Ivan eyes Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. – Hurricane Ivan and its 135-mph winds churned toward this historic port city with frightening intensity Wednesday as the storm began its assault on the Gulf Coast, lashing the region with heavy rain and ferocious wind, spawning monster waves that toppled beach houses and spinning off deadly tornadoes.

The storm was expected to make landfall early today near Mobile and could swamp the coastline with a 16-foot storm surge and up to 15 inches of rain. Ivan offered a daylong preview of its destruction as it took aim at the coast: Sheets of rain across the region, a series of tornadoes, and escalating winds that shredded signs, knocked out power and made traffic lights and oak trees whipsaw.

“We have never seen a hurricane of this size come into Alabama,” Gov. Bob Riley said, who earlier asked President Bush to declare much of the state a disaster area.

An eleventh-hour shift turned Ivan away from New Orleans, but the sheer size of the storm could create catastrophic flooding in the bowl-shaped city. Officials warned that the levees and pumping stations that normally hold back the water may not be enough to protect the below-sea-level city.

In the Florida panhandle near Panama City, tornadoes produced by the storm killed two people and damaged more than 70 homes. Rescuers dug through rubble Wednesday night but found no one trapped underneath.

“We have a report from a deputy that it looks like a war zone,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Ruth Sasser.

Hurricane-force winds extended out 105 miles from the Category 4 storm, threatening widespread damage no matter where it strikes. After reaching land, Ivan threatened to stall over the Southeast and southern Appalachians, with a potential for as much as 20 inches of rain.

Ivan’s waves – some up to 25 feet – were already destroying homes along the Florida coast Wednesday. Twelve-foot waves boomed ashore at Gulf Shores, Ala., eroding the beach. A buoy about 300 miles south of Panama City registered waves over 34 feet high.

At least 11,000 people crowded into 95 shelters across Alabama, and thousands more went to homes of relatives and friends.

Betty Sigler, a 57-year-old substitute teacher, evacuated her home in Mobile and found shelter in a high school cafeteria. “Say a prayer, say a prayer, say a prayer that I’ll have some place to go when I leave here,” she said. “We’ll see in the morning.”

One potential target of Ivan is the tiny town of Hurricane, Ala., where the storm surge could be the highest.

As the storm drew near, streets along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast were all but deserted, and miles of homes and businesses, including its 12 floating casinos, were boarded up. Only patrol cars and an occasional luggage-packed car or van could be seen passing Gulfport’s “Welcome to the Gulf Coast” billboard.

New Orleans scrambled to get people out of harm’s way, putting the frail and elderly in the cavernous Louisiana Superdome and urging others to move to higher floors in tall buildings.

“I think it’s safe to say we will have flooding in this city,” said Mayor Ray Nagin. However, he contradicted a statement from his emergency preparedness director that the city needed at least 10,000 body bags to handle possible drowning victims.

Of the roughly 2 million who fled the path of the storm, often in bumper-to-bumper caravans on highways turned into one-way evacuation routes, 1.2 million were from greater New Orleans.

“If we turn up dead tomorrow, it’s my fault,” said Jane Allinder, who stayed stubbornly behind at her daughter’s French Quarter doll shop to keep an eye on her cat.

Associated Press

Heavy wind whips up the surf at Wayside Park in Pensacola, Fla., on Wednesday as Hurricane Ivan approaches the Gulf Coast.

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