Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 3

PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS In Hugo's Wake Tuesday Sept. 19, 1989 Page 3 WMps IFtoarifo Mm '9 lalhiaoinisig 0 TST -rj cap as he passes an airplane destroyed at the airport in San Juan, By Kernan Turner Assoc ia ted Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Hurricane Hugo churned toward the Bahamas today after scouring Puerto I'ico with 125 mph winds, ripping apart the homes of tens of thousands of people from the eastern Caribbean to San Juan. The region's worst storm in a decade, blamed for at least 14 deaths, slammed into the eastern tip of Puerto Rico and skirted the northern coast before roaring on toward the southern Bahamas. It spared the Dominican Republic of hurricane-fnree winds, the National Weather Service said. Forecasters said Hugo likely would hit the U.S.

mainland later in the week. Hugo's winds overturned cars, peeled roofs off houses and office buildings and sent chunks concrete plunging into streets in San Juan, where one-third of the U.S. commonwealth's 3.3 million people live. Gov. Rafael Hernandez-Colon told a news conference late yesterday that Hugo left at least 27,900 Puerto Ricans homeless and that he would ask President Hush to declare the island a disaster area.

Fifty airplanes were reported destroyed at the airport in lsla erde Looters stripped shops of their oods in San Juan, where electrical power cut during the storm had still not been restored last night. The capital's streets were littered with downed power lines, tree limbs, sheets of metal and shattered glass from blown-out windows. Flooding made many roads impassable and international communications were disrupted. Officials said they had no immediate reports of storm-related deaths, but noted that poor communications were hindering efforts to assess the damage. In Hawaii.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel I.ujan said S500.000 in emergency assistance funds were released to aid storm-stricken areas of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At 3 a.m. F.DT today, the center of the hurricane was near latitude 20. degrees north and longitude 63 west, about 150 miles northwest of San Juan, and 220 miles east-southeast of Grand Turk Island, according to the National Weather Service.

It said hurricane warnings were discontinued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and all warnings dropped for the Dominican Republic, where officials had declared a state of emergency. Hurricane warnings remain posted for the southern Bahamas including the Turks and Caicos islands. The weather service said maximum sustained winds arc near 110 mph with hurricane-force winds extending up to 60 miles from the center. Hugo appeared to be on a wobbly course to the northwest at 12 mph for the next 24 hours, the forecast said.

"Unfortunately, our best I hurricane computer projection models indicate that it will turn back" towards the west and the Fast Coast, said Bob Sheets, Director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Since Sunday, the storm has caused See HUGO Page 46 Kill Try to (Get Word They Can't Reach Relatives in Storm Area 1w 1 Ramon Quinones holds onto his What Hugo Has Wrought Associated Press Hurricane Hugo has spun a web of destruction across the popular tourist islands of the eastern Caribbean. Here is an island-by-island look based on initial damage reports. Puerto Rico More than 27,000 people reported homeless yesterday. Island Gov.

Hernandez Colon says he will ask President Bush to declare Puerto Rico a disaster, area. No water and no electricity. Heavy damage and flooding reported. Most streets littered with shattered glass, downed trees and strips of roofing. Communications were cut across the U.S.

commonwealth of 3.3 million people. One man was electrocuted Sunday trying to remove a television antenna in preparation for the storm. Guadeloupe Five people reported killed, 80 injured and more than 10,000 homeless Sunday on the French island of 340,000 people. Roofs were torn off. power lines downed and cash crops heavily damaged.

The French Defense Ministry assigned 3,000 soldiers, two military transport aircraft and four cargo vessels to assist in restoring communications and emergency the French territory Antigua Two people killed and widespread wind and rain damage reported. I 'J ASSOCIATED PRESS Puerto Rico ricanes and I know how crazy it can be. Not being able to reach them personally leaves you, like, aaaahh," said Lydia Hernandez, whose father lives in a mountain village in Puerto Rico. The hurricane, said to be the worst to hit the eastern Caribbean in 10 years, slammed into eastern Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands yesterday morning with 140 mph winds before heading toward the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. Thousands have been left homeless and many are feared dead in the wake of the huge storm.

Relief efforts are gearing up in the Philadelphia area, said Raul Delgado, general manager of WTEL radio. A radiothon is expected to be held to aid the relief effort, but the date and location were still undetermined last night, he said. Delgado said he would meet with Councilman Ortiz and other Hispanic community leaders today to nail down the details of the radiothon. Delgado said he has two brothers and five sisters in Puerto Rico. "They live in an area that, with a little rain, gets flooded," he said.

He said he and his wife also had been trying unsuccessfully for hours to reach relatives by telephone. "We arc going to continue trying throughout the night," Delgado said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Montserrat Ham radio operators reported six deaths on the British island. Wind and rain damage widespread with nearly all of Montserrat's 12,000 people left homeless.

Operators said a government report gave no figure on injuries. St. Kitts Houses damaged and trees toppled but no reports of casualties. U.S. Virgin Islands St.

Croix and St. Thomas hard hit. Stores in the St. Croix town of Christiansted were heavily damaged, and there were reports of looting. The National Guard said 1,000 people were evacuated to rescue shelters in St.

Croix. British Virgin Islands Trees uprooted trees and power knocked out Sunday. Numerous injuries and scores of homes destroyed on the island of Tortola. Dominican Republic: The National Weather Service said late yesterday that hurricane warnings were discontinued for Puerto Rico, the northeastern Dominican Republic and the VS. and British Virgin Islands but remain in effect for the southern Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos islands.

United States Forecasters were uncertain if Hugo will hit the U.S. mainland. Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, said that by tomorrow "we'll be making decisions as to whether or not we need any (hurricane watches or warnings for anywhere along the VS. coast." By Kathy Brennan Daily News Staff Writer Worried relatives gathered around telephones, television sets and radios last night in a frustrating effort to get information about family members in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Noe Hernandez, 36, of North Philadelphia, said he had been calling his parents' home on the north coast of Puerto Rico for more than 12 hours.

Like everyone who tried to get through, he got the same tape-recorded message: "Due to the hurricane in the area you are calling, your call cannot be completed at this time. Please try your call later." "My concern is that they have had problems in their areas before with heavy rain, like mudslides and trees coming down. They're in the mountains with a lot of trees and they normally have troubles with these things there," Hernandez said. "We are afraid this might have hit them hard. We have been trying to get through all day long." Hernandez joined his cousin, Lydia Hernandez and her husband, Councilman Angel Ortiz, in their Francis-ville home last night to share information and comfort.

They flipped from a 24-hour weather station to Cable News Network to New York-based Spanish-language stations to find out the latest news about their relatives. "I've been there during other hur.