Killer storm heads for Florida

2005-07-08 21:53

Key West, Florida - The first rain from Hurricane Dennis started falling on Friday on the Florida Keys as the quickly strengthening storm barrelled toward the Gulf of Mexico, and forecasters warned that it might score a direct hit on the island chain.

Even if the eye passes to the west, they warned, hurricane-force winds extended up to 81 kilometres from the centre, and tropical storm-force winds stretched up to 258 kilometres out.

Key West's streets were calmer than usual early on Friday, the result of an evacuation order issued a day earlier. The storm could batter the islands by evening, forecasters said.

The storm's arms could then brush Florida's west coast before the centre comes ashore by Sunday somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and Louisiana.

Dangerous

With winds at 240km/h by late Friday morning, the storm is "extremely dangerous," the National Hurricane Centre said. Dennis was blamed for at least five deaths in Haiti.

Everyone in the southernmost Keys, along with all tourists and mobile home residents in the low-lying island chain, were ordered to evacuate, and Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency.

But some, including lifelong Key West resident Barbara Crespo, planned to remain.

"There's not a whole lot you can do when you live in paradise," the 49-year-old real estate agent said on Friday as she rode bikes with her husband.

- AP