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Hurricane Frances
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| Clovis86 |
| quote: | “I can’t emphasize enough how powerful this is. If there’s something out there that’s going to weaken it, we haven’t seen it,” National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield said.
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Well...looks like PVD is off... |
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| ShadoWolf |
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/09/...nces/index.html
Frances prompts hurricane warning in Florida
Thursday, September 2, 2004 Posted: 11:44 AM EDT (1544 GMT)
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The National Hurricane Center on Thursday issued a hurricane warning for most of Florida's east coast as Hurricane Frances, a powerful Category 4 storm, thrashed through the Bahamas.
The warning extends from Florida City north to Flagler Beach. A warning means hurricane conditions are expected in the next 24 hours.
A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning are also in effect for the middle and upper Florida keys from south of Florida City to the Seven Mile Bridge.
"As the hurricane draws closer to the coast, the time to prepare diminishes," said Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Rappaport said Frances threatened to be a much more dangerous storm than Charley, another Category 4 hurricane that slammed Florida's opposite coast August 13 killing 25 people.
"This is a much bigger storm than Charley was, maybe two to three times the size," he said. "There'll be a large area of damage when this comes ashore."
At 11 a.m. ET Thursday had maximum sustained winds near 145 mph (230 kph), the National Hurricane Center reported. It was 450 miles (725) km east-southeast of the lower Florida east coast.
Frances was moving west-northwest at nearly 13 mph (20 kph.
Five to 10 inches of rain was possible, and forecasters warned of storm surge flooding of 6 to 14 feet above normal.
Hurricanes are classified as categories 1-5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. A Category 4 storm has winds of 131-155 mph (201-249 kph).
Two Category 4 storms have never struck the United States in the same year in the 133 years the hurricane center has been collecting data.
The last time two major storms -- Category 3 or above -- hit the U.S. mainland in the same year was in 1950 with Hurricanes Easy and King.
Bahamas expects flooding
"We look for flooding -- uprooting of trees, a lot of damage," said Pat Butler of the Bahamas Department of Meteorology.
CNN's Karl Penhaul said conditions early Thursday were calm in Freeport, Bahamas, on the northwestern end of the island chain.
"The mood here is one of dubious expectation," he said, noting conditions are expected to degrade into the afternoon and evening.
"The islanders on Grand Bahama at least in some respects really don't believe that this hurricane will hit them. They still think there's time for the hurricane to veer off course."
Penhaul said a Freeport store owner told him he already had sold 8,000 sheets of plywood as residents prepared for the pending storm.
Meteorologists expected Frances' intensity to vary until it makes landfall.
"It may weaken a little bit, but we really do think it will regain its strength, and people should really be preparing for a Category 4 hurricane," said Max Mayfield, the hurricane center's director.
Military planes monitoring the storm continue to report "a very powerful, dangerous hurricane," he said. The entire state will be affected.
Florida declares state of emergency
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency in advance of the storm, and across the state preparations were under way, including the evacuations of nearly half a million people.
# The Kennedy Space Center closed at 3 p.m. Wednesday and took precautions to protect its shuttles and sensitive equipment. Employees were sent home.
# The U.S. Navy and Air Force prepared to move ships and planes out of the storm's path, Pentagon officials said. They said it can take up to 72 hours to get a ship under way.
# Palm Beach County ordered 300,000 residents to evacuate, Brevard County ordered 185,000 residents to leave, and shelters were set up in Indian River County.
Forecasters are looking at two possibilities for Frances' track after leaving the Bahamas, Mayfield said. It could turn north to go up Florida's eastern coast, then into Georgia and South Carolina. Or it could travel across South Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico before turning north.
Florida is still recovering from the aftereffects of Charley, which slammed into Charlotte County on the Gulf Coast nearly three weeks ago, then crossed the state and headed into the Atlantic near Daytona Beach. |
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| DJDREO |
| that thing would probably go to a Category 5 |
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| jonze234 |
| damn 145 mph winds is messed up. |
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| N|te-L|fe |
Thats a huge ass windstorm :wtf:
biggest this year for sure |
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| ShadoWolf |
| It looks like the perfect storm... so beautiful... yet so destructive. :( |
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| Floorfiller |
| amber...i'm getting the couch ready hehehehe :p |
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| trancebrat |
| quote: | Originally posted by Floorfiller
amber...i'm getting the couch ready hehehehe :p |
You better make room for two...Terry is with me! :p |
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| Floorfiller |
| quote: | Originally posted by trancebrat
You better make room for two...Terry is with me! :p |
hehehe...poor terry. moves to florida and know he has a hurricane up his ass :stongue: :stongue:
but no worries...terry can have the extra bed HAHAHAHAH |
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| DjDeComp |
| I hope non of the FLTAs get hurt, be safe everyone |
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| DJ_Bod |
| quote: | Originally posted by DjDeComp
I hope non of the FLTAs get hurt, be safe everyone |
+1 |
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