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Opal Pounds 300 Miles of Gulf CoastEvacuation of 100,000 Clogs Major HighwaysBy Rene SanchezWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 5, 1995; Page A01 © The Washington Post PENSACOLA, FLA., OCT. 5 (THURSDAY) -- A powerful hurricane pounded a nearly 300-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast from the Florida panhandle to Mississippi yesterday, smashing through one beach town after another and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes. Forecasters said its rains could flood eastern states as it swiftly moves northeast along the Appalachian Mountains. Striking at dusk with 125 mph winds and torrential rains, Hurricane Opal washed out roads, cut electricity and closed bridges, schools and stores over a wide area. There were unconfirmed reports of severe property damage east of Pensacola, particularly just off the coast on barrier islands that are dotted with condominiums. Several Florida counties imposed curfews to prevent looting. The hurricane, which originated off the coast of Honduras a week ago and suddenly intensified Tuesday night, unleashed its full fury on the Florida panhandle with gusts up to 144 mph, pelting rains, 15-foot storm surges and a series of tornadoes. One of the tornadoes killed a woman in her mobile home. The storm forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people from the coasts of northwestern Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, closed airports from Montgomery to Tallahassee and shut down the huge Eglin Air Force Base and the Pensacola Naval Air Station. As roads became clogged yesterday afternoon with thousands of residents fleeing inland, Florida officials instructed motorists to head for shelters and told those who had not yet evacuated to stay in their homes. "Florida hasn't experienced a storm of this severity since Hurricane Camille in 1969," said Jo Miglino, a spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Community Affairs. "We're looking at a very, very dangerous situation for our panhandle residents." The eye of the hurricane crossed the coast about 6 p.m. CDT just east of Pensacola at a speed of 22 mph, said Frank Lepore, a spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The strongest gusts were reported near Fort Walton Beach, and hurricane-force winds extended outward from the center over a front of 290 miles, he said. In addition to storm surges and battering waves, Lepore said, rains of six to 10 inches along the hurricane's path were expected to cause heavy damage. "This will really cause flooding, particularly in the Appalachians" in the next 24 hours, he said. Miglino said the full extent of the damage in the Florida panhandle would not be known until today, after assessment teams had been able to visit hard-hit areas. She said the Fort Walton Beach and Destin areas appeared to have suffered Opal's strongest blows. Even two hours before the hurricane's center hit the shoreline, more than 160,000 people had lost electricity in three counties, Miglino said. Storm surges and huge waves brought by the hurricane battered apart piers in Panama City Beach and swept away homes at Mexico Beach 100 miles from Opal's eye. At various points along the coast east of Pensacola, trees and street signs were blown down, roofs were stripped of their shingles or blown off, and power lines were snapped. As night fell, an estimated 20,000 Floridians were spending the night in 51 shelters, officials said. Forecasters said Opal, which at 1 a.m. was 25 miles north of Montgomery with winds of 75 mph, would lash Atlanta with heavy rains and high winds while moving north on a path expected to take it over eastern Tennessee this morning, eastern Kentucky in the afternoon and north of Pittsburgh tonight. With sustained winds approaching 150 mph and gusts up to 185 mph as it sped across the Gulf of Mexico at 23 mph, Opal appeared to be on the verge of becoming a "Category 5" hurricane -- the most powerful storm rating with "catastrophic" potential -- and one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the United States this century. However, its maximum sustained winds weakened slightly to 125 mph as it struck the coast. Only two category 5 hurricanes have hit the U.S. coastline this century: Hurricane Camille, which killed 256 people and caused $1.4 billion in damage in Louisiana and Mississippi in 1969, and an unnamed storm that struck the Florida keys in 1935. As coastal residents braced for Opal, the National Hurricane Center in Miami posted hurricane warnings from the mouth of the Mississippi River near New Orleans to Anclote Key on the Florida coast near Tampa. State emergency officials in Florida ordered residents to evacuate a 150-mile stretch of coast from Pensacola to Wakulla Beach. Alabama Gov. Fob James Jr. ordered the evacuation of coastal areas south of Mobile, closed all public schools and announced a state of emergency. Late last night, President Clinton signed emergency declarations to aid Florida and Alabama. The hurricane spawned tornadoes as it began to strike land in the Florida panhandle. One that touched down in Crestview killed an elderly woman in a mobile home, officials reported. In Pensacola, which had been expected to take the brunt of the hurricane, people trying to flee ran into massive traffic jams. Delores and Russell Maxwell of Pensacola traveled less than 10 miles in more than two hours. "It didn't take much math to figure out the hurricane was moving 23 mph and we were going 5 mph," she said. They turned around and rode out the storm at the hospital where she works, and when they returned home found they had not even lost their electricity. Forecasters at the hurricane center in Miami said they feared that public attention may have been diverted by intensive coverage of the O.J. Simpson verdict in Los Angeles. However, Miglino attributed the late evacuations to the suddenness with which Opal picked up speed and strength Tuesday night, largely because of a cold front that moved in on it. Some who were unable to get away sought shelter at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where about 200 of the school's 8,000 students were riding out the hurricane. Richard Coffey, the chief of the campus police, said by telephone that many residents were a bit complacent as Opal approached because Hurricane Erin, which struck the area two months ago, had caused much less damage than originally feared. The National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., revised earlier predictions of prolonged thunderstorms for the Washington area into this weekend and said the storm's center was now expected to pass through West Virginia and the Pittsburgh area, prompting flash flood watches in the Appalachian Mountains. "Opal is moving much farther west than originally thought," said meteorologist John Billet. He forecast scattered showers for the Washington area ending by Friday. Staff writers William Branigin and Dana Priest in Washington and special correspondent Catharine Skipp in Pensacola contributed to this report.
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