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Hurricane Katrina drenches Florida, floods feared

Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 15:42 CDT

By Jane Sutton

MIAMI (Reuters) - Katrina strengthened into a hurricane from a tropical storm on Thursday and deluged Florida's densely populated southeast coast with rain, heightening fears of flooding.

The core of the storm was expected to hit the Fort Lauderdale area late on Thursday or early on Friday, dumping up to 10 inches of rain on southern Florida as it moved slowly across the state into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

"The entire south part of the peninsula is at risk for flooding," said Ed Rappaport, the center's deputy director.

Some areas could get up to 15 inches of rain, the hurricane center said. Skies darkened and rain poured as the outer bands of the storm moved ashore. Some streets were already flooding and emergency managers urged people to stay inside.

At 4 p.m. (2000 GMT), Katrina was centered 25 miles east-northeast of Fort Lauderdale.

Fueled by warm gulf stream currents, Katrina's top winds strengthened to 75 mph (120), up from 40 mph (65 kph) a day earlier and just over the 74-mph (118 kph) threshold to become a hurricane, said hurricane center director Max Mayfield.

Such hurricanes can damage flimsy trailer homes and strip leaves off trees but rarely cause structural damage. Emergency managers urged people to leave vulnerable islands and mobile home parks, but did not order mandatory evacuations.

Punished last season by four powerful hurricanes in six weeks, Florida residents snapped up drinking water and spare batteries from stores. Some filled sandbags to try and protect their homes from flooding.

GAS SHORTAGES

Drivers lined up to fill their cars with gasoline before the storm hit and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged South Floridians to conserve fuel to avoid spot shortages.

"We start with a situation of very low inventories because gas companies are operating on very low margins in terms of their supply. That's bad when you combine that with increases in demand," he said. "You're going to have isolated or spotted areas where there will be shortages."

He said Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale got a shipment of 20 million gallons of gasoline, which can be distributed after the storm passes.

Schools and businesses in southeast Florida closed and cruise lines rerouted their ships as the seaports shut down.

Party planners on Miami Beach canceled poolside bashes that had been organized for celebrities and fans in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. But forecasters expected the skies to clear in time for the awards show on Sunday.

A hurricane warning was issued for a 170-mile (270-km) stretch of Florida's densely populated southern Atlantic Coast from Florida City to Vero Beach, alerting residents to expect hurricane winds within 24 hours. The area includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach -- all of which were largely spared in last year's unusual series of storms.

Storm warnings and watches were also posted for part of the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee in central Florida, other parts of Florida's coasts and some islands of the northwest Bahamas.

After crossing the southern tip of Florida, Katrina is expected to head north through the Gulf of Mexico, strengthen again into a hurricane and hit north Florida on Monday.

Its projected path would miss the oil and natural gas rigs farther west in the Gulf of Mexico, but inflict more misery on the region pummeled by Hurricane Dennis in July and Hurricane Ivan last year.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said President George W. Bush and federal authorities were ready to provide any needed relief.

"The government's ready, we're watching and we're taking steps to make sure that people get to safe areas or take the proper precautions from the storm," Duffy told reporters in Crawford, Texas.

Forecasters have predicted an unusually high number of storms this year because the Atlantic has swung into a multi-decade period of more intense storm activity.

The June-through-November Atlantic hurricane season has already seen 11 named storms, a record so early in the year.

Source: REUTERS

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