‘Kuwaiti citizens in US are safe, unaffected by hurricane Dorian’

KCO following storm movement

NEW YORK, Sept 3, (KUNA): Kuwait’s Consul General to New York City Hamad Al-Hazeem confirmed all Kuwaiti citizens in the coastal areas of Florida where the hurricane Dorian is expected to fall were safe.

In a statement to KUNA, Al-Hazeem said, “under the directives of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled AlHamad Al-Sabah and Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah, the diplomatic missions in the US are cooperating to ensure the safety of our citizens within the scope of the hurricane Dorian.”

He pointed out that there is full readiness and continuous cooperation between the Embassy in Washington and its technical offices with the Consulate General in New York to follow up the conditions of citizens in Florida and work to transfer them to safe areas.

Two safe cities, Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia, had been identified earlier, and a number of students and tourists had been taken there, he added.

As for the consulate general, he noted that consulate staff were in the city of Atlanta where the patients were transported and some tourists and hotel rooms were reserved for citizens in both cities.

Al-Hazeem said that work is currently underway to provide supplies and water for citizens in case of any emergency in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Cultural Office in Washington has formed an emergency committee to closely monitor Hurricane Dorian’s movement and has issued instructions for Kuwaitis to evacuate three US coastal cities located in its path.

The committee is also keeping a watchful eye on developments in case authorities issue updated instructions in the event of the hurricane changing its course, office director Aseel Al-Awadhi told KUNA.

The Cultural Office is also in direct contact with Kuwaiti students in other cities, and has taken precautionary measures in the event they too face an emergency evacuation, she added.

Kuwaiti students in the US were urged to remain in contact with the office, and to declare alterations that may occur to their status brought about as a result of the weather conditions.

The maximum category five storm is expected to “move dangerously close to the Florida east coast late Tuesday through Wednesday evening and then move dangerously close to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts on Wednesday night and Thursday,” the US National Hurricane Center said.

People in these areas were instructed by authorities to evacuate their homes by Tuesday afternoon.