Most Jamaicans heeded the pleas of its leaders to seek shelter, but some did not.

Local radio stations broadcast ominous reports of empty shelters.

"You can't run away from natural disaster," said Oran Hall, 32, a grocery store owner in Port Royal, a sand spit near Kingston. Faded life vests hang from front doors and small fishing boats crowd the beachfront.

"You may run into Kingston and get gun shot," he said. "I am staying here. I prefer to die by natural disaster than to die by man killing me."

"We are going nowhere," Byron Thompson said in Port Royal, settled by pirate Henry Morgan in the 16th century. "In fact, if you come by here later today you will see me drinking rum over in that bar with some friends."

Antero wrote:CNN had on its front page a few days ago, "Strengthening Dean Claims First Fatality."

I had a moment of wide-eyed shock while I tried to figure out what made Howard Dean finally snap and kill a man.