On Saturday morning, Hurricane IRMA of Category 2 is located at 19.0N 41.8W, or 2120 km east of the West Indies.Irma moves westwards at nearly 22 km/h. A west-south-west movement is expected over the next two days. The sustained winds are nearly 175 km/h with gusts above 220 km/h. Category fluctuations in both directions are possible over the next few days, but IRMA is expected to remain a powerful hurricane early next week. Hurricane force winds extend up to 35km from the center and winds of tropical storm force, up to 110 km.

In Haiti, the Directorate of Civil Protection (DPC) is mobilizing its structures throughout the country, while Hurricane Friday was about 2540 km east of the Lesser Antilles. The Hydro-Meteorological Unit of Haiti continues to closely monitor the evolution of the phenomenon in order to keep the population informed. The CPD stands ready to face any eventuality in relation to this phenomenon, which originated on August 30 in the Atlantic.

Thursday, Jerry Chandler, Director of the DPC at the National Emergency Operations Center (COUN) at a first working meeting on Irma declared "The trajectory of Hurricane IRMA is not precise enough to allow us to confirm today whether the system will pose a direct threat or not to Haiti in the coming days. However, we prefer to anticipate and keep ready our teams and our preparedness and response infrastructures across the country."

Civil Protection calls upon the people of Haiti, including those in areas at high risk of flooding and land movement, to continue to prepare, while the Civil Protection structures make the necessary arrangements to inform them of the evolution of IRMA.

Precautions :

• Find out if your home is in an area at risk of flooding, landslide... ;

• Find out the list of planned shelters in your area and their exact location ;

• Check the condition of your roof and your doors and windows. Consolidate if necessary ;

• Cut the branches of trees suspended on your roof and cut off those near the electrical cables near your house to avoid the dangers they can cause in the event of a storm ;

• Prepare an emergency kit and tool kit ;

• Identify a safe place to serve as a refuge for your pets ;

• Listen regularly to radio and TV, follow the data on the Internet to be well informed ;

• Prepare or revise your family emergency plan...

Follow the evolution of the situation on HaitiLibre.com

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre