Sunday, September 7, 2008
The Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos are being hammered by Hurricane Ike, the fourth major storm to sweep the region in the past three weeks. Ike, measuring a ferocious Category Four, barreled over the archipelago with winds of up to 135mph (215km/h). Forcecasters say it could dump up to 12 inches (30cm) of rain as it powers towards Cuba and the Bahamas, passing just north of Haiti, over the next day. Haiti is still reeling from earlier storms, which left at least 600 dead. While it will escape Ike's monstrous winds, Haiti's north-west coast is bracing for a fresh deluge, threatening the already battered country with worse devastation. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned of "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over mountainous terrain".
The UN children's charity Unicef says some 650,000 Haitians have been affected by flooding caused by Tropical Storm Hanna last week, while more bad weather will further hamper the aid effort there. At 0900 GMT, the centre of Hurricane Ike was about 65 miles east of Great Inagua Island in the south-eastern Bahamas, according to the NHC. Power out As Ike roared towards the Turks and Caicos, thousands of tourists and residents left the normally tranquil islands and the airport in Providenciales, the most populated of the island chains, has closed.
"We're all just laying down looking up at the dark ceiling and talking," tourism official Desiree Adams told the Associated Press news agency from the capital, Grand Turk, where the storm had knocked out power. The low-lying area, home to 3,000 people, has little natural protection from the sea and faces storm surge flooding of up to 18 feet (5.5 metres) above normal tides. In the nearby Bahamas, tourists have been urged to leave the south-eastern islands, while the Royal Bahamas Defence Force is bringing food and water to the eastern islands of Mayaguana and San Salvador. Heading south-west at about 15mph, Ike should hit the northern coast of eastern Cuba by late Sunday or early Monday, the NHC said. Forcecasters say it could strengthen on its way, threatening to devastate the island's sugar cane fields and putting the crumbling colonial buildings of the capital, Havana, at risk. In Havana, residents have been stocking up on petrol, candles and canned food, after a television weather forecaster said "almost the entire country is in the danger zone", AP reports. Supplies scarce The destruction in Haiti has been described as catastrophic. Police said 500 people were confirmed dead from recent Tropical Storm Hanna but that others are still missing and the number could rise.
Advertisement Bahamas prepares for Hurricane Ike The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said hundreds of thousands of people had been displaced by the flooding. The WFP has begun distributing food aid but a spokesperson said the scale of the disaster was putting their resources to the test. Other aid workers say people's spirits are running low after the successive storms. "Food supplies and water are scarce and the price of the food that's left is rising," said Parnell Denis from Oxfam in Gonaives, the port city hardest hit by Hanna. "The morale of people staying in the shelters is so very low; I am afraid to tell them that another storm is on its way." Up to 16ft of floodwater in Gonaives has only now begun to recede. Hanna struck in the wake of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay two weeks ago, which left about 120 people dead in Haiti.  Are you in the Caribbean? Have you been affected by the storms? What preparations have you made to deal with the adverse weather? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.Read the terms and conditions At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
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The Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos are being hammered by Hurricane Ike, the fourth major storm to sweep the region in the past three weeks. Ike, measuring a ferocious Category Four, barreled over the archipelago with winds of up to 135mph (215km/h). Forcecasters say it could dump up to 12 inches (30cm) of rain as it powers towards Cuba and the Bahamas, passing just north of Haiti, over the next day. Haiti is still reeling from earlier storms, which left at least 600 dead. While it will escape Ike's monstrous winds, Haiti's north-west coast is bracing for a fresh deluge, threatening the already battered country with worse devastation. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) has warned of "life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over mountainous terrain".
The UN children's charity Unicef says some 650,000 Haitians have been affected by flooding caused by Tropical Storm Hanna last week, while more bad weather will further hamper the aid effort there. At 0900 GMT, the centre of Hurricane Ike was about 65 miles east of Great Inagua Island in the south-eastern Bahamas, according to the NHC. Power out As Ike roared towards the Turks and Caicos, thousands of tourists and residents left the normally tranquil islands and the airport in Providenciales, the most populated of the island chains, has closed.
"We're all just laying down looking up at the dark ceiling and talking," tourism official Desiree Adams told the Associated Press news agency from the capital, Grand Turk, where the storm had knocked out power. The low-lying area, home to 3,000 people, has little natural protection from the sea and faces storm surge flooding of up to 18 feet (5.5 metres) above normal tides. In the nearby Bahamas, tourists have been urged to leave the south-eastern islands, while the Royal Bahamas Defence Force is bringing food and water to the eastern islands of Mayaguana and San Salvador. Heading south-west at about 15mph, Ike should hit the northern coast of eastern Cuba by late Sunday or early Monday, the NHC said. Forcecasters say it could strengthen on its way, threatening to devastate the island's sugar cane fields and putting the crumbling colonial buildings of the capital, Havana, at risk. In Havana, residents have been stocking up on petrol, candles and canned food, after a television weather forecaster said "almost the entire country is in the danger zone", AP reports. Supplies scarce The destruction in Haiti has been described as catastrophic. Police said 500 people were confirmed dead from recent Tropical Storm Hanna but that others are still missing and the number could rise.
Advertisement Bahamas prepares for Hurricane Ike The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said hundreds of thousands of people had been displaced by the flooding. The WFP has begun distributing food aid but a spokesperson said the scale of the disaster was putting their resources to the test. Other aid workers say people's spirits are running low after the successive storms. "Food supplies and water are scarce and the price of the food that's left is rising," said Parnell Denis from Oxfam in Gonaives, the port city hardest hit by Hanna. "The morale of people staying in the shelters is so very low; I am afraid to tell them that another storm is on its way." Up to 16ft of floodwater in Gonaives has only now begun to recede. Hanna struck in the wake of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Fay two weeks ago, which left about 120 people dead in Haiti. Are you in the Caribbean? Have you been affected by the storms? What preparations have you made to deal with the adverse weather? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below. Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to +44 7725 100 100. If you have a large file you can upload here.Read the terms and conditions At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.
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Saturday, September 6, 2008
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According to EW.com, actress Zuleikha Robinson (pronounced “Zoo-Lika”) is tapped to play Ilana, “a European female who possesses great intelligence but who's also dangerous as all get out. She's alluring and apparently used to getting her own way.”
Now, you might remember this sultry actress in the short-lived Fox series, New Amsterdam, or as a regular on another short-lived show, an X-Files spin-off called The Lone Gunmen.
But all us fans of HBO’s Rome certainly remember the fetching Robinson as the enslaved Gaia, who falls for her boss, Titus Pullo, and feels real bad after she poisons his pregnant wife and takes her place. So much so that she confesses in order for Titus to kill her--which he does. God, I miss that show.
I digress. EW.com reports Robinson 's Lost deal calls for her to start off as a recurring player with an option to become a series regular in season 6.
Hmmm, is Illana in cahoots with Ben? Widmore? Maybe she has a thing with Sayid--and is therefore doomed because all the women he falls in love with end up getting killed.
Apparently I’m not that far off base. EW's Doc Jensen mused that Ilana "sounds exactly like the kind of lethal lady Sayid would fall for. So I’m wondering if the dashing Iraqi is due for a new love interest, yet another lady whose true motivations will be in question."
Intrigued much? Oh, you bet.
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