MIAMI, Florida (26 Aug 2005) -- Hurricane Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday after hammering Florida's crowded southeast coast with hours of fierce winds and whipping rains, leaving 2 million people without power and killing four. Katrina, which was downgraded earlier on Friday to a tropical storm as it churned across the swampy Everglades, regained hurricane status as it moved into the Gulf. Katrina dumped up to 12 inches of rain after coming ashore just south of Fort Lauderdale on Thursday and then began a slow and punishing trek southwest across southern Florida, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. In its wake, Katrina left flooded neighborhoods and streets carpeted with tree limbs and leaves. By 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Friday, Katrina was located about 50 miles north-northeast of Key West, Florida, and was moving west at 5 mph (7 kph). Winds were near 75 mph (120 kph) and expected to strengthen after earlier falling slightly to 70 mph (113 kph), the center said. Three people were killed by falling trees during the storm. One man in Fort Lauderdale and another to the west in the city of Plantation, said Broward County authorities. WFOR television said the first man died when the tree brought a power line down onto his car. A woman who was struck by a tree died at a hospital in Hollywood, local media reported. And a man in Cooper City died when his car struck a tree, according to local media. Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield warned Katrina would restrengthen again once it emerged over warm Gulf waters and could loop north to slam into the hurricane-scarred Florida Panhandle as a much more powerful hurricane. The area was hit in July by Hurricane Dennis and last September by Hurricane Ivan. Florida Power and Light Co., the main electricity company in the area, said more than 1 million customers, representing more than 2 million people, were without power and that number was bound to rise. Katrina made landfall at about 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) on Thursday between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach with sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph), the hurricane center said. ALREADY PUNISHED That still made it a minimal Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Such hurricanes can damage flimsy trailer homes but rarely cause structural damage to buildings. Emergency managers had urged people to leave vulnerable islands and mobile home parks, but did not order mandatory evacuations. | | Miami-Dade County firefighters use a thermal imaging camera to look under the rubble of a fallen bridge. An overpass under construction collapsed onto State Road 836 fell under the pressure of Hurricane Katrina's winds. Punished last season by four powerful hurricanes in six weeks, Florida residents had snapped up drinking water and spare batteries from stores. Some filled sandbags to try to protect their homes from flooding, but few bothered to put up hurricane shutters. Drivers lined up to fill their cars with gasoline before the storm hit and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush urged South Floridians to conserve fuel. Schools and businesses in southeast Florida closed and cruise lines rerouted their ships as the seaports shut down. Party planners on Miami Beach canceled poolside bashes that had been organized for celebrities and fans in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. Forecasters expected the skies to clear in time for the awards show on Sunday. Forecasters have predicted an unusually high number of storms this year because the Atlantic has swung into a period of more intense storm activity. The June-through-November Atlantic hurricane season has seen 11 named storms, a record so early in the year. |
