Jamaica braces for ferocious Hurricane Ivan. 10/09/2004. ABC News Online: "Jamaica is now bracing for Hurricane Ivan after its 240 kilometre per hour winds devastated the island of Grenada.
Half a million people were urged to leave their homes in low-lying areas of the south, including parts around the capital, Kingston, but officials said many residents were reluctant to abandon their homes for fear of looting.
Residents of the island of 2.7 million people were scrambling to protect their homes and stock up on supplies before the hurricane was due to make landfall on Friday night.
'This one looks like a killer. If it follows the same path, a lot of us will die,' Kingston resident Jefferson James said.
At 5:00am local time, Ivan's centre was about 360 kilometres south-east of Kingston.
It was moving west north-west at 20kph and was due to hit Jamaica on Friday night.
Ivan's winds had weakened a little to near 230kph but forecasters warned it remained a dangerous category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale of 1-5 and could pick up strength again and reach the top of the scale as it approached Jamaica.
Ivan killed at least 23 people as it roared through the Caribbean, most of them on the devastated spice island of Grenada, which officials said remained without power or water."
