J’cans in Florida urged to take precaution ahead of Hurricane Dorian
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Consulate General of Jamaica in Miami is urging Jamaicans currently in Florida to keep their travel, immigration and any other relevant documentation secured in preparation for Hurricane Dorian, which is slated to hit the state over the course of the weekend.
The Consulate, in an advisory this morning, noted that a large number of Jamaicans are employed in the hospitality and agricultural sectors in the Southern United States under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Overseas Employment Programme.
Several Jamaican students are also enrolled in tertiary institutions across the state.
Weather forecasters said Dorian — currently a Category 2 hurricane on a five-level scale — could strengthen into a powerful Category 4 storm before it makes landfall but there was a great amount of uncertainty about where it would hit.
Consul General Oliver Mair advised all nationals to immediately take the necessary precautions in light of the hurricane.
The Consulate said it is making contact with all relevant local government administration authorities in the areas expected to be hit.
“Some Jamaican entities have been put on alert as part of a rapid response team being coordinated by the Consulate should such measures be required,” the statement continued.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a declaration of emergency for all of the state’s 67 counties and urged its millions of residents to make preparations for what he said could be a “major event”.
“We’re anticipating a massive amount of flooding,” DeSantis said. “We urge all Floridians to have seven days’ worth of food, medicine, and water.”
But the governor said local authorities were holding off on ordering evacuations until weather forecasters had a better picture of the eventual path of the hurricane.
“If you’re in an evacuation zone and you’re ordered to evacuate, please do so,” DeSantis said.
The Florida National Guard said about 2,000 service members had been mobilized so far and another 2,000 would do so on Saturday.
At 11:00 am (1500 GMT), Dorian was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (175 kilometers per hour) and the eye of the hurricane was about 660 miles (1,060 kilometres) east of West Palm Beach, Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami said.
The hurricane was moving in a northwest direction at 10 mph (17 kph) and was expected to make landfall somewhere on the Florida coast late Monday or early Tuesday, the NHC said.
