Preparations
Late on September 10, a tropical storm warning was issued by the National Hurricane Center for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic alongside a hurricane watch for the Barahona Peninsula. The hurricane watch for Barahona was upgraded to a hurricane warning early on September 11. Later that day, hurricane watches were posted for the Dominican Republic's southern coast, Jamaica, and the southern coast of Cuba east of Cabo Cruz; the hurricane watch in Jamaica was upgraded to a hurricane warning by the end of the day. Hurricane warnings for the southern coast of Haiti were also posted on September 11.
On September 12, a hurricane watch was issued for the Cayman Islands, and the hurricane watch for the southern coast of Cuba was extended to Cienfuegos, with the portion of the watch east of Camaguey upgraded to a hurricane warning. That evening, the Yucatán Peninsula was placed under a hurricane watch between Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Progreso. This area included the resort cities of Cancún and Cozumel. The following day, hurricane watches were posted for Pinar del Río and Isla de la Juventud, and the Cayman Islands were placed under a hurricane warning. The watches in western Cuba and the Yucatán Peninsula were replaced with warnings at about mid-day September 13. As Gilbert approached the Yucatán Peninsula on September 14, the hurricane warning in the region was extended to cover the entire coast between Chetumal and Champotón, while a hurricane watch was posted for the northern district of Belize.
Once Gilbert entered the Gulf of Mexico on September 15, hurricane watches were posted for the portion of the shore between Port Arthur and Tampico. Around noon that day, the hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning between Tampico and Port O'Connor.
Texas governor Bill Clements issued a decree allowing municipalities to lift laws in the name of public safety, including contraflow lane reversals and speed limits. Cayman Airways evacuated residents from the Cayman Islands ahead of Gilbert.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Gilbert
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“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.)