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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:07 pm Hurricane Watch Issued for Florida Keys |
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Hurricane Watch Issued for Florida Keys
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
MIAMI � Back-to-back tropical storms took aim at Florida as they strengthened Wednesday, with Bonnie chugging across the Gulf of Mexico toward the already-wet Panhandle and a stronger Charley prompting officials to order visitors to evacuate part of the Florida Keys.
The National Hurricane Center (search) issued a hurricane watch for the middle and lower Florida Keys (search) from Dry Tortugas to Craig Key. A watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours. Hurricane watches were posted for western Cuba and Jamaica, and a hurricane warning was issued for the Cayman Islands.
Most of northwest Florida, from the Alabama line to the Suwanee River, was under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch and could expect Bonnie's wind and rain on Thursday, the hurricane center said.
The storms also threatened to produce rain along wide sections of the East Coast.
In the Keys, Monroe County emergency officials urged visitors to start leaving the part of the 100-mile-long island chain covered by the watch, because evacuation can take several hours since there's only one road to the mainland. Residents were not being told to leave.
Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency for all of Florida, said more areas may need to be evacuated and activated the National Guard.
At a Days Inn in Key West, manager Lisa Kaminski already had started telling the hotel's approximately 200 guests that they had to leave and warning people who had reservations.
"We're telling people that the hurricane will probably be here Friday and it's in their best interest not to come," she said.
The Key West native said she and her employees weren't too worried about Charley, though. "We're staying. This isn't a big one," Kaminski said.
The approaching storms led cruise lines to change their schedules. Carnival Cruise Lines (search) was reshuffling the ports of call for several ships to avoid the storms, and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (search) was considering doing the same, officials said.
Charley was forecast to hit or pass close to the lower Keys late Thursday and then continue northward. It was expected to hit the southwestern Florida mainland early Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, packing sustained wind of about 85 mph, forecaster Daniel Brown said at the hurricane center in Miami.
Charley was likely to cross central Florida, still packing hurricane-force wind of at least 74 mph, and then exit near Daytona Beach on the Atlantic Coast.
Three to 6 inches of rain is expected, with locally higher amounts possible, Brown said.
Unlike Charley, Bonnie is not expected to become a hurricane, meteorologists said.
However, because the Panhandle already has been soaked by days of rain from a different system, some low-lying areas may have to be evacuated if there is flooding, said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director. That decision would be up to local authorities.
According to Hurricane Center map projections, after Florida both storms could spread rain along the East Coast, with the remnants of Bonnie possibly arriving in New England about Saturday morning, and Charley reaching there Sunday morning.
Bonnie's forecast track would take it across South Carolina early Friday, and Charley was projected to make a second landfall near Charleston, S.C., early Saturday. State emergency officials were monitoring both storms, said Joe Farmer, a spokesman for the state Emergency Management Division.
"Since I've been here, I don't remember two tracks like this," Farmer said of the twin storms. He has been in the South Carolina agency for 12 years.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Bonnie was centered about 235 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving north-northeast at about 6 mph. It was expected to turn more toward the northeast and speed up during the day, forecasters said.
The storm had maximum sustained wind of near 50 mph and would likely get stronger during the day, forecasters said. Tropical storm-force wind extended up to 70 miles from the center.
Charley, in the Caribbean, was first a threat to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Haiti and Cuba.
As of 11 a.m., Charley was centered 110 miles south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and moving west-northwest at around 18 mph, down from 24 mph earlier in the day. Charley had maximum sustained wind near 70 mph and was expected to become a hurricane later Wednesday, forecasters said.
Bonnie and Charley are the second and third named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
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Qgirl
Captain
Joined: 08 Jun 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Florida
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| Thu Aug 12, 2004 4:29 pm |
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I've heard that Charley might become a category 3 by the time it makes landfall. 
I've never been through a major hurricane before, small ones yes. So this is a new experience for me. I sure hope everything turns out alright and that everyone remains safe. At this point the projected path goes right through my county in central Florida. Kinda scary 
-------signature-------
"This is kind of the neat thing about Florida," "You never know what will
show up in your yard - like hundreds of frogs."
Jane's the way
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GhostOfAMemory
Star-crossed Voyager
Joined: 06 Sep 2003
Posts: 4322
Location: My computer... duh
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| Fri Aug 13, 2004 2:21 am |
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One of my online friends lives where it's going to hit. She's pretty nervous... I would be too!
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- The road goes ever on and on, down from door where it began; Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow, if I can -
Jesus loves you! God bless
Go to www.purevolume.com/leahcoiro NOW or face anhilation! BWAHA!
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