international airport closed.

the cayman islands expected suffer badly if hurricane dean passed close, , mandatory evacuations instigated low-lying little cayman. tourists forbidden entering island , flights added evacuate there. schools , civic centers converted shelters on grand cayman , cayman brac, and, despite mandatory evacuation, 1 shelter opened on little cayman residents remained there. expecting catastrophic damage, 2 royal navy ships of atlantic patrol task (north), hms portland , rfa wave ruler, followed 150 mi (240 km) behind storm in order arrive @ cayman after hurricane possible.

cuba , puerto rico, neither of expected experience worst of dean s strength, prepared more modestly. cuba s civil defense evacuated 350,000 people coastal provinces. government in havana suspended tourist programs ahead of storm. soldiers , emergency officials prepared convert schools , other government buildings temporary shelters, stood down when became evident not needed. u.s. federal emergency management agency (fema) deployed five-member team puerto rico ahead of hurricane dean. equipped satellite communication systems provide video-teleconferencing , make real-time assessments of damage.

mexico


hurricane dean on yucatán on august 21

with hurricane dean s path predicted in advance of storm, government of mexico able make ample preparations. on august 17, state of emergency declared state of quintana roo dean expected make landfall. on august 18 authorities began evacuating tourists , residents living in vulnerable parts of quintana roo. state government set storm shelters in schools , other public buildings. emergency supplies @ ready, state of yucatán, quintana roo s neighbour northwest, declared green alert. on august 19 hurricane watch issued on yucatán peninsula chetumal san felipe , residents made last-minute preparations.

belize

a hurricane warning issued coastal locations north of belize city forecast of 150 mph (240 km/h) winds. government instituted dusk-to-dawn curfew belize city mexican border. on august 16 and 17, prime minister said musa chaired 2 meetings of belize s national emergency management organization (nemo). instructed newly created coastguard evacuate popular tourist sites caye caulker , ambergris caye boat , plane. authorities evacuated belize city s 3 hospitals, moving high-risk patients inland capital belmopan. mayor urged residents leave belize city , make use of shelters in capital.

the united nations disaster assessment , coordination team dispatched 2 members belize city , rest of team traveled belmopan. government supplies stored in orange walk, corozal ready post-storm relief. essential equipment red cross , pan american health organization stored in elevated unicef building , belize city un building converted crisis center.

gulf of mexico

hundreds of oil platforms, such 1 in gulf of mexico, evacuated in anticipation of hurricane dean.

oil futures spiked on august 15 analysts considered impact of hurricane dean on refining capacity if move caribbean predicted. transocean evacuated 11 nonessential workers late on august 15 oil rig located 160 mi (260 km) southeast of new orleans. company left 125 personnel on board structure. day later, royal dutch shell evacuated 275 ancillary staff, following evacuation of 188 due tropical storm erin.

on august 18, 2007, 10,300 barrels (1,640 m) of oil , 11 million cubic feet (310,000 m³) of natural gas shut-in per day, accounting 0.8% of crude production in gulf of mexico. 11:30 am cst (1630 utc), 2 rigs , 1 platform evacuated personnel.

pemex, state-owned mexican oil company, made preparations shut down oil production on august 19 ahead of dean. evacuated 13,360 workers more 140 oil platforms, using 55 boats , 29 helicopters. storm continued intensify, number of evacuated pemex workers increased 18,000 on august 20, , 407 wells , drilling operations abandoned. reduced worldwide production of oil , natural gas 2.65 million barrels (421,000 m) , 2.6 billion cubic feet (74,000,000 m) per day, respectively.

other regions

throughout caribbean sea, dozen cruise ships altered routes avoid hurricane dean. honduras put on state of preventative alert 48 hours, particularly departments north of country; bay islands on state of red alert. there places ready accommodate 10,000 people 15 days if necessary.

in united states, louisiana governor s office of homeland security , emergency preparedness activated crisis action team on august 16 monitor storm , coordinate preparation. governor of louisiana kathleen blanco declared state of emergency on evening of august 17, asking presidential emergency declaration give louisiana access federal funds prior landfall. texas governor rick perry declared dean imminent threat state, , initiated full-scale hurricane preparedness effort on august 17 when storm @ least 5 days away. prior storm, texas suffered severe flooding several june–july storms, , tropical storm erin left ground still saturated. governor perry feared more rainfall dean cause additional flash flooding, , had 250 texas parks , wildlife department crews on standby boats assist in potential evacuations. willing deploy 10,000 texas military forces soldiers, , did deploy several elements of texas state guard set emergency shelters. texas fuel industry began surging fuel loads coastal counties ensure adequate fuel in event of hurricane causing disruption fuel distribution system. in anticipation of evacuations, texas department of transportation began working on evacuation lanes , contraflow. nasa cut short sts-118 mission precaution, in case dean approached mission control @ lyndon b. johnson space center in houston. effect, mission managers cut mission s final spacewalk short 2 hours, allowing them land day earlier planned.