East Coast Battens Down as Hurricane Hugo Nears

Residents from Florida to North Carolina stocked up on groceries, flashlights and window-reinforcing tape for Hurricane Hugo’s expected assault, and the Navy sent ships to sea today to ride out the killer storm.

Looting broke out on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the wake of the storm blamed for at least 25 deaths in the Caribbean. President Bush declared the islands a disaster area, and the government made available $500,000 for food and emergency supplies there.

Forecasters said the chances of the hurricane hitting the East Coast late this week were steadily increasing, and most projected paths had the storm hitting between Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Cape Hatteras, N.C., by early Saturday.

High Winds, Rain

The storm today brushed northeast of the Bahamas with winds of 105 m.p.h. and was expected to bring mostly high wind and rain. Workers boarded up government buildings, and Prime Minister Lynden Pindling cut short a visit to Jamaica.

Hugo’s center was located this afternoon 360 miles east of Nassau in the Bahamas. It was moving northwest at 12 m.p.h., a course it was expected to maintain through today.

“Looking at satellite pictures, the eye of the storm is coming back stronger,” meteorologist Jim Gross said. “There might be some slight intensification. We don’t expect it’ll reach 140 m.p.h., as it was when it hit the Virgin Islands.”

The Navy today began to send ships to sea from a base at Charleston, S.C., to avoid storm damage.

Looters ransacked stores and law enforcement collapsed on St. Croix, where tourists pleaded with reporters for help in getting out.

‘Help Us!’

“When we landed, we were pounced upon by about 15 tourists,” said Gary Williams, a reporter for a San Juan newspaper. “They said, ‘Please get food! Please get water! Please help us! They’re looting. We’ve seen police looting. We’ve seen National Guard looting. There’s no law and order here.’ ”

Hugo so far has left millions of dollars in damage, more than 50,000 Caribbean residents homeless and hundreds injured.

In Georgia, residents stocked up on batteries, food, plywood and generators. Insurance companies told agents to hold up writing some types of policies until the storm passed. Boaters were advised to move inland.

Sheriff Van Findley in Effingham County, Ga., said he was rounding up generators for emergency medical headquarters and shelters and arranging for chainsaws for use in cutting trees that may block evacuation routes.

“I see a lot of people buying water and canned goods like pork and beans,” said Bryan Raleigh, manager of a grocery in the Wilmington, N.C., area. “It’s been pretty steady all morning.”