Dominican Republic readies as Hurricane Danny goes 3

Santo Domingo.- PresidentDanilo Medina met Friday with the National Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Council to discuss the plans to deal with HurricaneDanny –now a dangerous Category 3- is expected to effect the country next week.

He instructed theofficials to take all necessary precautions to save lives, "which is themost important" and schools will only be used as shelters as a last resortto avert disrupting classes.

Emergency OperationsCenter (COE) director Juan Manuel Mendez; National Weather Office director GloriaCeballos and Civil Defense deputy director Jose Alcantara attended the NationalPalace press conference, among other officials.

Hurricane Dannylatest bulletin:

The U.S. NationalHurricane Center Hurricane Danny has strengthened into a Category 3 storm as itmoves across the Atlantic far from land.

The hurricane’smaximum sustained winds Friday had increased to near 115 mph (185 kph). saysthe hurricane is not expected to intensify, and a weakening trend is forecastto begin later Friday.

The hurricane iscentered about 900 miles (1448 kilometers) east of the Leeward Islands.