September 09, 2004
Everybody outta the pool! FL Keys TOTAL evacuation ordered
Hurricane Ivan has become a rare CAT 5 hurricane with sustained winds of more than 160 miles per hour. The storm is set to hit Jamaica head-on Friday night or sometime on Saturday, based on it's present course and speed.
The National Hurricane Center expects Ivan to turn northward and cross Cuba after that point. That course would take it directly into the Florida Keys.
As a result, officials have started the first phase of a total evacuation of the Keys.
They told tourists and residents of mobile homes to leave today. They said a phased evacuation of all other Keys residents will begin Friday. At least 83,000 residents and tourists are in the Keys this week, officials said.Computer projection models of Ivan's expected course have varied widely, with some models taking the storm up the west coast of Florida, almost directly over areas that were devestated by Hurricane Charley last month. Other models take it directly up the Florida peninsula, while several others take it further out into the Gulf of Mexico, where it would threaten the Florida panhandle, Alabama and Georgia.
Stay tuned. HurricaneCity.com is set to begin streaming live radio from Jamaica and the Hurricane Watch Net later today; I'll post updated stream links as I get ahold of them.
Posted by mhking at September 9, 2004 11:06 AMYikes! I'm surprised James Carville and other Democratic spin doctors haven't connected mother nature's punishment of Florida to Jeb Bush and the Republicans. Probably only a matter of time, right? (Irony: I'm listening to an ad promoting travel the Florida and the Caribbean at this very moment.)
Posted by: Penny at September 9, 2004 02:42 PM