PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands (AP) — Tourists and residents in the Turks and Caicos Islands retreated to their homes and hotels on Tuesday as Hurricane Irene barreled toward the British territory.
The government urged those living along the coast to seek higher ground and moved the elderly and sick to shelters and hospitals.
"You started to see the hurricane shutters go up. People are not taking any chances," Horatio Tuitt, a disaster management agency manager, said in a phone interview.
Irene was forecast to pass over or near the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas by Tuesday night and be near the central Bahamas early Wednesday. It was about 70 miles (110 kilometers) south of Grand Turk island early Tuesday afternoon, with maximum winds of 100 mph (160 kph).
"We're waiting to see what the storm is going to throw at us," Tuitt said. "If the storm stays on its current track, we should be back in business tomorrow."
At the Comfort Suites Resort in Providenciales, Gary Anderson and his wife, both of Delaware, said they were preparing to experience their first hurricane.
Anderson said he anticipated chaos after two days of snorkeling and other activities.
"Don't know how long it's going to last, don't know what the 100 mile per hour winds are like, but we'll get through it," he said.
The government assured people it has enough emergency supplies available, and that a Royal Navy ship is on standby in Curacao.
"We are already experiencing the first effects of the storm on the island, and we can expect the conditions to worsen throughout the day," said Acting Gov. Martin Stanley.
In the Bahamas, the military expected to deploy small teams to Acklins, Cat Island, Eleuthera and Abaco as those sparsely populated islands are expected to get slammed by the storm first, said Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham.
He said if Irene strengthens to a Category 3 hurricane, it will damage roofs and weak structures. He urged islanders to prepare supplies of water, canned foods, flashlights, batteries and first aid kits and pick up debris that whipping winds could turn into dangerous projectiles.
"We cannot replace life. Hence my urgent and repeated appeals for the observance of safety measures," he said.
The Abaco Beach Resort had enough space for yachts to berth because most boat owners sailed to the United States ahead of Irene, according to marina employee Carolyn Smith.
"Right now, the sun is shining so bright. But we know in the next 70 hours it will all change," Smith said from the 198-slip marina in Abaco, about 165 miles (266 kilometers) off the Florida coast.
Irene was still lashing the northern coasts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where crews have begun cleaning up debris and the government warned of flooding. Officials said more than 1,000 people were evacuated.
Cornelio Taveras, mayor of the Dominican town of Boba, warned people to stay in their homes.
"It is very dangerous because we are between two rivers that are growing," he said.
In neighboring Haiti, 500 people were evacuated from a coastal town amid fears of flooding, while 36 prisoners were relocated to a more secure location, said Marie Alta Jean-Baptiste, director of Haiti's Civil Protection Agency.
"No was is safe for the moment," she said. "The risks are all still real. We're still under red alert until this storm is finished."
In Puerto Rico, the governor had declared a state of emergency and crews were still working to restore power to tens of thousands of people.
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