Ernesto grew into the first hurricane of the year on Sunday as it gained strength rapidly on a path that could threaten the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.
The United States National Hurricane Centre said Ernesto’s top sustained winds rose to 120km/k, up from 110km/h in a 5am (9am GMT) advisory and 95km/h just a few hours earlier.
The potentially dangerous storm was about 193km south-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and was a Category One storm on the five-stage Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.
A hurricane warning was issued for the southern coast of Haiti — meaning hurricane conditions were expected within 24 hours. Heavy rains and flooding were possible over much of the island of Hispaniola, home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The Miami-based hurricane centre said Ernesto could become a Category Two hurricane — the second-lowest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity — before it reaches the coast of Cuba on Monday. A Category Two storm has top sustained winds from 155-177km/h) and can cause moderate damage.
Among potential targets keeping close watch on the storm was New Orleans, still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina’s blow last August 29. Forecasters said warm waters could greatly strengthen Ernesto as it approached the Gulf, where a quarter of US crude oil and natural gas production is based.
”Ernesto could become a potentially dangerous hurricane as it moves across the north-eastern Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico,” forecaster Jack Beven said in a bulletin from the hurricane centre on Saturday.
Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba issued hurricane watches as Ernesto approached. A hurricane watch meant hurricane conditions could be expected within 36 hours.
Hundreds of Jamaicans cleared supermarket shelves of basic supplies and headed for shelters. Cuban authorities prepared to evacuate the town of Cocodrilo on the Isle of Youth.
At 5am (9am GMT), Ernesto was moving west-northwest near 15km/h) and on that track its center was expected to pass near the southwestern tip of Haiti as early as Sunday afternoon and near the southeastern coast of Cuba on Monday morning.
The hurricane center said a tropical storm watch might be required for parts of the Florida Keys later on Sunday.
Alert
”Our entire coast is on alert,” Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said on Saturday as New Orleans prepared to mark the first anniversary of Katrina.
Katrina flooded most of the historic Southern city after breaching its levees and killed about 1 500 people on the US Gulf Coast.
Ernesto’s eventual target zone, while unpredictable, ranged anywhere from the Florida Panhandle through New Orleans and down to the border with Mexico, but the northern Gulf coast appeared most likely.
Ernesto’s forecast track would take it by Thursday to the middle of the Gulf as a Category Three hurricane, with sustained winds of at least 178km/h), capable of damaging homes.
Oil prices rose on Friday as Ernesto developed. On Saturday, British oil major BP said it would pull 800 non-essential workers from its Gulf of Mexico drilling rigs and nonproducing platforms, cutting its offshore Gulf work force by a third but not affecting production. – Reuters