Panhandle Braces for Tropical Storm Arlene
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. – Heavy rain drenched the Florida Panhandle early Saturday and heavy surf pounded beaches as Tropical Storm Arlene plodded toward the Gulf Coast, chasing a few weather-weary residents into shelters.
The storm had wind blowing at a sustained 70 mph, and the National Hurricane Center posted a hurricane warning along 125 miles of coast from Pascagoula, Miss., to Destin in the western Florida Panhandle.
Meteorologists said Arlene could build into a Category 1 hurricane by landfall, with its heaviest wind and rain east of the storm’s center. The center of the storm was expected to hit the northern Gulf Coast during the mid to late afternoon, the hurricane center said.
Bob Garcia checked into a Red Cross shelter at Gulf Shores, Ala., with his son, Tommy.
Garcia said they live in a mobile home in Sommerdale, Ala., and there was “no sense in taking chances” with the possibility of tornados developing as the storm plowed ashore. He was one of only 13 people in the shelter Saturday morning.
One death had been blamed on the storm – a Russian exchange student died after she was pulled from the rolling waves off Miami Beach Friday.
The worst fears were in the Florida Panhandle, still reeling from Hurricane Ivan nine months ago. Piles of debris, gutted homes and storm-damaged roofs covered by plastic blue tarps are vivid reminders of Ivan’s wrath.
“I was pretty shocked to see how bad it still was,” said tourist Roddy Rogers, 46, of Springfield, Mo. “I’ve been in third-world countries and it looks kind of like that in some places.”
Officials urged thousands of people in low-lying areas of three Panhandle counties to evacuate, and people flocked to hardware stores to buy generators, flashlights and other hurricane supplies. At the Islander Package and Lounge in Pensacola Beach, a sign read “Here we go again.”
However, Florida officials said only about 200 people had sought refuge in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, two areas hit hard last year by Ivan, and no one showed up at a shelter in Walton County.
“I really believe there are a lot of folks that were looking at this and saying ‘OK, it’s not a hurricane, it’s not a Hurricane Ivan and we’re probably going to be OK to stay where we are,’” said Escambia County spokeswoman Sonya Smith.
By midmorning, about 4,000 Gulf Power customers in Escambia County were blacked out, though most service was quickly restored. “It’s mostly been because of tree limbs that were weakened or cracked by Hurricane Ivan,” said John Hutchinson, Gulf Power’s general manager of public affairs.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency Friday.
At 11 a.m. EDT, the storm was centered 85 miles south-southeast of Mobile, Ala., and was meandering toward the north-northwest at 14 mph. Meteorologists said there was a slight chance that Arlene could strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane, with sustained wind of at least 74 mph, by its expected mid-afternoon landfall.
Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings extended west to Grand Isle, La., and east to Indian Pass, Fla. A tornado watch was issued for a huge swath of the Gulf region.
In Gulf Shores, Ala., residents worried about the storm undoing repairs and adding to beach erosion from Hurricane Ivan. Sue Alford had her beachside townhouse repaired but still has a big steel container of Ivan trash in front of the building.
“My biggest concern is there’s so much debris around,” she said.
Arlene had moved northward Friday across the Gulf of Mexico, drenching western Cuba and causing heavy rain, gusty wind and rough seas in South Florida.
The hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Last year’s first storm of the season, Alex, didn’t form until Aug. 1. Two weeks later, Florida was hit by the first of four hurricanes in the space of a few weeks. They caused about 130 deaths in the U.S. and $22 billion in insured wind damage.
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Associated Press writer Garry Mitchell contributed to this report from Gulf Shores, Ala.
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On the Net:
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/