|
Florida prepares for hurricane
19/10/2005 07:57 - (SA)
Punta Gorda - Having seen what Katrina and other storms have done in the past year or so, Floridians began buying water and canned goods after watching Wilma strengthen into a hurricane.
Although the storm was not expected to approach Florida until the weekend, residents began buying supplies early on Tuesday. Many said they take every storm seriously now, after witnessing the devastation from a succession of hurricanes that have ravaged the southern United States.
"People have learned their lesson and know better how to prepare. We're not waiting until the last minute anymore," said Andrea Yerger, 48, of Port Charlotte. She was buying material to protect her house, which had to be gutted because of extensive damage from Hurricane Charley last year.
Wilma became a Category 2 hurricane on Tuesday with top sustained winds of 177km/h. Forecasters warned it could become a Category 4 hurricane by Thursday with sustained winds of at least 211km/h, but it was expected to weaken somewhat before landfall.
'Why us?'
"We just don't see why it should not become a major hurricane, if not a Category 4 hurricane" over the warm waters, said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Centre in Miami. "That should get people's attention."
Wilma was expected to strengthen on a path that could threaten coastal areas like Punta Gorda in southwestern Florida that were hit by Charley, a Category 4 storm that was the first of six hurricanes to strike the state since August 2004.
Many Punta Gorda homes and businesses have been rebuilt in a construction boom, but some are still boarded up. More than 6 800 federal trailers and mobile homes remain scattered around the state as temporary housing from the six storms, with 934 in Charlotte County alone.
Governor Jeb Bush said Floridians must be thinking, "Why us? ... It's just something we're going to have to live with and prepare for."
The state routinely replenishes emergency supplies of water, food and ice at staging points across Florida, so no additional action is needed, emergency management spokesperson Mike Stone said.
Florida supermarkets and home-repair chains stocked extra food, ice and other supplies ahead of an expected onslaught in stores.
"I think since Katrina, everyone is more apprehensive about the situation as far as hurricanes go," said Pat Schmidt, 74, a retiree from Port Charlotte who was buying jugs of water and canned goods at a supermarket.
- AP
|
