Coastal communities prepare for Ivan’s arrival

APPREHENSIVE coastal residents from Florida’s Panhandle to Louisiana started boarding up windows, packing and hitting the road as powerful Hurricane Ivan headed for the Gulf Coast after ploughing across Cuba.

A hurricane watch was posted for a 420-mile-long swath from St Marks in the Florida Panhandle, just south of Tallahassee, to New Orleans and Morgan City, Louisiana.

Five Florida counties urged or ordered residents to leave yesterday.