Hurricane Frances

what? now i`m confused..... oh well. *runs and hides* c`mone frances! do your wrost!!!><
 
Here's soemthing I found:

CBS/AP) The outer bands of Hurricane Frances whipped Florida's Atlantic coast with 90 mph winds Saturday as the storm crawled toward the state, bringing a potential for more than a foot of rain, tornadoes and heavy flooding as tens of thousands fled the area.

Forecasters expected the Category 2 storm with 105-mph top sustained winds to come ashore late Saturday or early Sunday somewhere along the middle of the state's Atlantic coast.

The arrival was about a day later than earlier predictions, as residents prepared for the worst after a dragged-out process of buying canned goods and water, putting plywood sheets over windows and finding 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 Indialantic on a barrier island early Saturday. "I was so happy to get on the other side of that bridge I could have kissed the ground."

"Just got to believe in God," said Linda Benbry, 48, who watched as her grandson fastened duct tape across the front windows of their Fort Pierce home. "You can't run from death."

Early Saturday, the few drivers out on roads dodged palm fronds and tree branches that littered roads along the Atlantic coast.

Wind gusts in Jupiter surpassed hurricane-force at 91 mph early Saturday, crashing waves into the beaches. Boats were tossed around like toys in the water, people struggled to stand up on land and trees were knocked down. The roof and door of a hangar at Palm Beach International Airport were blown off.

A yacht struggled to maneuver in the waves off West Palm Beach as its pilot tried to tie the craft to a piling. A person on the front of the boat threw a line over the side to the pole, but the boat ripped it from its foundation. The yacht eventually was tied down, with one woman suffering minor injuries.

In Melbourne, CBS News Correspondent Cami McCormick says forecasters have recorded winds gusts of 90 mph, and it was raining heavily.

In Brevard County, two men were charged with looting for allegedly trying to break into the Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne.

About 2.8 million residents were told to clear out - the biggest evacuation request in Florida history - but it was unknown how many did. At 2 p.m., Frances was centered about 70 miles east of Palm Beach, and was drifting to the west-northwest at about 5 mph, down from 6 mph earlier. It was expected to drift 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 open water, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said. After hitting land, Frances' core appeared headed toward the Panhandle across the state.

For those who evacuated and the millions of others who remained at home, Frances' tardy arrival meant yet another day of waiting and worrying.

"It's all the anticipation that really gets to you," said Frank McKnight of Wellington, who waited four hours at a hardware store to buy plywood. "I just wish it would get here, and we could get it all over with. I want to know now ? am I going to have a house left or not?"

CBS News Correspondent Harry Smith, in West Palm Beach Saturday morning for The Saturday Early Show, called it a "hurry up and wait" situation.

CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston, also on The Saturday Early Show, said West Palm Beach was a virtual ghost town Saturday, since so many residents had heeded evacuation calls.

Passing through the Bahamas, Frances' top sustained winds fell to 105 mph Saturday, down from 145 mph on Thursday. But its plodding pace meant it could cause disastrous flooding. Hurricane-force winds 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.

"The water has nowhere to go and gets trapped because our elevation is so low," he said. "It could be a large mess."

"This storm is bringing us everything," said Craig Fugate, Florida's top emergency management official. "It's going to bring storm surge, it's going to bring hurricane-force winds for a sustained period of time, it's going to bring torrential rainfall, it's going to bring tornadoes."

Frances, carrying an imposing size twice as big as the devastating Hurricane Andrew in 1992, is 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 remained in effect for Florida's Atlantic coast, from Flagler Beach south to Florida City almost to the state's tip, and Bush declared a state of emergency for the entire state. A tropical storm warning also was extended Saturday for much of the Gulf coast and also up into Georgia.

The winds toppled trees and one gust peeled half the roof off Michelle Lyons' mobile home in Davie, just west of Fort Lauderdale, but no one was hurt.

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

Power was knocked out for about 459,000 Florida Power & Light customers along the southeast coast. The storm forced the evacuation of about 3,000 state inmates and about 500 patients at more than a dozen hospitals. Pumps were left 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.

So far, there have been about 831 reports of price gouging, Attorney General Charlie Crist said. The Chinese Green Tea restaurant in Palm Bay was charging about a $1 more for meals Saturday. When told that increasing prices because of the storm was illegal, the manager said through an interpreter that he didn't care.

Frances was set to slam into Florida's coast about three weeks after Hurricane Charley killed 27 people and caused billions of dollars in damage in southwestern Florida. Frances could cross over areas such as Orlando that were also hit by Charley.

Shelters received a steady influx of residents expecting to spend an unusual Labor Day weekend indoors. As of Saturday afternoon, about 70,000 people were in shelters statewide. Other evacuees went to hotels or friends' homes further inland. At a Red Cross shelter in Davie, elderly residents quietly huddled over a game of cards while several people played a pick-up 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."

For the most part, evacuees seemed to be adapting calmly to spending Labor Day weekend in shelters.

Nancy Syphax said the mood was good at an elementary school in Jensen Beach. "This is a necessary precaution," she said. "I'd rather be safe than comfortable at this moment."

Many schools and government offices closed, as did major amusement parks, the Kennedy Space Center and airports serving Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Melbourne.

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.

State officials said they were prepared to deliver 5.4 million meals during the next two weeks while 13,000 electrical workers awaited in staging areas in Alabama to enter Florida and restore power. To help new mothers, baby formula was being shipped to Jacksonville to be distributed throughout the state.

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

Hurricane season usually peaks in early September, and the ninth named storm of the season grew stronger Saturday in the far eastern Atlantic. Tropical Storm Ivan was about 1,670 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles with winds of 60 mph.

As Frances raged through the Bahamas Saturday, it ripped apart roofs, shattered windows and toppled trees with violent winds that drove thousands to flee their homes. At least one man was electrocuted in the storm
 
<_< Now this sucks.. ok over here in F.L we usually get a hurricane/tornado.. lets say every decade or more on an average.. now 2 hurricanes within a year? let alone 3 weeks?!? that's crazy -_- my house already got messed up from Charlie, and now we have one that can possibly last till 2 A.M because of how slow, and big it is.. I hope the house we were gonna move in wont get damaged.. Doesent it seem that we have to pay the price for living in such a nice place? Good thing I dont think too much of storms like this.

~Blade~
 
*laughs* it was downgraded from a category 5 to a 2 i find that funny....but yet it IS still dangerous.........
 
Well, with this progress of downgrading, yes. it could be category 1 now. I know a lot about this stuff, and if it stays on land it could be a Tropical Storm by tommorow night...
 
The hurricane has hit us about last night at 11. P.M, and will continue to go on for the rest of the day... -_- with a hurricane moving at only 5mph I'm not surprised.. I must say it hasent caused as much damage as Charlie, as it's winds are not as powerful, but it sure is lasting much longer then 1 hr 30 minutes. *is surprised his power hasent gone out* out of 2 million peeps we still have our power.. it's flickering though so I better shut up. o.o I'd love to be your weather man, but get the darn news on your own if you want. See ya whenever my power comes on..(assuming it will cut off.. doesent take a rocket scientist to guess that...) <_< I hope my friends, and a few other peeps living in the Bahamas, and etc. are ok. stupid hurricane is making tornado's.. and we'll still have to deal with it's after effects when it leaves..

~Blade~
 
Last edited:
Wow, If I knew there was a thread for this I would have been here earlier. ANyways I live in Florida and my family had to evacuate to Kendal, seems not much, but lucly nothing happened over there. I live near the beach, actually my house is next to the beach since we own a beach house. I just got back and my place was all wet. Anyways I don't think Broward is gonna be having school, so i'm happy for that :D And yeah there is another hurricane coming this way, Hurricane Ivan.
 
well the hurricane still hasnt hit me yet just powerful gusts and rain that goes on and off
 
Frances is already downgraded to a tropical storm, but theres a another hurricane I heard is developing again. =(
 
Haruka said:
Frances is already downgraded to a tropical storm, but theres a another hurricane I heard is developing again. =(
Click to expand...

Yes.. Hurricane Ivan... <_< right next to Bahama's... it's heading towards cuba, but I knwo we will get hit... three freaking hurricanes in 1 month! -_- first time, and hopefully last time this has happened. *is surprised out of 5 million people we still kept the power in my area* Still have to go through extreme floods.. and tropical weather. Anyway's as I predicted... it dident do much damage like Charlie.. *one more week until Ivan*

~Blade~
 
Ivan won't hit florida... which is a good thing? or a bad thing? o.o
 
! What Category is Ivan? wow that must be scary!
 
I've heard it's currently a level 3 hurricane, but i am not sure. >_>
 
Is it supposed to get higher? *doesnt listen to the news* XD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top