by Paul Reid
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Sept 10 (AFP) - Hurricane Ivan bore down on Jamaica late Friday after devastating the southern Caribbean island of Grenada, as residents of Cuba and the southern US state of Florida braced for its arrival.
The storm, worst to hit the region in decades, had already killed at least 27 people in Grenada, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Tobago.
The National Hurricane Center said Ivan was heading straight for Jamaica, then Cuba and the Florida Keys, the southern string of causeway-linked islands where residents were packing up under a mandatory evacuation and heading for the mainland.
At 8:00 pm (2400 GMT) the eye of the hurricane was about 45 miles (75 kilometer) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, the center said. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 11 miles (18 kilometers) per hour, which would bring the eye over Jamaica by early Saturday, it said.
Maximum sustained winds had increased to 150 mph (240 kph) with higher gusts, making Ivan "an extremely dangerous category four storm" on the five-level Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, said the center.
"Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (96 km) from the center, and tropical force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km)," it said.
"Storm surge flooding of five to eight feet (1.5 to 2.5 meters) above normal tide levels, along with large and dangerous battering waves, can be expected near the center of Ivan," the center said.
Rainfall of up to 10 inches could be expected, "possibly causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."
The United States meanwhile was preparing to evacuate those among its 1,500 citizens living on Grenada who want to leave the island, where the storm had already killed at least 17.
The State Department issued a statement in Washington saying it would "start evacuating US citizens who want to leave Grenada starting mid-morning Saturday, with rotating flights throughout the weekend to Trinidad and Tobago."
In Jamaica, authorities renewed urgent appeals for people to move away from the coast before the hurricane makes landfall. But with heavy rain and winds already buffeting the island state, the head of the emergency management department said only about 300 people had lodged in the scores of open shelters.
Barbara Carby, director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Disaster Management, said "we are concerned for their safety" as she made a new appeal for residents to go to public shelters. Jamaica has a population of 2.7 million.
Authorities have pleaded for 500,000 people to leave coastal areas most at risk from the massive storm, which has already killed 17 in Grenada, five in Venezuela, four in the Dominican Republic and one in Tobago.
The tiny spice island of Grenada suffered catastrophic damage in the storm, according to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell. Power lines were down and thousands were homeless.
Air Jamaica canceled all flights in and out of the country, the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper reported, and "all aircraft were ferried out of Kingston and Montego Bay to the United States last night until the hurricane passes.
"The airline has advised that if there is no major damage to the island`s two international airports, and the authorities feel it is safe to reopen them, it will resume some flights on schedule (Saturday) while others will be canceled," the daily reported.
The Jamaican government sent buses to help move residents from high-risk areas.
One older woman, who was not identified, told Jamaican television people had survived hurricane Charley in 1951 and Gilbert in 1988 and they can ride this one out. Another old man said that if he was going to die, he preferred to do so in his own home. A number of persons said they were not too keen to leave as they did in 1988 to have looters prey on their properties.
In Cuba, where Ivan was due to hit late Sunday, more than 40,000 of the island`s 11 million people had been evacuated. The armed forces were ordered to prepare air raid shelters to operate as hurricane shelters.
Cuba`s preparations come nearly one month after Hurricane Charley left five people dead there and an estimated one billion dollars in damage.
President Fidel Castro, the Americas` only communist leader, said Thursday whatever damage Ivan does, "we will not accept (humanitarian) aid from those who have adopted measures against us," an allusion to the United States and the European Union.
Authorities in Florida ordered the complete evacuation of the Florida Keys.
Forecasts showed the powerful hurricane could slam into Key West, the westernmost tip of the archipelago, Monday.
Thousands of cars, many towing boats, clogged the only road from the keys to the mainland late Friday.
"You can`t take a chance," Fernando Reyes, 37, as he finished packing his car in Key Largo for the trip north. "This one looks like it`s going to hit and hit bad."