FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Massive Hurricane Frances trudged ashore with 115-mph winds and pelting rain late Saturday, knocking out power to 2 million people and forcing Florida residents to endure a frightening night of roaring gales that shredded roofs and uprooted trees.
Transformers popped along streets, sending sparks into darkened skies, as families huddled in shelters, bathrooms and hotel lobbies. The wind-whipped coastal waters resembled a churning hot tub.
“I think I’m not going to sleep all night. I hate it at nighttime,” said 64-year-old Vonda Gould, a Melbourne evacuee who was staying at a Palm Bay hotel. “We don’t know when something’s going to come flying through the window. It’s very spooky.”
The storm’s slow-motion assault – Frances crawled toward Florida at just 5 mph – came more than a day later than predicted. The western portion of the hurricane’s eye crept over parts of the east-central Florida coast Saturday night, but its strongest winds were expected to begin hitting early today.
“Those folks are getting pounded, and they’ve got worse to come,” said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.
Four people were hospitalized in Boynton Beach after breathing carbon monoxide fumes from a generator that was running inside a house.
Frances earlier shattered windows, toppled power lines and flooded neighborhoods in the Bahamas, driving thousands from their homes. The Freeport airport was partially submerged in water.
For many Floridians, this would be a night to remember.
Mary Beth and Jack Stiglin, evacuees from nearby Hutchinson Island, sat in their hotel room in Fort Pierce, eating ham and cheese wraps by candlelight as the power lines outside their room sparked and died.
“It’s a little romantic. I brought the roses from our garden because they would have been blown away anyway,” Mary Beth Stiglin said.
In Palm Bay, winds pried off pieces of a banquet hall roof, striking some cars in the parking lot. Trees were bent and light posts wobbled in the howling gusts.
In Fort Pierce, the storm shredded awnings and blew out business signs. Many downtown streets were crisscrossed with toppled palm trees.
In West Palm Beach, Florida Power &Light pulled crews off the streets because of heavy winds, meaning those without power would have to wait until the storm subsided, utility spokesman Bill Swank said.
Frances’ arrival came three weeks after Hurricane Charley killed 27 people and caused billions of dollars in damage in southwestern Florida.
Associated Press
A boat is swept into a sea wall Saturday as Hurricane Frances whips up wind and waves in Jensen Beach, Fla.
Associated Press
A NOAA satellite image shows Hurricane Frances as its eye moves closer to Florida on Saturday.
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