Hurricane Georges pounds Caribbean

The hurricane toppled power lines, mangled trees and blew away roofs in St. Kitts, Antigua and other islands early yesterday.

No injuries were reported by late afternoon, but officials said they feared for the worst if Georges strikes any densely populated areas.

"This hurricane has the characteristics of being the strongest that we have confronted in Puerto Rico in decades," warned Gov. Pedro Rossello. "Our people have very difficult days to come."

At 5 p.m., Georges' center was estimated near 18.0 north latitude and 65.6 west longitude, 40 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, after passing St. Croix, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where all power was knocked out.

Maximum sustained winds had increased to 115 mph by 5:30 p.m. with gusts as high as 130 mph, upgrading Georges to a category 3 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Moving west-northwest at 16 mph, the storm packed hurricane-force winds up to 85 miles from the eye, mostly to the northeast.

The Hurricane Center warned the storm winds - while diminished from a monstrous 150 mph recorded Sunday - remained "extremely dangerous," and director Jerry Jarrell said there were indications Georges was intensifying.

Advance teams from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FBI and the American Red Cross arrived in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Both territories declared states of emergency and called up National Guard troops.

The first strong winds were felt around 3 p.m. in the San Juan area, where almost half of Puerto Rico's 3.8 million people live.

Rossello banned liquor sales and ordered more than 330 shelters opened. Banks and schools closed, airlines canceled flights to and from the U.S. mainland, and ferry service was suspended. People were ordered off the beaches.

More than 9,700 people left their homes for shelters in San Juan, Arecibo, Mayaguez and other cities.

With up to 15 inches of rain expected in Puerto Rico's mountains, the threat of mudslides drove many mountain residents to shelters in San Juan.

"The roof of my house is made of wood and cardboard, and I'd rather be here before it goes flying," said Miguel Mercado Romero.

In St. Croix, raging winds bent palm trees to one-third of their height, shook parked cars and destroyed part of the boardwalk. Gov. Roy Schneider, speaking on WVWI-AM radio, said a 50-foot sailboat had been driven aground. In St. Thomas, also part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, winds were at about 75 mph and increasing.

09-22-98