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Hurricane Ike sends folks packing

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — People from the Caribbean to the Florida Keys were scrambling Saturday to get out of the way of Hurricane Ike, which forecasters say has the potential to do serious damage.

Tourists in Florida’s Keys started getting out Saturday morning, and residents will follow Sunday, state Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate said.

The threat is more immediate in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where forecasters expect the storm to strike late Saturday or early Sunday.

The British government arranged extra flights to move visitors to Turks and Caicos, a British crown colony, out of harm’s way before the Providenciales airport was forced to close about noon. Watch a webcam report from Turks and Caicos

The flights look impossible at the moment, Bahamian Patrick Munroe told The Associated Press at the Providenciales airport.

As I watched the weather forecast, it looks really, really serious, and I think it’s going to be devastating, he told AP.

I don’t remember ever seeing a mass exodus like this, Providenciales resident Tracy Paradis told AP. She intended to fly to Seattle, Washington, with her 19-month-old twins and return after the hurricane.

Officials in Monroe County, Florida, which includes the Keys, prepared by closing or planning to close schools and state, officials said in a written statement.

There will be no commercial flights to Key West starting Sunday night, and the airport won’t be reopened until the storm passes, Key West Airport Director Peter Horton said. The suspension of flights also applies to the airport at Marathon Key, an hour’s drive from Key West, he said.

General aviation flights, including private and charter planes, will be allowed until noon Sunday, he said.

Ike is expected to start turning toward the northwest Monday, a path that would take the storm over the Keys and into the southeast Gulf of Mexico.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist acknowledged that storm tracks are unpredictable, but he said Ike could be a serious threat by Tuesday. Watch Crist warn about ‘a dangerous storm’

We continue to watch with much concern the track of Hurricane Ike, Crist said Saturday. Ike has grown rapidly into a dangerous storm that continues to move … toward Florida.

Crist declared a state of emergency Friday, allowing officials to get supplies in place, such as drinking water and ready-to-eat meals, near vulnerable areas.

Fran Chipley of Key West, Florida, said she planned to stay put. She manages the front desk at historic Chelsea House, a bed and breakfast on the waterfront.

Our plans today are business as usual … then we’re going to see what happens tomorrow, she said. I know there’s a mandatory evacuation today, but we are allowing our guests to stay if they choose to, which I think I know they’re going to do, because it’s beautiful.

Ike looks like it’s going south, and we’re hoping for that, Chipley added.

She said she lives in a home that is on higher ground and survived Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. Wilma hit southeast Florida, did extensive damage on the East Coast and killed nearly 20 people in Florida, Mexico and Haiti.

The Caribbean took a beating from Tropical Storm Hanna, and Ike promised to add to the misery.

What we saw [with Hanna] was pretty bad, Turks and Caicos vacationer Jonathan Cohen, of Queens, New York, told AP. So for it to be two, three times worse, well, it’s time to get out of here.

Forecasters predicted storm-surge flooding of 9 to 12 feet above normal tides and large and dangerous waves when Ike hits. These can be expected near and north of Ike’s center. Watch what Ike looks like from space

Rainfall of 4 to 8 inches, and up to 12 inches in some regions, is expected over Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas.

At 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Hurricane Ike was a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with top sustained winds near 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said. Ike’s center was 135 miles east of Grand Turk Island and was moving west-southwest at 16 mph.

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Hundreds feared trapped in Egypt rockslide

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Massive boulders peeled away from a cliff and buried dozens of homes in an Egyptian shantytown Saturday, killing at least 18 people, authorities said. Rescuers were digging by hand to reach any survivors.

At least eight boulders, some the size of a small house, fell from the towering Muqattam cliffs outside Cairo and buried about 50 homes in the village of Manshiyet Nasr, one of many densely populated slums ringing Africa’s most populous city.

The official said 35 people were injured and, according to residents, there could be up to 500 people buried under the hundreds of tons of rock that fell. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

My whole family is underneath the rock, sobbed Anwar Ragab by phone to the Associated Press as he watched a body being pulled from under the rock. I don’t know what to do, I can’t do anything — I just want my children back.

The town was covered by a thick layer of dust and the scene was chaotic as men and women screamed in grief. People tried to lift the massive rocks by hand, calling out the names of relatives and family members stuck under the debris. Watch residents search through the rubble

Police using search and rescue dogs probed the rubble, but six hours after the disaster, there was no sign of heavy machinery to assist in clearing the rock.

Angry residents yelled at police and government officials at the site, blaming them for the tragedy.

The government issued a statement saying survivors would be transferred to new housing for the night and given all necessary aid.

We are following the case step by step and providing the care and comfort for the residents, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said in the statement. We would like to remind people the danger of building informal housing in dangerous areas.

The boulders came crashing down at 7 a.m., when most residents were still sleeping after waking earlier to eat ahead of the daytime fast of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.

I couldn’t find my house this morning, said Mustafa Abdel-Fatah, who spent the night at a friend’s house in a different neighborhood. I could only see rocks on top of everything.

Haidar Baghdadi, the parliamentarian for the region, told Al-Jazeera news channel that buried residents were calling for help from under the rubble using cell phones.

The deputy added that the area was known to be dangerous and the residents were supposed to be resettled to government housing. He also criticized the lack of government emergency response.

We should have removed these rocks five years ago to protect the people underneath or moved the people, he said, blaming the Housing Ministry for the disaster.

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Beijing prepares for start of Paralympics

BEIJING, China (AP) — China welcomed world leaders for the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on Saturday, eager for another chance to cement its role as a global player to an international audience.

The guest list included Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, German President Horst Koehler and South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.

They shook hands and posed for photos with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of China’s legislature in the heart of Beijing. Hu gave a brief speech and toasted the games.

Caring for the disabled is an important symbol for social civilization and progress, Hu said before raising his glass.

China’s people and government have always attached great importance to the cause of the disabled, he said in remarks televised on state television. We insist on putting people first, carrying forward a humanitarian spirit and advocating equality and opposing discrimination.

Opening just two weeks after the Beijing Olympics ended, the Paralympics are designed to be a parallel games for athletes with a wide range of physical disabilities. The 10-day competition begins Sunday. Watch Beijing prepare for the Paralympics.

Athletes will use many of the same Olympic venues, with 148 countries represented and 472 medal events contested — 170 more than the Olympics.

Hosting the Olympics and the Paralympics is a source of national pride for China and a way to showcase the country on the international stage. The Aug. 8-24 Olympics was overshadowed at times by human rights and censorship disputes surrounding the event.

China is keen to use the Paralympics to underscore what is says it has done for the country’s 83 million disabled citizens.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Beijing used much of its US$100 million budget for the Paralympics to improve handicapped facilities in competition venues, airports, the public traffic system, hotels, hospitals and tourist attractions like the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

An editorial on the front page of the ruling Communist Party’s People Daily newspaper hailed the games as a stage for the world’s handicapped people to realize their dreams.

Remarkable progress has been made in basic living standards, medicare, education and employment for the disabled, the editorial said, and the preparation for the Beijing Paralympics … recorded fresh achievement made by China in promoting the cause for the disabled.

But the country has also had a contentious history with dealing with its disabled population.

The government has long advocated sterilizing mentally handicapped people. In the early 1990s, a draft law was presented to the legislature to reduce the number of disabled through abortion and sterilization, a move that unleashed international criticism.

In 1994, China ratified a law calling for the abortion of fetuses carrying hereditary diseases and restrictions on marriages among people suffering mental problems or contagious diseases.

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Hanna closes in on Carolina coast

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) — Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward the southeastern coast of the U.S. on Friday, and forecasters predicted that the storm would strengthen slightly before reaching land Saturday.

As of 11 p.m. ET, Hanna was about 140 miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina, carrying maximum sustained winds near 70 mph with higher gusts, just below hurricane status of 74 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. View a map of Hanna’s projected path

The storm, which had spent several days meandering around the southern Bahamas, was moving north at a fast clip of about 20 mph, and forecasters expected it to speed up even more Saturday before turning northeast.

The storm was expected to hit near the South Carolina-North Carolina state line between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET, according to hurricane center projections.

A tropical storm warning extends from Altamaha Sound, Georgia, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, including all of Chesapeake Bay, the tidal Potomac River, Washington and Delaware Bay.

The center said the storm is likely to strengthen only slightly but warned that it is still possible for Hanna to become a hurricane before hitting land.

Meanwhile, Ike — a small, but impressive hurricane — is still far out in the Atlantic, forecasters said, but they warned that it could come ashore in southern Florida as a Category 4 storm by Tuesday night. View a map of Ike’s projected path

North Carolina and South Carolina opened emergency centers in anticipation of Hanna’s arrival, and North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of emergency, as have the Maryland and Virginia governors. Watch Hanna’s aftermath in Haiti

No mandatory evacuation orders were issued in either North Carolina or South Carolina, but South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford urged the voluntary evacuation of two northeast counties.

Charleston, South Carolina, has prepared for the worst. Workers began boarding up city buildings this week, and firefighters filled and distributed sandbags to residents and business owners. Backup generators were fueled and positioned at key locations across the city.

City offices were closed Friday in anticipation of the storm, as were Charleston County schools.

In Wrightsville Beach, in coastal North Carolina, stores and businesses remained open as the community wrapped up its summer season.

We look at it more or less like a nor’easter, a bad storm with some wind and rain and hopefully not a lot of damage, Mayor Stephen Whalen said.

Some buildings were boarded up, and billboards were taken down in Morehead City, 92 miles north of Wrightsville Beach, said Jamie Fulk, the deputy chief for the fire department.

We’re prepared. We’ve done all we can do to get prepared; we’re basically waiting to see what the storm is going to do, he said. The public’s very much aware of what’s going on. … [They’re] waiting to see if it’s going to intensify.

Tropical storm-force winds extended up to 290 miles from the center.

People are reminded that there is very little difference between a strong tropical storm and a minimal hurricane, forecasters said. iReport.com: Are you prepared for the storm?

A hurricane watch was in effect from north of Edisto Beach, South Carolina — about 30 miles south of Charleston — to Currituck Beach Light, North Carolina.

A tropical storm watch is in effect from north of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to Watch Hill, Rhode Island, including Long Island, the hurricane center said. Watch Myrtle Beach hotel workers prepare for Hanna

Meanwhile, Ike’s top winds of 115 mph keep it a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, according to the hurricane center’s 8 p.m. advisory.

The forecast calls for Ike to be a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches the Florida coast and possibly moves into the Gulf of Mexico next week. Watch a view of Ike from space

Ike was centered 430 miles (690 kilometers) north-northwest of the Leeward Islands and was moving west-southwest about 15 mph (24 kph).

Ike is expected to continue westward for the next several days before turning west-northwest, the hurricane center said.

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