Hurricane Ivan struck Jamaica on 11 September 2004 packing sustained winds of 145 miles per hour, driving 23-foot waves into the island's coastline and prompting a state of emergency. Authorities cut electricity across the country to protect the power grid as rivers overflowed, sweeping away homes and filling streets with waist-high floodwater.
Rated Category 4 on a scale of five, Ivan had already killed at least 27 people across Grenada, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Tobago before reaching Jamaica. Around 10,000 Jamaicans were sheltering in emergency facilities; officials urged up to 500,000 residents in coastal areas to leave. Forecasters warned the storm could still intensify over the following 24 hours.
Grenada bore the catastrophic early impact. Up to 90 percent of buildings on the island were damaged or destroyed, an estimated 60,000 people were left homeless, and the US organized an airlift for roughly 1,500 of its nationals there.
Cuba lay next in Ivan's path, with more than 40,000 people evacuated ahead of an expected Sunday arrival. A hurricane warning extended from Pinar del Rio province east to Ciego de Avila, covering the capital Havana. In the United States, the Florida Keys ordered mandatory evacuation for about 80,000 residents.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.