Half a million evacuated as new hurricane looms

Nearly half a million people were ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Frances swirled toward Florida today just three weeks after Charley’s devastating visit, threatening to deliver the most powerful double punch to hit a state in at least a century.

Those planning to ride out the storm snapped up canned food, water and generators, while military helicopters and planes were flown out of the area and Cape Canaveral’s Kennedy Space Centre said it would close today.

The National Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch for about 280 miles of Florida’s Atlantic coast – from Florida City near the state’s southern tip to Flagler Beach about 20 miles north of Daytona Beach.

Forecasters said the still-strengthening Category 4 storm could hit as early as tomorrow night, less than three weeks after Charley raked Florida’s western coast with 145 mph wind, causing billions of pounds damage and killing 27 people.

“I can’t emphasise enough how powerful this is. If there’s something out there that’s going to weaken it, we haven’t seen it,” hurricane centre director Max Mayfield said.

Governor Jeb Bush and Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue declared states of emergency, activating the National Guard. Bush also warned more evacuations may be ordered.

Many homes in southwest Florida still have blue tarpaulins patching holes in their roofs after Charley, and some streets remain full of storm debris that could become wind-blown projectiles.

Evacuation orders were posted for 300,000 residents in coastal areas of Palm Beach County, and nearly 200,000 were told to leave mobile homes and low-lying areas of Brevard, Martin and Indian River counties, which could be hit by tremendous ocean waves.

Frances’ centre today was 555 miles east-southeast of West Palm Beach. It was moving west-northwest near 14 mph, and was expected to continue that course for the next 24 hours.

Bush cautioned that “all the science in the world and all the technology in the world isn’t going to be able to pinpoint exactly where the storm goes.”

Frances would be the fourth named storm to affect Charleston, South Carolina, this summer. Bonnie and Charley arrived within days of each other in August, and Gaston dumped more than 13 inches of rain in some areas when it came ashore on Sunday.

Frances was expected to reach the southeastern Bahamas by today.

Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie urged Bahamians to remain calm, but cautioned islanders they could see “the most intense hurricane in recorded history”.

Frances forced hundreds from their homes in the Turks and Caicos islands.

The storm lashing winds of more than 145 mph tore tin roofs off houses and plucked trees from the ground.

No injuries were reported but many telephone lines were down, said Karen Delancy, with the Turks and Caicos Emergency Management Service. More than a dozen houses were damaged, and one woman was rescued after her house’s roof blew off, said Fire Chief Chris Gannon.

Cruiseships diverted from the storm’s path. Flights in and out of the Turks and Caicos were cancelled, and many were expected to be cancelled today.