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Hurricane Frances Stalls Off Florida Coast

Posted on: Saturday, 4 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

MELBOURNE, Fla. - Hurricane Frances stalled off the east coast of Florida on Saturday but its outer bands whipped the shore with 90 mph wind that downed trees, knocked power out to hundreds of thousands of people and ripped parts of roofs off buildings.

Tens of thousands of people fled the area as Frances carried a threat of more than a foot of rain, tornadoes and heavy flooding. Forecasters expected the storm, a Category 2 storm with 105 mph top sustained wind, to come ashore late Saturday or early Sunday somewhere along the middle of the state's Atlantic coast.

That arrival would be about a day later than initial predictions, and residents took advantage of the delay to buy canned goods and water, nail plywood sheets over windows and find shelter.

"I turned on the TV and when I saw the storm was still 130 miles away, I said, 'Now's the time to get out,'" Dana Goegelman said after leaving the barrier island community of Indialantic early Saturday. "I was so happy to get on the other side of that bridge I could have kissed the ground."

The few drivers out on roads Saturday dodged palm fronds and tree branches. Wind gusts in Jupiter surpassed hurricane force at 91 mph, tossing boats around like toys in the water and making it a struggle for people to stand up. Trees crashed into the street in Stuart.

The roof and a door were blown off a hangar at Palm Beach International Airport. The crew of a yacht struggled to control the vessel in pitching waves at West Palm Beach as its pilot tried to maneuver the craft to a mooring, and a sailboat drifted out of control toward a nearby bridge.

In Brevard County, two men were charged with looting for allegedly trying to break into a church.

About 2.8 million residents were told to clear out - the biggest evacuation request in Florida history - but it was unknown how many did. Major amusement parks, the Kennedy Space Center and airports serving Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Melbourne had all closed.

At 2 p.m., Frances was centered about 70 miles east of Palm Beach and had stalled. It was expected to resume drifting to the west-northwest at about 5 mph later in the day, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm had redeveloped an eye about 80 miles across, indicating that it could strengthen slightly while over warm open water between the Bahamas and the coast, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said. After hitting land, Frances' core appeared headed across the state toward the Panhandle.

Frances' top sustained wind speed had fallen to 105 mph Saturday, making it a Category 2 storm, down from 145 mph and Category 4 status on Thursday. But its plodding pace meant it could cause disastrous flooding. Hurricane-force wind extended outward up to 105 miles from its center.

"This is going to be a tough ride for us," Gov. Jeb Bush said.

State meteorologist Ben Nelson said Frances might remain over Florida for two cycles of high tide, meaning two rounds of storm surges expected to be 4 to 6 feet north of where the eye hits.

Frances was expected to come ashore along the middle of Florida's eastern coast, push across the state as a tropical storm just north of Tampa and weaken to a tropical depression as it moves over the Panhandle on Monday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown warned that unlike Hurricane Charley, which slammed into Florida's coast three weeks ago, Frances "has an awful lot of moisture with it" that could cause dangerous floods.

"It is a massive storm," Brown said Saturday.

A hurricane warning was in effect along the coast from Flagler Beach south to Florida City almost to the state's tip, and Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for the entire state.

Wind gusts toppled trees, knocked out power to about 460,000 customers along the southeast coast and peeled half the roof off Michelle Lyons' mobile home in Davie, just west of Fort Lauderdale.

"And we didn't even get the hurricane yet," said Lyons, 30.

The storm forced the evacuation of about 3,000 state inmates and about 500 patients at more than a dozen hospitals. Pumps were dry at many gas stations as people rushed to fill up their tanks before the storm hit, but Bush said state officials were working to resupply stations along Florida's Turnpike.

Frances could cross areas such as Orlando that were also hit by Charley, which killed 27 people and caused billions of dollars in damage in southwestern Florida.

"I've ordered teams to be in position to help the good people of that state," President Bush said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. "But the best thing we can do here is to offer our prayers."

Shelters received a steady influx of residents expecting to spend an unusual Labor Day weekend indoors. As of early Saturday, about 55,000 people were in shelters, and others went to hotels or friends' homes. At a Red Cross shelter in Davie, elderly residents quietly huddled over a game of cards while several people played a pickup basketball game.

"It's very organized," said Lucy Campos, who left a mobile home with a neighbor. "But I can't wait to take a shower."

By early Saturday afternoon, there had been about 831 reports of price gouging, Attorney General Charlie Crist said.

FEMA mobilized 4,500 workers, three times the number sent to help victims of Charley. Officials said they had enough people and supplies in the state to handle two disaster relief operations at once.

Gov. Bush said officials were ready to deliver 1 million meals a day along with 600 trucks of water and more than 200 trucks of ice. FEMA activated four urban search and rescue teams, while 13,000 electrical workers awaited in Alabama to enter Florida and restore power.

The Red Cross planned a larger relief operation than the one it conducted after Hurricane Andrew, when it spent $81 million.

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On the Net:

National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Florida Emergency Management: http://www.floridadisaster.org

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