Hurricane Ivan Tears Into U.S. Gulf Coast

Storm Expected to Make An Emphatic Landfall Today Near Mobile, Ala.

Several tornadoes -- including this one in Pamana City Beach, Fla. -- destroyed several homes and businesses. Rescuers were searching for trapped survivors. (Robert Cooper -- Panama City News Herald Via AP)

MOBILE, Ala., Sept. 15 -- Hurricane Ivan clawed America's boggy Gulf Coast underbelly late Wednesday, knocking out power in southeast Louisiana and lower Alabama, lifting powerful waves onto the genteel island retreats of Mobile Bay and scattering nearly 2 million people in search of higher ground from the Florida Panhandle to New Orleans.

The maddeningly difficult-to-track storm, once expected to land as far east as Miami, punched its first hurricane-force winds onto the fragile marsh towns at the toe-tip of Louisiana's distinctive boot-shaped frame and by midnight EDT, Ivan was centered about 55 miles south of the Alabama coast, and was moving north at 12 mph. At least four people were killed in Florida and Louisiana. Ivan's hurricane-force winds targeted a region of seaside resorts, high-rise casinos, historic downtowns and oil refining behemoths. The imposing storm, which is expected to make its most emphatic landfall near Mobile early Thursday, built 12-foot waves that cascaded onto Alabama's barrier island shield and shut down the miles-long casino strip along Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

The 84-degree waters of the Gulf of Mexico helped strengthen the storm, keeping its winds at 135 mph. Ivan is just as powerful as Charley, which blew apart retirement towns on Florida's Gulf Coast last month, and is just as big as Frances, the hurricane that spread over nearly the entire state of Florida earlier this month. Ivan's hurricane- and tropical-force winds sprawled over an astonishing 300 miles, imperiling most of the Gulf Coast.

Oil and gas companies shut down their platforms in the Gulf in advance of the hurricane, and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham told Reuters that the Bush administration would consider tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve if supplies run short.

President Bush promised a quick and widespread relief effort.

"I told all four governors the people of this country are praying for their safety," Bush said. "We pray that the storm passes as quickly as possible without any loss of life or loss of property."

The storm inflicted its first damage in tiny Louisiana towns, such as Venice, that are connected only by a spindly, poorly lighted road to the more populated New Orleans area. In Plaquemines Parish, an area that fishermen and oil drillers have used for decades as a launching point for forays into the Gulf of Mexico, about 10,000 customers had lost power by 5 p.m., said parish president Benny Rousselle. By late evening, at least 40,000 were without power in Mobile.

Hurricane-force winds were recorded in Plaquemines Parish, even as the eye wall was still far off to the southeast. And -- disturbingly -- the strongest gusts were expected northwest of the eye, on the opposite side.

"We're on the good side, if you can call it a good side," Rousselle said. "But we're already hearing about roof damages, and trees blocking the roads. The levees have held so far, but I don't like to say that too loud."

After killing 68 on its rampage through the Caribbean, Ivan claimed its first American victims on Wednesday. Tornadoes spawned by the storm killed two people in Panama City, a resort town in the Florida Panhandle. In Louisiana, a cancer patient and a nursing home resident died in traffic while they were being moved to higher ground.

New Orleans was expecting some flooding from the outer edges of the storm, but nothing approaching the huge pounding that could happen if the city's below-sea-level streets took a direct hit from a major hurricane. Flooding fears prompted a mass exodus from the city on Tuesday, rivaling the evacuation ahead of Hurricane Georges in 1998 when an estimated 325,000 fled.

For those who stayed, Mayor Ray Nagin could offer little more than advice because relief agencies refuse to set up shelters in his city, fearing for the lives of their volunteers. Nagin called for a "vertical evacuation," urging stranded residents to seek the upper floors of buildings. He suggested they carry tools to cut their way out if they become trapped by rising waters.

Nagin, who was criticized Tuesday for not moving faster to allow cars leaving the city to travel on both inbound and outbound highway lanes, found himself in another controversy on Wednesday. After residents complained that he was allowing only hospital patients dependent on electricity to seek refuge in the Louisiana Superdome, he reversed himself and allowed the general public in.

Finding safe spots was a problem across the length of the Gulf Coast. A third of Mobile County's emergency shelters were full on Wednesday afternoon. Just to the west, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) asked people to open their homes to family and friends.