HURRICANE DEAN UPDATE - August 17, 2007, 05:30 Hrs USA CDT
Hurricane Dean has struck several island nations in the Lesser Antillies and is currently located in the St. Lucia channel between St. Lucia and Martinique. The storm is moving in a westerly direction at 23 miles per hour with top sustained winds hovering around 107 miles per hour and gusting to over 120 miles per hour.
This dangerous storm will track to the south of Hispaniola and as it does, the storm will gain in strength and most likely become a Catagory 3 storm within the next 18 to 24 hours.
We are reminding persons along the entire Gulf Coast of the US, to monitor the progress of this storm intently. At least two computer models are placing this Hurricane into the central Gulf Coast by roughly the end of next week, while other models are indicating a possible Mexico - Texas border landfall. While the eventual track is still impossible to accurately predict at this time, all persons along the US Gulf Coast should be monitoring NOAA and local media. You can also use the link below for up to the minute updates direct from NOAA. Our next scheduled update will be posted at 05:30 AM, Saturday August 18.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
================================================== =======
"THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL ADVISORY. These updates and advisories are based upon information from our own computer models, NOAA, Local Weather Data Centers, deep water Buoy Data, and other publicly available sources. FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR PROPERTY AND PERSON, please refer to your Local, State, and Federal Authority updates for Official Advisories and Orders. For up to the minute advisories and official updates, it is essential that you monitor your local Emergency Government, NOAA and Local Media Broadcasts. Please do not make personal safety decisions based upon information presented here in this Unofficial Advisory."
================================================== =======