McKean Potter Source 12-06-2022

6 2022

community

DECEMBER

p o t t e r m c k e a n

county

Austin • Coudersport • Crosby • Eldred • Kane • Lewis Run • Mt. Jewett Port Allegany • RIDGWAY• Roulette • Smethport • Turtlepoint

Photo courtesy of Tom Huntoon A view of downtown Bradford businesses from the sky.

$1M investment fund created to fuel area businesses The Bradford Area Alliance announced Thursday the creation of a new $1,000,000 Bright Bradford Fund aimed at helping new startups and existing businesses grow in the area.

To serve the growth of different industry sectors in the Bradford community, the Bright Bradford Fund consists of two distinct investment opportunities — the Bright Bradford Innovation Fund (BBIF) and the Bright Bradford Development Fund (BBDF).

The BBIF, totaling $800,000, was formed in a new partnership between the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania and the Bradford Area Alliance with a $400,000 contribution from each of the partners, and with

significant support from Halloran Philanthropies.

Brian FernandesHalloran commented, “I couldn’t think of a better time to launch the Bright Bradford Fund than American Refining Group’s (ARG) 25th anniversary. It was as true at the founding of ARG as it is today that Bradford is a town worthy of investment.

I am sure my father, Harry Halloran Jr., would be rooting for every Bradfordian entrepreneur with a bright idea.”

The BBIF will offer financing to innovative technologybased startups and manufacturers in the City of Bradford, Borough of Lewis Run, Bradford Township, Corydon Township, Foster Township and Lafayette Township.

Ben Franklin

Technology Partners, which has been investing in tech startups and small manufacturers in Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years, will provide due diligence as well as administer the BBIF with representation in the investment selection process from the Alliance leadership. The Fund is designed to be “evergreen” in that any returns provided from its investments will be used to fund additional, new opportunities. The Fund managers will partner with other area financing sources including economic development funds, banks and local individuals seeking to make supporting Angel investments, to maximize its impact.

John Sider, vice president for Business Development at Ben Franklin commented, “This area in Northwest

PA which is home to many manufacturers, including Zippo Manufacturing and American Refining Group, has both an important history and bright future related to innovation and startup companies. The team at Ben Franklin is pleased we have the opportunity to partner with the Alliance and help grow more businesses and jobs in McKean County.”

Whereas the BBIF targets specific industry sectors (technology and manufacturing for example), the BBDF, totaling $200,000, provides investment funds into local businesses that are strategically important to the Bradford and surrounding area, i.e., businesses that help attract and retain workers, applicants in the Harvey L. Golubock

$10 million available from ARC INSPIRE Initiative Grants

WA S H I N G T O N , D.C. — The A p p a l a c h i a n Regional Commission (ARC), a federalstate partnership working to strengthen economic growth and community development in 13 Appalachian states, issued a Request for Proposals for its INvestments S u p p o r t i n g Partnerships In Recovery Ecosystems (INSPIRE) Initiative.

The grant program addresses the region’s substance use disorder crisis with investments of $10 million in the creation and expansion of a recovery ecosystem that helps facilitate workforce entry and re-entry.

Awards issued through the INSPIRE Initiative will support a wide variety of projects on the post-treatment

to employment continuum, including investments in healthcare networks to better meet the needs of substance use disorder recovery professionals, recovery-focused job and workforce training programs, expanded recovery support networks, training and certification of recovery specialists, and more.

“The substance use disorder epidemic is a community problem that requires a community solution,” said ARC Federal CoChair Gayle Manchin.

“Our INSPIRE Initiative promotes a fluid continuum of rehabilitation— to training, to work, to career—which ultimately connects all aspects of the community and provides hope, purpose, and support to these individuals.”

Since INSPIRE was established in April of 2021, ARC has invested more than $15.7 million in 49 projects covering 197 Appalachian counties.

Successful INSPIRE grant applications will demonstrate the potential for individuals in recovery to obtain and maintain stable employment, with a focus on contributing to and expanding a strong recovery ecosystem of support services and training opportunities that lead to successful entry and re-entry into the workforce. Proposals may also include expanded communityand partnership-based approaches to establish stronger coordination among recovery and training services, as well as strategies to integrate plans with existing state and

regional economic d e v e l o p m e n t activities.

“The INSPIRE Initiative is vital to helping those struggling with substance abuse across Appalachia,” said ARC States’ Co-Chair Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.

“Programs like these are vital to giving those in recovery a second chance.”

Letters of Intent for implementation grants up to $500,000 and planning grants up to $50,000 under INSPIRE are due March 3, 2022.

The deadline for final applications is March 24, 2022. Award announcements are anticipated to be made in early Aug. 2022.

A d d i t i o n a l information regarding the application process is available at arc.gov/ sud-how-to-apply/.

Business Competition, etc.

The Bradford Area Alliance, an executive board of community leaders, is dedicated to making Bradford and the surrounding area stronger through a focus on creating a more vibrant economy.

“Ben Franklin is a national leader in tech-based economic development. We look forward to working collaboratively with Ben Franklin and our local/regional partners to continue to strengthen our entrepreneur ecosystem through the creation and execution of this exciting new investment opportunity”, said Executive Director Carolyn Boser Newhouse.

Applications are now being accepted for equity investments up to $100,000. Those who are interested in

learning more about the Fund and/or want consideration for an investment can contact Newhouse at (814) 598-1519 or via email at Carolyn@ BradfordAreaAlliance. com.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners/ CNP, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, provides investment capital and operational assistance to emerging tech-based companies and small, existing manufacturers for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs in Pennsylvania.

For more information about Ben Franklin Technology Partners, visit www.cnp. benfranklin.org.

$4 million in gold stolen from truck in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in eastern North Carolina say armed robbers stole $4 million in gold from a truck traveling on Interstate 95 from Florida to Massachusetts.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said Monday the two security guards working for Transvalue Inc. of Miami reported pulling to the side of the interstate on Sunday evening after their vehicle began having mechanical problems.

They were then

approached by three armed men driving a white van who ordered the guards to lie on the ground, tied their hands behind their backs and then marched them into nearby woods.

Authorities say the male suspects then unloaded barrels filled with gold and made their getaway.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined in the search for the robbers.

Messages seeking comment from Transvalue were not immediately returned.

2

DECEMBER 6, 2022

”Gift from God” — Local child with disability reaches out to Jim Kelly, who reaches back

Susan WhelanBruno considers her son Matthew to be a “gift from God.” He was born on March 24, 2006 and diagnosed with Spina Bifida. Despite his disability, she said, Matthew always reached out to others in the community, eager for people to see him past his illness.

One person who never fails to do so is Jim Kelly, the retired Buffalo Bills quarterback who recently held his annual Football Camp on June 28 to July 2nd, to which Whelan has been attending since 2010.

“We have been going up to Kelly’s Football Camp for the last five years,” Bruno told The Era on Tuesday afternoon. “Matthew’s stepbrother, Anthony Bruno, has been attending the camp each year.”

At the camp, children are broken up into teams based on age and they rotate from the training facility to the Bills’ main stadium, to different conference rooms with football players of other teams; some are retired and even up for the Hall of Fame.

The camp runs from Sunday through Thursday, and on Thursday they hold a closing ceremony for the families of the children participating to walk around the facilities.

“That’s when we met Jim Kelly,” Bruno continued. “He was driving around in a golf cart, and Matthew (back when he could still speak) called out ‘Jim!’ Sure enough, Jim turned around, came over and signed a football and a hat for Matthew, and we’ve been coming back every year since.”

Every year, that is, but last year.

On Sept. 30, 2013, Matthew started experiencing pain in the back of his neck and was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Matthew’s VP Shunt, which is located in his brain, was malfunctioning and, on Oct. 10, 2013, all of this increased

pressure led to Matthew having a stroke. He had to have emergency surgery and part of his cerebellum — the source of coordination control — was removed. There was severe swelling to his brain stem and he had a herniation through his foramen magnum, resulting in the necessity of a G-tube (feeding tube) and a tracheotomy.

Because of his stroke, Matthew did not attend Kelly’s Football Camp last year.

However, when he returned to the camp this year, the football great remembered Matthew.

“Jim sat with us for a while, which was really special considering there were at least 600 children at the camp,” Bruno said. “He remembered Matthew from all the years that we’d been coming. He told us to ‘keep going, stay positive and surround yourselves with positive people who love you,’ which was really great to hear.

He saw Matthew’s G-tube and told him that he used to have one too, then he kissed Matthew on the forehead, signed a football for him and gave me a hug.”

Bruno expressed how positive Kelly is, always walking around the camp — to which many children with disabilities go — playing catch with the children and letting his presence be known, as well as “spreading his positive energy” to the families. She said that she takes Matthew to visit him because of the bond they have, having both experienced hardships in life that gives them a special relationship.

“Jim really supports the kids,” Bruno said.

“And I know it means a lot to Matthew.”

Prior to his stroke, Matthew had always reached out to the Bradford community, participating in football, basketball and many community events and organizations that he can no longer do, for his capability, Bruno informed The Era, is now in a waiting

process, as doctors are not sure what Matthew will and will not regain. One thing they do know, however, is that he will continue to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

“I don’t know how much independence Matthew will redevelop,” Bruno continued. “We still have expenses and probably always will, but we are especially in need of a handicapaccessible home and car. We have been living in a rental home for the past five years, and it has been difficult to make accommodations. I’m unable to work full time because I take care of Matthew as best as I can, but he is getting heavier and it’s getting difficult to not only lift him, but to unload his medical equipment and transport both up two flights of stairs.”

As a result, Susan has created a “Go Fund Me” fundraiser linked to her Facebook account.

The fundraiser is only available for a limited time, so anyone wishing to donate is asked to do so within the next few weeks.

The proceeds of the fundraiser will go toward medical equipment and handicap accommodations for Matthew’s home, in order to give him “a better life,” his mother said, despite the disability that he may very well face for the rest of his life.

And, she is hopeful that having the necessary accommodations to help him and allow him to continue to go out into the community and interact with people will help him to remember and recover in small ways.

“I really hope he can smile again someday,” she said, “because my son has made so many people smile, and has touched so many hearts.”

For more information, or to give a donation, go online to http://fnd.us/c/ fwI2f/sh/d4Uop1, or send donations and support to 30 Vista Avenue Extension, Bradford, PA 16701.

$4 million in gold stolen from truck in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Authorities in eastern North Carolina say armed robbers stole $4 million in gold from a truck traveling on Interstate 95 from Florida to Massachusetts.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said Monday the two security guards working for Transvalue Inc. of Miami reported

pulling to the side of the interstate on Sunday evening after their vehicle began having mechanical problems.

They were then approached by three armed men driving a white van who ordered the guards to lie on the ground, tied their hands behind their backs and then marched them

into nearby woods.

Authorities say the male suspects then unloaded barrels filled with gold and made their getaway.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined in the search for the robbers.

Messages seeking comment from Transvalue were not immediately returned.

$50.1M in federal funding proposed for East Branch dam President Donald Trump’s proposed budget contains $50.1 million for a safety project at the East Branch Clarion River Lake Dam in Elk County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced.

“The allocations for the East Branch Dam Safety Initiative will allow us to continue to construct the fulllength, full-depth concrete cutoff wall through the dam to address seepage issues,” said Corps spokesman Jeff Hawk. “Since its construction, the dam has prevented an estimated $415.5 million in damages, in fiscal year 2017 dollars.”

A cutoff wall contract, awarded in 2014, is expected to be finished by fall 2020 at the East Branch Clarion River Lake, one of 16 flood control projects in the Pittsburgh District.

The site provides flood protection for the Clarion River Valley as well as the lower Allegheny and upper Ohio

Rivers.

The total project cost is estimated at $248 million and consists of the cutoff wall construction contract, road improvements, instrumentation, lighting and other project requirements, officials say. The minimum 18-inchwide continuous vertical concrete cutoff wall will be approximately 2,300 feet long with an approximate maximum depth of 250 feet through the existing embankment dam into bedrock, officials said.

“Following the completion of the cutoff wall construction, USACE will conduct an evaluation of the repair to ensure that it meets the agency’s dam safety standards,” officials said.

“Upon verification, the district will implement a water management plan that incrementally raises lake levels while monitoring the performance of the repair. The district’s

main objective is to ensure public safety while returning operation of the dam and management of the reservoir to its historical operation.”

After problems with the dam were unearthed in 2008, the Pittsburgh District put into place several interim risk reduction measures, including increased m o n i t o r i n g , continued on-site staffing, updated emergency action plans and lowered water levels in the reservoir to lessen the strain on the dam.

“These and other short-term actions have allowed the district to minimize dam safety risk while still fulfilling the authorized purpose of the dam until permanent risk reduction measures are completed,” officials said.

The East Branch was completed in 1952, the Corps reported on its website.

Water stored at East Branch is released downstream during dry periods.

3

DECEMBER 6,, 2022

$6.6M awarded to Tree of Life synagogue, site of massacre

The state of Pennsylvania is pledging $6.6 million toward redevelopment of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, where a gunman killed 11 people in 2018 in the nation’s deadliest attack on Jews.

The state funding will help “transform this site that has been marked by horror ... into one full of hope, remembrance and education,” Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who survived the attack, said Monday at a news conference with Gov. Tom Wolf.

Tree of Life has previously selected architect Daniel Libeskind to redesign the sprawling s y n a g o g u e complex. Libeskind did the master plan for New York’s World Trade Center after the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.

The design is still taking shape, but the campus will

include a memorial; worship and education spaces; and a wing for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Its final price tag has yet to be determined.

Pennsylvania’s pledge comes from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Tree of Life was one of 16 community redevelopment projects statewide to receive a grant from the program.

Noting Monday was the last day of Hanukkah, Myers told Wolf: “You’ve given Tree of Life a very generous Hanukkah present.

Your timing is impeccable.” Myers then presented a menorah to Wolf, who accepted it on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania.

Wolf toured the synagogue and said, “it brought back the sadness, and the tragedy of that day.”

He said Tree of Life is working to turn the building into a “welcoming place

of reflection, of education, and most of all, of healing” that will serve not only its own faith community, but visitors from around the state and the world.

The defendant in the synagogue m a s s a c r e , meanwhile, awaits trial on more than 60 federal charges.

Prosecutors are seeking a death sentence for 49-year-old Robert Bowers, who has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Bowers opened fire during worship services inside Tree of Life in October 2018, killing eight men and three women and wounding seven others before police tracked him down and shot him.

The former truck driver expressed hatred of Jews before and during the rampage and later told police that “all these Jews need to die,” authorities have said.

$650M settlement reached over blood thinner

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — German drugmaker B o e h r i n g e r Ingelheim said Wednesday it has agreed to pay $650 million to settle thousands of U.S. claims questioning the marketing and safety of its popular blood thinner Pradaxa.

The company said the settlement, filed in federal court in East St. Louis, resolves roughly 4,000 claims, paying out an average of $162,500 per case.

The drug, known chemically as dabigatran, was approved in October 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a treatment to reduce the stroke risk in patients with irregular heartbeats, or atrial fibrillation.

Pradaxa works by stopping the enzyme involved in blood clotting.

But the plaintiffs had argued the company didn’t adequately warn Pradaxa users of the risks, including severe or in many cases fatal bleeding blamed on the anticoagulant.

Unlike other blood-thinning medications, those behind the lawsuits said, there is no known reversal agent or antidote for Pradaxa, an alternative to decades-old warfarin.

Boehringer Ingelheim, based in Ingelheim, Germany, stands “resolutely” behind Pradaxa “and believed from the outset that the plaintiffs’ claims lacked any merit,” the company’s global general counsel said in a statement.

“Time and again the benefits and safety of Pradaxa have been confirmed in many clinical trials and in real-world data analyses,” Andreas Neumann added.

“This settlement does not change the facts about Pradaxa or its importance to patients.”

But Neumann said the deal eliminates the distraction and uncertainty of possibly years of litigation in the U.S. court system.

“Furthermore, we have to consider that juries composed of lay people have to

decide about very difficult scientific matters,” Neumann said. “All this does not allow reliable predictions for the outcome of a huge number of individual trials, and that is why we came to the tough decision to settle.”

Roger Denton, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said the settlement was “an outstanding result and is in the best interests of our clients who have suffered serious injuries after using Pradaxa.”

Last October, B o e h r i n g e r Ingelheim filed for additional marketing approvals for Pradaxa as a possible treatment for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. A deep vein thrombosis is blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg or pelvis, that partly or completely blocks blood flow.

A pulmonary embolism occurs when one of those blood clots travels to the lungs.

That can create a life-threatening blockage.

4

DECEMBER 6, 2022

’Freedom’ fries: Texas repeals ban on deep fryers in schools

(Gretchen McKay/Post-Gazette/TNS) Former Marine Cpl. Eddie Ray Routh stands during his capital murder trial at the Erath County, Donald R. Jones Justice Center in Stephenville Texas, on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015. Routh, 27, of Lancaster, is charged with the 2013 deaths of Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield at a shooting range near Glen Rose, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Michael Ainsworth, Pool)

American Sniper’ jurors: Ex-Marine knew right from wrong

STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) — Jurors who rejected an insanity defense and convicted a former Marine in the deaths of famed “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and his friend said Wednesday the man’s past behavior undermined his argument that he couldn’t tell right from wrong.

After a two-week trial in which jurors heard testimony about defendant Eddie Ray Routh’s erratic behavior, including statements about anarchy, the apocalypse and pighuman hybrids, they convicted him Tuesday night in the deaths of Kyle and Chad Littlefield at a Texas shooting range two years ago.

Juror Christina Yeager told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that Routh displayed a similar pattern in prior run-ins with police — he would become intoxicated and then tell responding officers he was a victim of posttraumatic stress disorder.

“Every time something bad happened he pulled that card,” Yeager said.

Barrett Hutchinson said jurors were not convinced by the claim that Routh was having a psychotic episode when he shot the men.

“He knew the consequences of pulling the trigger,” Hutchinson said.

Routh showed no reaction as a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole, an automatic sentence since prosecutors didn’t seek the death penalty in the capital murder case.

As one of his victim’s siblings called him an “American disgrace” shortly after, Routh looked back at the man intensely.

The verdict capped an emotional trial in which prosecutors painted the 27-year-old as a troubled drug user who knew right from wrong, despite any mental illnesses. Defense attorneys said he suffered from schizophrenia and was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time of the shootings.

Routh’s defense team said they would appeal.

While trial testimony and evidence often

included Routh making odd statements and referring to insanity, he also confessed several times, apologized for the crimes and tried to evade police after the crime.

“You took the lives of two heroes, men who tried to be a friend to you,” Chad Littlefield’s half brother Jerry Richardson told Routh after the verdict. “And you became an American disgrace.”

Routh’s trial drew intense interest, in part because of the blockbuster film based on former Navy SEAL Kyle’s memoir about his four tours in Iraq.

Warner Bros., the studio that produced the film, declined to comment on the verdict.

Jurors had three options: find Routh guilty of capital murder, find him not guilty, or find him not guilty by reason of insanity.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court could have initiated proceedings to have him committed to a state mental hospital.

“We’re so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have tonight,” Littlefield’s mother, Judy Littlefield, said outside the courthouse.

The Littlefield family had waited “two years for God to get justice for us,” she said. “He was faithful.”

Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, left the courtroom during the defense’s closing statements earlier in the day and did not return when the verdict was read. Chris Kyle’s brother and parents were among a group hugging and crying inside the courtroom after the verdict was read. They did not issue a statement.

Richardson and Littlefield’s father, Don Littlefield, were the only two people to give statements in court. Don Littlefield told Routh that even though his son never served in the military, he was honored to help those who did.

“He was trying to help you,” he told Routh.

Kyle and Littlefield had taken Routh to the shooting range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort on Feb. 2, 2013, after Routh’s mother asked Kyle to help her troubled

son. Family members say Routh suffered from PTSD from serving in Iraq and in Haiti after a devastating 2010 earthquake.

Richardson told Routh his PTSD claims “have been an insult to every veteran who served with honor.”

Routh’s mother, Jodi Routh, who was questioned by prosecutors about why she didn’t warn Kyle of her son’s mental troubles, sat expressionless in the courtroom as the verdict was read.

A forensic psychologist testified for prosecutors that Routh was not legally insane and suggested he may have gotten some of his ideas from television. Dr. Randall Price said Routh had a paranoid disorder made worse by his use of alcohol and marijuana, calling his condition “cannabis-induced psychosis.”

Defense attorneys noted that Kyle had described Routh as “straight-up nuts” in a text message to Littlefield as they drove to the luxury resort. They said Routh, who had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication often used for schizophrenia, believed the men planned to kill him.

Asked by a reporter for The New Yorker magazine in a jailhouse call if he thought about the day he shot the men, Routh replied, “It tore my (expletive) heart out when I did it,” later adding, “I guess you live and you learn, you know.”

A resort employee discovered the bodies of Kyle and Littlefield about 5 p.m. that day.

About 45 minutes later, authorities say Routh pulled up to his sister’s home in Kyle’s truck and told her he had killed two people.

She called police, who later located Routh sitting in front of his home in the truck. A police video showed officers trying to coax him from the truck.

“He told us he’d taken a couple of souls and he had more souls to take,” Lancaster police Lt. Michael Smith testified.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — It’s about freedom, not the fries.

So says new Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller, who a n n o u n c e d Thursday that the state will repeal a decade-old ban on deep fryers in public school kitchens.

The Republican says government mandates have

failed to make kids healthier in Texas, where roughly twothirds of residents are considered overweight or obese.

Miller is also lifting restrictions on soft drinks in school vending machines.

The American Heart Association, the Texas PTA and school nutritionists opposed the changes.

A former teacher

and rodeo calf-roper, Miller says critics are misinformed since Texas is simply giving schools the option of reinstalling deep fryers if they want starting July 1.

Experts, though, say federal limits on calories and fat in school meals make it unlikely that Texas schools will resume deep-frying.

’Joaquin’ strengthens to Category 4, batters Bahamas N A S S A U , Bahamas (AP) — Hurricane Joaquin strengthened into a Category 4 storm on Thursday as it roared through lightly populated islands of the eastern Bahamas, and forecasters said it could grow still more intense before following a path that would near the U.S. East Coast.

There were no immediate reports of casualties as the storm reached the island chain, said Capt. Stephen Russell, the director of the Bahamas National Emergency Management Agency.

The most severe flooding reported so far was on Acklins island, where power went off overnight and phones were down. Russell said some of the roughly 565 people who live there were trapped in their homes.

Bahamas resident Shandira Forbes said she had spoken to her mother on Acklins by phone Thursday.

“She was calling for help because the sea was coming into her house,” Forbes said. “People’s roofs were lifting up. No one knew (about the storm), so there was no preparedness, there was no meeting, there was nothing.”

Flooding also was reported across parts of Long Island, but no one had been injured, said Parliament member Loretta Butler Turner.

“We will have to wait for the winds to die down before we can go out and really assess the damage,” she said.

Islands such as San Salvador, Cat Island and Rum Cay were expected to be hit hardest before the storm begins an expected shift toward the north, forecasters

said.

“Everyone is just trying to get their stuff battened down,” said Frances Missick, chief councilor of Rum Cay, which has a population of about 100 and 40 homes.

Missick and other people on the small island gathered in a shelter set up at the St. Christopher Anglican Church. As of Thursday, there was only minor flooding and power and water were still running.

Joaquin had maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (210 kph) and hurricane strength winds extending 45 miles (75 kilometers) from the eye, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

As of 2 p.m. EDT, the storm was located about 70 miles (115 kilometers) southsoutheast of San Salvador island after passing over Samana Cays, Bahamas. It was moving southwest at 6 mph (9 kph).

While Samana Cays is usually uninhabited, eight to 10 people were working there, staying in temporary housing, when the storm hit, said Parliament member Alfred Gray.

“If the buildings look like they won’t withstand, there are some caves on the side of the rock that they can go into because it’s not prone to flooding,” he said.

The storm was predicted to turn to the north and northwest

toward the United States on Friday, but forecasters were trying to determine how it might affect the U.S. East Coast, which was already suffering flooding and heavy rains from separate storms.

“There’s still a distinct possibility that his could make landfall somewhere in the U.S.,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and hurricane center spokesman.

The Hurricane Center said parts of the Bahamas could see storm surge raising sea levels 5 to 10 feet (as much as 3 meters) above normal, with 10 to 15 inches (250 to 380 millimeters) of rain falling on the central Bahamas.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center’s long-term forecast showed the storm could near the U.S. East Coast along North Carolina and Virginia on Sunday or Monday.

“Residents of the Carolinas north should be paying attention and monitoring the storm.

There’s no question,” said Eric Blake, a hurricane specialist with the center. “If your hurricane plans got a little dusty because of the light hurricane season, now is a good time to update them.” ___ Associated Press writers Tony Winton in Miami and Ava Turnquest in Nassau contributed to this report.

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