Hurricane Frances slams Bahamas, aims at Florida

Powerful Hurricane Frances roared through the Bahamas yesterday and took aim at the crowded southeast Florida coast, where hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes as much of the state shut down.

Gasoline stations throughout south Florida ran short of fuel and storm shelters filled up as authorities ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate mobile and prefabricated houses, and coastal islands.

The weakening but still dangerous hurricane edged closer to Florida with winds of 185 kph. Its centre was expected to hit the east coast this afternoon but hurricane-force winds would strike well before then, forecasters said.

Airports across much of the state halted flights or were planning to close, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and airport websites.

Frances, coming just three weeks after Hurricane Charley cut a swath of destruction in southwest Florida, battered the Bahamas, a 700-island chain, throughout the night and was heading over Eleuthera island toward the capital, Nassau.

A man was killed in Nassau yesterday morning but the exact cause of death was unclear. Eighteen-year-old Kenrad Delaney went outside his home to service a generator and was found unconscious, police said. He died in the hospital.

"We have been given a good licking for the last 10 hours," a resident of Wemyss Bight, on Eleuthera island, told local radio. Roofs were torn off and trees uprooted.

By 11 a.m. (1500 GMT), Frances was near Eleuthera about 350 km east-southeast of Florida. It was moving northwest at 15 kph on a track that would take it over or near northwestern Bahamas later in the day.

Its sustained winds had eased from 225 kph on Thursday to become a Category 3 hurricane, but meteorologist Colin McAdie of the US National Hurricane Center said there was still a reasonable chance it would strengthen before reaching Florida.

The storm's slowing was bad news, said Craig Fugate, director of Florida's division of emergency management.

"Some of those areas will experience hurricane force winds for longer periods of time and also see a lot more rain. We used to talk about how many inches, now we may be talking about how many feet."

Frances took aim at the Florida peninsula just three weeks after Charley caused $7.4 billion in insured losses and killed more than 20 people.

It carried a potential storm surge of up to 4.3 metres, and was expected to pour 25 to 50 cm of rain on Florida.

Almost the entire Florida east coast was under a hurricane warning, reviving memories of Hurricane Andrew, the most costly US storm in history, which ravaged the Miami area in 1992, causing $25 billion in damages.

Florida's most populous areas were at risk, including Tampa and tourist centre Orlando, home of Disney World. Kennedy Space Centre secured its three space shuttles.

Hotel space was vanishing quickly. Motorists travelling inland to escape the storm risked finding no vacant rooms. Long lines continued throughout the night at the few gasoline stations that still had fuel. Authorities in central Osceola county declared a curfew from last night to deter looters.

Schools, courts and offices closed. Automatic teller machines ran out of cash.