Hurricane smothers Florida

STUART, Florida: Hurricane Frances weakened but still  pounded Florida with high wind and heavy rain yesterday after it smashed across the state’s east coast, knocking out power to 4 million people, shredding roofs and uprooting trees. Some evacuees had to flee a second time when a school’s   roof was partially blown off. Some 86,000 people remained in   shelters as Gov Jeb Bush warned them against venturing out to   see the damage until officials say it’s okay. “I didn’t think it would get this bad,” Carline Cadet said as she ventured through her West Palm Beach neighbourhood in rain gear. “The shutters were flapping in the wind so hard all night. It was crazy loud.”

Specifics on damage and injuries will be impossible to gather until after the storm passes, said Craig Fugate, the state’s director of emergency management. Before lumbering into Florida, Frances shattered windows, toppled power lines and flooded neighbourhoods in the Bahamas, forcing thousands from their homes. The Freeport airport was partially submerged in water. At least two deaths in the Bahamas were blamed on the storm.  The storm made landfall in Florida with top sustained winds   of 105 mph, but by early afternoon it was just one mile per hour above minimum hurricane  strength at 75 mph. Forecasters warned that its path would take the centre over the warm water of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico north of Tampa by early today. They said it was possible Frances would regain intensity by tonight and hit the central Panhandle near Apalachicola.

“This is affecting the entire peninsula today, either tropical storm-force or hurricane-force winds. And then tomorrow it will be up in the panhandle, and then moving up into Georgia   and Alabama after that,” National Hurricane Centre director Max Mayfield said yesterday on CBS’ Face the Nation. The eye of the storm blew ashore at Sewall’s Point, just east of Stuart, around 1 am, and by 2 pm it was centred about 55 miles east of Tampa, near Lake Wales in the middle of the Florida Peninsula. Frances was moving toward the west-northwest at about nine mph, and expected to remain over the state for most of the day, dumping eight to 12 inches of rain, with up to 20 inches in some areas. “I wish somebody’d get out there and push it — get it over   with,” said 72-year-old Nedra Smith, who waited out the storm in the lobby of a Palm Bay hotel.

Frances was so big that virtually the entire state feared damage just weeks after Hurricane Charley tore through, killing 27 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. About 370   kilometres (230 miles) of coastline — from the Deerfield Beach   area northward to Flagler Beach — remained under a hurricane   warning yesterday morning. A similar-sized part of the Panhandle  from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Destin on the Gulf of Mexico were also under the warning. The storm forced the largest evacuation in state history, with 2.8 million residents ordered inland and 86,000 of them in shelters. Miami-Dade County told about 320,000 people they could return home yesterday, but the storm had shut down much of Florida, including airports and amusement parks, during the usually busy Labour Day weekend. Airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale reopened yesterday, but Orlando remained closed.

President George W Bush declared a major disaster in the counties affected by Frances, meaning residents would be eligible for federal aid. Four people were hospitalised in Boynton Beach after breathing carbon monoxide from a generator that was running in a house. Looting had become a problem. Police in the Orlando area   said ten thieves used a stolen car to smash into a store and steal   about $10,000 worth of clothing, and two men were arrested as   they tried to steal an ATM machine with a chainsaw. At least ten other people were arrested for looting in Indian River County,   Palm Beach County and Brevard County.

Ivan follows Frances

MIAMI: With top sustained winds of about 115 mph, Ivan became the fourth major hurricane of the season yesterday afternoon, even as Hurricane Frances pummelled central Florida yesterday. The Category three storm was about 2,400 miles east-southeast of Miami, too far away to tell where exactly it might hit, the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said. It was expected to keep strengthening, with hundreds of kilometres of warm water before the nearest land. But particularly after the back-to-back Hurricanes Charley and Frances, people in the Caribbean and Florida should monitor any hurricane on a general path toward the state, forecasters said.

“Hopefully they won’t let their guard down too much over the next week,” said Eric Holweg, meteorologist at the hurricane centre. At 1 pm, Ivan was about 1,600 kilometres (995 miles) east of the Windward Islands in the southern Caribbean. It was moving west near 34 kph. It was expected to turn gradually west-northwest over the day. Ivan was expected to approach the Lesser Antilles by tomorrow and reach the Bahamas by Friday. The path was similar but south of Frances’ track into Florida’s east coast. “You might want to be smart about whether you take down your shutters,” Miami-Dade County manager George Burgess said  yesterday at a briefing on the aftermath of Frances. Ivan was already causing some worry at the National Hurricane Centre. When Max Mayfield, director of the hurricane centre, first saw a satellite image of the strengthening storm, his reaction was, “Oh no.”

Trinis in Florida:

Frances was frightening

By NALINEE SEELAL

Trinidadians living in Central Florida spent several hours indoors yesterday and monitored Hurricane Frances as it whipped the Atlantic coast with winds packing over 145 kilometres per hour. The Trinidadians who spoke to Newsday said the heavy winds uprooted trees and peeled off rooftops. They claimed that it was the worst experience ever and hurricane Charley, which pounded Florida recently, was not as half as frightening as Frances. According to Kelvin Rampersad, one of the affected Trinidadians, the storm’s slow motion assault brought more anxiety and fear as the high winds continued throughout the day, followed by torrential rainfall.

Rampersad said he prayed throughout the day yesterday with ten other Trinidadians who live in Orange County. The Trinidadians, who previously lived in Central and South Trinidad, ate a simple meal of peas and rice and prayed for relief from the mighty Frances. According to Rampersad, the high winds, the continuous rainfall and the mass destruction was the worst he had ever seen. He said that at one point, he felt the lives of the people around him in his apartment were at risk, but the continuous prayers helped. He said he was grateful to be able to monitor the hurricane via television, and was happy for the support he received from other Trinidadians who experienced the effects of Frances.

The hurricane continued to pound the Florida coastline yesterday, dumping over 20 inches of rain. People were frazzled by the effects of the hurricane which seemed to be heading towards Mexico. Although downgraded to a category 1 storm, forecasters said Frances could regain strength after slamming into Florida.