Hurricane fears: 1.2m told to flee homes

NEARLY 1.2 million Floridians were urged to leave their homes yesterday as massive and powerful Hurricane Frances roared toward the crowded south-east US coast.

Nine Florida counties ordered evacuations from low-lying coastal areas and mobile homes that could be devastated by the storm.

Highway tolls were suspended and on the Beeline Expressway in central Florida, lanes were reversed to speed the long lines of traffic fleeing the coast.