Preparations
On September 12, 2004, a hurricane watch was issued for the island. The next day, that advisory was upgraded to a hurricane warning, as hurricane conditions had become more imminent. By 1500 UTC on September 12, all tropical cyclone watches and warnings were discontinued for Jamaica. About 500,000 Jamaicans were told to evacuate from coastal areas, P.J. Patterson, Prime Minister, declared a public emergency. According to Patterson, the island had to "prepare for the worst-case scenario". Schools and churches were converted into shelters, and the national blood bank requested residents to donate blood, in anticipation of potential injuries. By September 10, over 1,000 individual shelters were set up throughout the country. The Jamaican Government urged off-duty corrections officers to report to work. Air Jamaica canceled all flights to and from the island, as well as inter-island flights; aircraft were transported to the United States until the storm passed. The Mennonite Central Committee designated the equivalence of $20,000 USD for assisting with potential damage. Businesses in Kingston were closed, and fishermen secured their boats to trees. Workers boarded up windows, and grocery stores remained open later than normal to allow for residents to purchase supplies.
Read more about this topic: Effects Of Hurricane Ivan In Jamaica
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)