1.2 Million People Told to Flee Fla. Hurricane

03/09/2004| IslamWeb

Residents and tourists in cars, trucks and campers clogged highways along the state's Atlantic coast on Thursday, fleeing inland as mighty Hurricane Frances threatened Florida with its second battering in three weeks. About 1.2 million residents were told to evacuate ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit Florida in a decade. Others in the 300-mile stretch covered by a hurricane warning rushed to fortify their homes with plywood and storm shutters, and to buy water, gas and canned food. Already a Category 4 storm with 145-mph winds and the potential to push ashore waves up to 15 feet high, Frances could make itself felt in the state by midmorning Friday. At 2 p.m. EDT, the hurricane was centered 410 miles southeast of West Palm Beach and was moving at close to 13 mph. This could be the first time since 1950 that two major storms have hit Florida so close together. On Aug. 13, Hurricane Charley splintered billions of dollars worth of homes, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands and killed 27 people when it tore across the state. The hurricane warning covered most of the state's eastern coast, from Florida City, near the state's southern tip, to Flagler Beach, north of Daytona Beach. Forecasters could not say with certainty where Frances would come ashore, just that it would strike late Friday or early Saturday. About 14.6 million of Florida's 17 million people live in the areas under hurricane watches and warnings. Residents and tourists streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Traffic backed up for miles on sections of Interstate 95, the main north-south highway along the state's east coast, and was also heavy on parts of I-4, which crosses the peninsula to connect Daytona Beach, Orlando and Tampa. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Life guards try to secure rescue towers a couple of hundred yards off the ocean in Palm Beach, Fla. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2004 as Hurricane Frances approaches Florida. (AP)