Voluntary Evacuations to Begin in Florida as Hurricane Frances Intensifies

September 1, 2004

Voluntary Evacuations to Begin in Florida as Hurricane Frances Intensifies
September 1, 2004- According to the National Hurricane Center, Hurricane Frances is on course to hit the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands and is predicted to make landfall Saturday in central Florida.

CNN reports that because of the extended nature of the forecast, Frances could veer as far south as the Florida Straits or as far north as the Carolinas.

Sterling Ivey, a spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, said a "level one" evacuation — voluntary, particularly from low levels and from mobile homes — would go into effect on the state’s east coast at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

"We’re expecting tropical storm-force winds [40 mph and higher] by late Friday or early Saturday," Ivey said Tuesday. "Today is a transition day for the state of Florida. … Our primary focus will be on Hurricane Frances."

Luis Fernandez, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the shift in focus would not damage Florida’s recovery from Hurricane Charley, which hit southwestern Florida’s Charlotte County on August 13 with 145 mph winds. Charley then took a northeasterly path across the state and exited around Daytona Beach, weakened but still above hurricane strength. Fernandez said emergency agencies have the resources available to help another state if the storm misses Florida.

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