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Hurricane Francis if you live on the east cost or near the gulf read this
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Hurricane Francis if you live on the east cost or near the gulf read this
Posted in 
Off-topic
Hurricane Francis if you live on the east cost or near the gulf read this
Hurricane Frances Tears Through Bahamas 
Hurricane Frances ripped apart roofs, shattered windows and flooded neighborhoods as it raged through the Bahamas on Saturday, driving thousands from their homes before beginning a slow march toward the east coast of Florida. At least one man was electrocuted in the storm.
Frances appeared to be weakening, with forecasters downgrading it to a Category 2 hurricane as its sustained winds dipped to 105 mph. But because of its slow movement, at just 5 mph, it could strengthen again before reaching Florida, expected late Saturday or early Sunday.

The slower-than-expected movement meant a long ordeal for Bahamians. Roaring winds blew down trees and toppled power lines, knocking out electricity. Buildings trembled, palms bent in violent gusts and street signs flew off poles.

Surging seawater flooded at least three neighborhoods in the Freeport area on Grand Bahama Island, emergency administrator Alexander E. Williams said. "We're hearing reports of flooding all over. We're trying to move people to safety," he said.

The Freeport airport was partially submerged in water, which in some places, reached as high as the sign posts.

Sharon Carey, a 43-year-old waitress, said she awoke Saturday morning with water knee-deep in her house as police going through the neighborhood banged on the door. The family grabbed passports, birth certificates and other documents and waded outside, where they said dozens of neighbors were evacuating holding whatever belongings they could salvage.

"Everybody was starting to cry because we were scared," said Carey's 10-year-old daughter, Comerneich Williams. "It was terrible."

The family drove to a hotel seeking shelter, then left when told it was full. They said they didn't know where they would go.

Roaring winds blew down trees and toppled power lines, knocking out electricity. Buildings trembled, palms bent in violent gusts and street signs flew off poles. The winds decreased a bit Saturday morning as the eye came very near Freeport. Forecasters warned of more heavy winds

It wasn't immediately clear how many were evacuated from flooded neighborhoods. "We're in the middle of our rescue operation. We're trying to save lives," police Superintendent Basil Rahming said.

Authorities had urged those in low-lying areas to evacuate Friday, but some decided to stay put.

About 1,100 people on Grand Bahama Island rode out the storm in shelters set up in churches and schools, said Williams, the emergency administrator. Similar shelters were open on other islands, and many Bahamians left vulnerable homes to move in with relatives.

"I'm trying to save myself. I'm scared," said Elianise Jean, a 40-year-old Haitian immigrant who came with her six children to a shelter in a church outside Freeport.

Streets were largely deserted Friday as people rode out the storm indoors in the capital of Nassau, which is home to about two-thirds of the archipelago's 300,000 people.

Fallen trees, debris and downed satellite dishes littered roads in Nassau. There were scattered reports of looting, police said, including one man who broke into a gas station and another who tried to steal appliances from a store after winds ripped off part of its roof.

Tourists at the 2,300-room Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, outside Nassau, were moved into a conference room as a precaution.

In Nassau, 18-year-old Kenrad Delaney was electrocuted Friday while filling a generator with diesel. The family heard a scream and found him on the floor. He died after being taken to the hospital, police said.

Freeport, the country's second largest commercial center, has fewer high-rises than Nassau and its building are generally better built. However, when Hurricane Floyd blew through in 1999, it flooded neighborhoods, left the Grand Bahama airport underwater and closed hotels.

The Freeport weather office at Grand Bahama airport was closed due to flooding.

Nassau's Doctors Hospital treated about 40 people who suffered minor injuries during preparations for Frances, said Charles Sealy, vice president of operations. As Frances passed, patients and staff played board games and sang on a karaoke machine, he said.

At 11 a.m., the hurricane's eye was very near Freeport and about 80 miles east of West Palm Beach, Fla. It was moving between the west-northwest and northwest at 5 mph.

A hurricane warning was up for most of Florida's east coast, stretching more than 300 miles. Hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings were in effect for other areas. About 2.5 million residents were told to clear out _ the biggest evacuation request in the state's history.

Forecasters said the brunt of the hurricane could hit Florida late Saturday or early Sunday, about three weeks after Hurricane Charley struck with 145 mph winds, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing 27 people.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard was searching for a Fort Lauderdale-bound pleasure boat that made a distress call 12 miles west of Bimini in the Bahamas. Three people were reported aboard when the boat ran into 9-foot swells.

you probly know this if you read the usa today or whach the news

Ya I was gonna say people would probably find some other source to get information on a Hurricane. Don't think multiplayer internet games forum was high on there list. :)

But thanks for the info. ;)
i was vacationing in FL and almost got socked by Charlie! Thanks for the heads up
Thankyou for telling this to us ..
I will keep a watchful eye for hurricanes outside my house :p
nothin wrong with a little warning, tank.:)
heres the lates story on francis  




Hurricane Frances pounded Florida with high wind and heavy rain Sunday after it smashed across the state's east coast, knocking out power to 4 million people, shredding roofs and uprooting trees.
Some evacuees had to flee a second time when a school's roof was partially blown off. Some 86,000 people remained in shelters as Gov. Jeb Bush warned them against venturing out to see the damage until officials say it's OK.

"I didn't think it would get this bad," Carline Cadet said as she ventured through her West Palm Beach neighborhood in rain gear. "The shutters were flapping in the wind so hard all night. It was crazy loud."

Specifics on damage and injuries will be impossible to gather until after the storm passes, said Craig Fugate, the state's director of emergency management.

The storm weakened Sunday morning, crawling westward with maximum sustained wind near 90 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane, but forecasters warned that its path would take the center of the hurricane over the warm water of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. They said it was possible Frances would regain intensity by Monday evening.

"This is affecting the entire peninsula today, either tropical storm-force or hurricane-force winds. And then tomorrow it will be up in the panhandle, and then moving up into Georgia and Alabama after that," National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

The eye of the storm blew ashore at Sewall's Point, just east of Stuart, around 1 a.m., and by 11 a.m. it was centered about 80 miles southeast of Tampa. Frances was expected to remain over the state for most of the day, dumping 8 to 12 inches of rain, with up to 20 inches in some areas.

"I wish somebody'd get out there and push it _ get it over with," said 72-year-old Nedra Smith, who waited out the storm in the lobby of a Palm Bay hotel.

Frances was so big that virtually the entire state feared damage just weeks after Hurricane Charley tore through, killing 27 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. About 230 miles of coastline _ from the Deerfield Beach area northward to Flagler Beach _ remained under a hurricane warning Sunday morning. A similar-sized part of the Panhandle from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Destin on the Gulf of Mexico were also under the warning.

The storm forced the largest evacuation in state history, with 2.8 million residents ordered inland and 86,000 of them in shelters. Miami-Dade County told about 320,000 people they could return home Sunday, but the storm had shut down much of Florida, including airports and amusement parks, during the usually busy Labor Day weekend. Airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale reopened Sunday, but Orlando remained closed.

President Bush declared a major disaster in the counties affected by Frances, meaning residents will be eligible for federal aid.

Four people were hospitalized in Boynton Beach after breathing carbon monoxide from a generator that was running in a house. There were reports of injuries in St. Lucie County, but sheriff's spokesman Mark Weinberg said he had no details.

At least two deaths were blamed on the storm in the Bahamas, where thousands were forced from their homes.

In Jensen Beach, sections of Indian River Drive washed into the river, leaving holes about 8 feet deep. Roads, streets and beaches elsewhere in the state were littered with debris. Businesses were shuttered, trees were bent and light posts wobbled in the howling gusts.

"I've never seen anything like this, and no one in my family has," said Darlene Munson, who was riding out the storm with family members at her restaurant in Melbourne, where the wind-blown rain looked like a giant fire hosing going at full blast.

Looting had become a problem. Police in the Orlando area said 10 thieves used a stolen car to smash into a store and steal about $10,000 worth of clothing, and two men were arrested as they tried to steal an ATM machine with a chain saw. At least 10 other people were arrested for looting in Indian River County, Palm Beach County and Brevard County.

Water on the streets of Fort Pierce stood as high as the top of tires on sport utility vehicles. Downtown, a steel railroad crossing signal was twisted like a corkscrew, but buildings seemed mostly intact. In Stuart, a store facade collapsed.

At the entrance to Kennedy Space Center, a replica of the Mercury-Redstone rocket that Alan Shepard flew in to become the first American in space was knocked onto its side.

Florida Power & Light pulled crews off the streets because of the wind, leaving 4 million customers without power, spokesman Bill Swank said. Nearly all of Vero Beach, 30 miles north of Stuart, was blackened, the city's utility said.

In Martin County, where Stuart is located, 630 people taking shelter at a school had to move to another shelter when part of the roof blew off, flooding 16 rooms. More than 300 people were able to remain in the school.

Alex Pantoja stood with his wife on a Holiday Inn balcony Sunday looking down on their home in a mobile home park in Stuart.

"I feel pretty lucky so far. I've only lost my porch. I can handle that," he said. Other homes in the area had lost carports and fences.

As far north as New Jersey, swimmers were warned of rip currents as Frances mixed with a high pressure system moving in from Canada during the Labor Day weekend.

Many of the thousands of Floridians who spent the night in shelters were growing weary.

"It's just a matter of patience," said Bishop G.A. White, 77, pastor of the Fort Pierce Church of the Living God. "Wait on the Lord, and wait on the weather."

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ivan formed Sunday in the central Atlantic. The fifth hurricane of the season was about 2,600 miles east-southeast of Miami with wind of 75 mph.


10 billion dollar damages..yikes