Morant Bay, Jamaica – A bridge collapsed into a river swollen by Hurricane Dennis’ fierce winds and rain, killing at least four people in southwestern Haiti on Thursday as the strengthening storm lashed Caribbean coastlines.
The hurricane’s winds neared 135 mph, and it grew to a Category 4 storm as it sideswiped Jamaica and headed for Cuba.
Forecasters at the U.S. Hurricane Center in Miami predicted the storm could hit the United States anywhere from Florida to Louisiana by Sunday or Monday, raising fears that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico would be disrupted by the fourth storm in as many weeks.
Thunderstorms covered the Dominican Republic, southern Haiti and northeast Jamaica. The Cayman Islands and Cuba were under hurricane warnings, including the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay holding about 520 terror suspects.
In the southwestern Haitian town of Grand Goave, an AP Television News reporter saw at least four people killed as the wood and metal bridge collapsed. Witnesses said the river came suddenly rushing over the bridge.
Elsewhere on the dangerously deforested island, wind gusts uprooted a palm tree and flung it into a mud hut, killing a fifth person in the southern town of Les Cayes, the Red Cross said.
The Florida Keys were under a hurricane warning Thursday, and tourists were ordered to evacuate. Southern Florida was on a tropical-storm watch, with severe conditions likely within 36 hours.
In Jamaica, Prime Minister Percival Patterson urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate. Despite his radio appeal, only about 1,000 people had gone to shelters by late afternoon.
This is a “dangerous hurricane” that could strengthen considerably by early today, the hurricane center warned. It said the eye could pass over central Cuba sometime this afternoon. More than 100,000 people had been evacuated in the island’s southeast, civil defense officials said.
There were no plans to evacuate detainees or troops from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Officials said Camp Delta was built to withstand winds up to 90 mph.
