KISSIMMEE, Fla., Sept. 5 -- Hurricane Frances lumbered all the way across the Florida peninsula Sunday, dumping more rain over a much larger area than last month's Hurricane Charley -- but carrying a considerably less powerful punch.
After barreling into the Atlantic coast near Stuart early Sunday morning as a 105-mph Category Two hurricane, Frances weakened to a Category One and then to a 70-mph tropical storm as it began an unusually slow trek across central Florida.
Winds from Hurricane Frances toppled the steeple of Cocoa Beach First Baptist Church. Frances made its landfall south of Cocoa Beach late Saturday night.
(Charles W. Luzier -- Reuters)
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_____Photo Gallery_____
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Frances Pounds Florida: Reduced for the moment from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Frances headed for the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Panhandle late Sunday afternoon.
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_____A Stormy Season_____
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Shelter From the Storm (The Washington Post, Sep 6, 2004)
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Slow-Moving Frances Keeping Relief at Bay (The Washington Post, Sep 6, 2004)
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Region's Workers Bound for Florida To Aid in Recovery (The Washington Post, Sep 6, 2004)
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A Driving Desire To Be in Cars Despite Curfews (The Washington Post, Sep 6, 2004)
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Frances Pummels Florida (The Washington Post, Sep 5, 2004)
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After Facing Charley, Floridians Gird for Round 2 (The Washington Post, Sep 5, 2004)
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Waiting For the Eye, And Ready To Blink (The Washington Post, Sep 5, 2004)
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2 Storms In Florida Not Seen As Trend (The Washington Post, Sep 3, 2004)
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Hurricane Paths of 2004 Season
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But the 400-mile-wide storm still drenched coastal towns and low-lying areas throughout the state with as much as a foot of rain, leaving thousands of homes without roofs and more than 5 million Floridians without power by the time it reached Tampa and the Gulf of Mexico Sunday evening. Forecasters expected Frances, whose winds were down to 65 mph by 11 p.m., to strengthen again as it started crossing the gulf Sunday night before crashing into the Florida Panhandle on Monday night.
The Red Cross had 108,000 people in its emergency shelters Sunday and mobilized 7,000 volunteers for the largest disaster response in its history. President Bush declared a major disaster in 18 Florida counties; Gov. Jeb Bush (R) warned of major gasoline shortages, and several southeast Florida communities ordered residents to boil their water.
Utilities were already sending crews into neighborhoods to restore power Sunday night. But much of the state could be in for some long days without air conditioning, refrigeration or the pumping stations needed to move floodwaters off the land.
"If Hurricane Charley was a first-round heavyweight knockout, Hurricane Frances is turning into a 15-round middleweight fight," said Orange County Chairman Richard Crotty.
Florida's weary residents might have to keep their gloves on. The National Hurricane Center warned Sunday that Hurricane Ivan, a Category Four storm 700 miles east of Barbados, is on track to hit Florida by next week. If nothing else, Jeb Bush noted, the state may be cured of its habit of forgetting the risk of hurricanes.
"Hurricane amnesia -- we don't have that anymore," he mused.
Michael D. Brown, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, warned that continued rain, widespread flooding, road washouts and electricity blackouts were stranding many relief workers and preventing others from entering storm-ravaged areas. Approximately 3,000 FEMA workers who were helping to clean up after Charley have already been pulled out. But by early this week, Brown estimates that as many as 6,000 FEMA workers should be stationed in Florida to deal with the aftermath of both storms.
Emergency medical crews from New York, Rhode Island and other states were rushed to Florida Sunday, part of a nationwide influx of medical technicians and other experts.
"We're just as frustrated as anyone else trying to get in here," Brown said. "We don't want our responders to become victims."
Frances certainly left an impression: It flattened oak, palm and citrus trees; smashed up mobile homes; overturned boats; propelled sand from beach resorts onto coastal roads; and ripped down traffic lights. Its outer bands sent driving rain and heavy winds as far north as Tallahassee and as far south as the Florida Keys.
In coastal Jupiter, high winds tore down seven of the eight light towers at the minor league baseball stadium that the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals use for spring training. In rural Yeehaw Junction, a gust knocked First Missionary Baptist Church's steeple through its roof, narrowly missing two dozen residents who had taken shelter. At the entrance to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Frances toppled a replica of the rocket that carried the first American into space. In Jensen Beach, it sheared off the roof of a school that the Red Cross was using as a shelter. Palm Beach County officials believe that 31 of their mobile home parks were damaged Sunday. In Flagler Beach, a storm surge washed away part of the popular fishing pier.
In Port St. Lucie, police officer Guy Montgomery weathered the early hours of the storm at home with his wife and three children. At one point, he tried to venture outside to his patrol car, but he decided that discretion was the better part of valor.
