Sep 4, 2008 6:02 pm US/Eastern
Sutta: Nassau Is Ready For TS Hanna
NASSAU, BAHAMAS (CBS4) ―
Tropical Storm Hanna is making its presence known in Nassau where
CBS4 Reporter David Sutta reports the conditions are getting progressively worse by the hour.
Just after noon, Hanna began slamming the coast of Nassau, the storm finally moving north through the Bahamas after days of languishing south of the island chain.
"Where I come from we call this waiting until the last minute," Sutta relayed to business owner Miguel Perez who was doing some last minute shuttering.
"Well, it's better to do it now then never," replied Perez.
Throughout the central and northern islands, store owners spent the day putting up shutters. Many decided to do it Thursday because of Hurricane Ike which is currently forecast to cut through the island chain in a matter of days.
"We haven't had a storm like that in quite some time, so it's hard to tell," said Perez, "It could do a lot of damage."
At one of Nassau's famous tourist spots it was virtual ghost town on Thursday.
"This is surreal," said Sutta looking around, "This place is empty."
"Yeah, empty, all 600 vendors, they're gone," replied Walter Rolle while standing in the middle of Nassau's famous straw market.
The government ordered the evacuation of all of the vendors three days ago, only a handful held out until Thursday.
"They will never leave on their own. We have to tell them to leave. That's their livelihood everyday," said Rolle.
Most of the tourists have left the island with the exception of a few.
"We knew there was going to be Hurricane Hanna but we had no idea that it was going to come this close," said tourist Jack Rafulowitz.
"I think it's scary, just look at it," said Angie Castaneda looking out over the water, "And this isn't even a hurricane."
Residents and visitors of Nassau expect to see the worst of Hanna pass by Thursday evening.
Most people are not concerned about the impact of this storm, but feel very differently about the one behind it – a hurricane called Ike.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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