The Caribbean: The Storm with an Eye For Demagogues

The U.S. weather satellite Tiros spotted it first, and the photograph drew whistles from a forecaster at the San Juan, P.R., weather station. "There it is," he said, "and it's a beaut!"

In the tropical Atlantic off the northeast coast of South America lay a doughnut-shaped cloud mass of warm air, gradually rising and circling in counterclockwise motion as a drop in atmospheric pressure sucked layers of cooler air in beneath it. The weather men named the mass Flora—sixth hurricane of the 1963 season—and commenced the routine precautions that in recent years...