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Hurricane moves on east Caribbean Hurricane hits eastern Caribbean
(about 14 hours later)
The Atlantic season's first hurricane is rapidly approaching the islands in the eastern Caribbean, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. The first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season is buffeting the islands in the eastern Caribbean.
It says Dean has top sustained winds of 100mph (160km/h), making it a Category Two hurricane. At 0900 GMT, the hurricane's centre was in the St Lucia Channel between St Lucia and Martinique, heading westwards at 24mph (39km/h).
A hurricane warning has been issued for Martinique, Guadeloupe and other French dependencies, and also for Dominica and St Lucia. Reports from St Lucia said power was down and many trees had been uprooted.
The hurricane centre was some 305 miles (490km) east of Martinique at 2100 GMT. Hurricane Dean, with winds of 100mph (160km/h), is currently a Category Two storm but US forecasters expect it to strengthen over the next 24 hours.
A tropical warning remains in several other islands of the Lesser Antilles, and a tropical storm watch is in place in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, the NHC says. "Buildings are still standing, roofs haven't come off," David Wallace in St Lucia told a Miami television station.
It says Dean is moving westwards at about 23mph (37km/h), and this motion is expected to continue on Friday. "But it's devastating in terms of trees. Almost every tree is down here."
A hurricane watch means hurricane conditions can be expected within 36 hours and a warning means hurricane conditions are possible in 24 hours. "There is water in my house. There is water in my room. I don't know what to do. Everything is shaking, shaking, shaking. It's truly catastrophic," a woman said in a phone call to Radio Martinique.
Emergency meeting
The US National Hurricane Center has also issued hurricane warnings for Guadeloupe and Dominica, meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 24 hours.
Tropical storm warnings are in place for other islands in the eastern Caribbean, including Antigua, the British and US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.
In Dominica, the government cancelled leave for the emergency services and urged employers to send workers home early so they could prepare for the hurricane's arrival, Reuters reported.
Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has called an emergency meeting of the country's disaster preparedness committee for Friday to get ready for the hurricane, which could hit over the next week.

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