recommended small craft throughout the Windward Islands to remain at harbor and for shipping in the path of the hurricane to advise extreme caution. People in low-lying areas and near beaches were advised to evacuate to higher grounds, as well. Lead time was short, especially in Tobago which received news of the approaching hurricane just two hours before it struck. On October 2, two days before it made landfall on southwestern Hispaniola, the San Juan Weather Bureau issued a gale warning from Barahona in the Dominican Republic to Sud-Est, Haiti. Advisories recommended small craft in the southern portions of the countries to remain at port. Later that day, the gale warning was upgraded to a hurricane warning in southwestern Haiti. On the day of when Flora made landfall, advisories recommended all citizens on beaches and in low-lying areas west of Santo Domingo to evacuate. Carmelo Di Franco, the provisional Director of Civic Defense for the Dominican Republic, organized safety procedures and the dissemination of tropical cyclone bulletins from the San Juan Weather Bureau. Di Franco also organized for the transmission of hurricane emergency information to citizens, believed to reduce the loss of life. On the afternoon before the hurricane struck, the head of the Haitian Red Cross prohibited radio broadcasts of tropical cyclone advisories for fear of panic among citizens. As a result, many thought the hurricane would miss the country. Officials at the Cuban National Observatory issued radio bulletins on the hurricane, which included the position of Flora, its intensity, direction of motion, and necessary warnings. By the time the hurricane left the island, more than 40,000 had been evacuated to safer areas. The Weather Bureau predicted Flora to turn to the northwest after entering the Windward Passage and affect the Bahamas. Forecasters advised those in The Bahamas to quickly complete preparations, though the eye of the hurricane did not pass over the archipelago until four days later. When Flora turned to the northeast out to sea, forecasters again advised Bahamian citizens to prepare for the hurricane, and on October 9, weather advisories advised the southeastern Bahamas to prepare for gale-force winds and strong tides. One advisory considered there to be less than a 50% chance of the hurricane reaching southeastern Florida, though weather bulletins advised Florida citizens to monitor the hurricane. At its closest approach to Florida, the hurricane remained 330 miles (530 km) away, though gale warnings