Jeanne Tears Across Bahamas Toward Fla.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Hurricane Jeanne got stronger, bigger and faster as it battered the Bahamas and bore down on Florida Saturday, forcing hundreds of thousands more residents to hurriedly shutter their homes ahead of its anticipated devastating punch.

About 2 million people were urged to evacuate from Florida City to the Georgia border as Jeanne strengthened to 115 mph from 105 mph earlier in the day. It was expected to come ashore late Saturday or early Sunday somewhere on the state's central Atlantic coast and take a last-minute turn to the north that could devastate east and central Florida.

"Yesterday I was hoping we wouldn't lose power again," said Lynn Tarrington of Lake Worth, who was leaving her home near the water early Saturday. "Now I'm hoping I have a house left when I come back."

As it made its way toward Florida, Jeanne tore across the Bahamas, leaving some neighborhoods submerged under 5 feet of water. No deaths or serious injuries were reported there, but the storm was earlier blamed for more than 1,500 deaths in floods in Haiti.

The Category 3 storm's outer bands started lashing Florida Saturday morning with steadily increasing rain and wind. It will be the state's fourth hurricane in six weeks - a scenario unmatched in more than a century.

Jeanne was expected to hit near where Hurricane Frances came ashore three weeks ago, leaving behind piles of debris that officials feared would turn into deadly, home-destroying missiles in Jeanne's wind.

"I really can't believe it's happening all over again - and right in the same place," said Charity Brown, who moved to West Palm Beach from Chicago three months ago with her children, ages 5 and 3. They hid in a closet as Frances tore the roof off their apartment. That hole is now covered by a tarp, so the family took shelter Saturday at an elementary school that was filling with evacuees.

Not since Texas in 1886 has one state has been struck by four hurricanes in a season. Jeanne follows Charley, which struck Aug. 13 and devastated southwest Florida; Frances, which struck Labor Day weekend; and Ivan, which blasted the western Panhandle when it made landfall in nearby Alabama on Sept. 16. The storms caused billions of dollars in combined damage and killed at least 70 people in Florida alone.

Gov. Jeb Bush warned Floridians not to let storm fatigue get the best of them, "even though we're weary and even though this is a painful process."

"They must treat this hurricane as if it's the only hurricane they've ever been through," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. "This has the potential to cause loss of life."

Officials ran out of time to remove piles of debris left over from Frances - some taller than adults - that still sit in neighborhoods. Some people took to burning the downed trees, housing material and other debris that could become airborne, banging into homes and endangering anyone who ventures outside. If debris penetrates a home's window or wall, that would allow Jeanne's winds to get inside and push off the roof.

At a mobile home park on the Intracoastal Waterway, George MacArthur's home was one of the few that remained intact amid mounds of twisted metal, smashed furniture, broken tiles and garbage bins filled with trash. He feared his home was about to be smashed by all the debris Jeanne flings about.

The storm will make the already formidable job of keeping the lights on in Florida even more difficult - especially if Jeanne follows in Frances' path, giving its wind piles of ammunition to topple power lines.

Electric company officials feared Hurricane Jeanne could leave millions of customers without power, some for three weeks or more. An estimated 6 million people were affected by outages caused by Hurricane Frances.

About 12,000 customers already were without power in South Florida on Saturday. In the Panhandle, more than 81,000 homes and business remained without electricity because of Hurricane Ivan.

Florida Power and Light, the state's largest power company, had recruited 2,500 workers from around the country to help with the impending restoration effort, and was trying to recruit more, company president Armando Olivera said.

Gas stations and businesses were boarded up and deserted Saturday afternoon, and law enforcement took to the radio airwaves, saying that anyone who was outside their homes after the 6 p.m. curfew would end up in jail.

It was unknown how many of the 2 million people urged to evacuate actually did, but Judy and Terry Smith, their daughter and son-in-law were among them.

They were driving from their home on Merritt Island inland to a hotel in Orlando, bringing their one dog and five cats with them. Their house was spared by Frances, but they weren't taking any chances with Jeanne.

"What can you do?" Judy Smith asked. "You've got your house insurance, and everything in it can be replaced. Everything I care about is right here," she said, motioning to her family, her eyes filling with tears.

Others were trying to ride out the storm. Behind a fire station in Titusville, a pile of sand, bags and shovels were open to all. Alfred Grace was filling sandbags to put on his roof to hold down the tarps covering damage from the last hurricane.

Johnny Curry, 50, a Kennedy Space Center engineer, wanted sandbags to keep water away from the back of his house. Water almost got into his patio door during Frances.

"I can't do anything about this until I retire," said Curry, who ultimately plans to move to Georgia. "This is getting a little old."

At 5 p.m. EDT, Jeanne was centered about 105 miles east-southeast of Vero Beach and was moving west and slightly north at 14 mph, slightly faster than Friday.

Jeanne was expected to turn north over central Florida and stay inland over Georgia and the Carolinas through Tuesday. Rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches were expected in the storm's path, and flooding could be a major concern because previous hurricanes have already saturated the ground and filled canals, rivers and lakes.

000 WTNT31 KNHC 252243 TCPAT1 BULLETIN HURRICANE JEANNE INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 49A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 7 PM EDT SAT SEP 25 2004 ...DANGEROUS CORE OF HURRICANE JEANNE APPROACHING THE FLORIDA EAST COAST... A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST FROM FLORIDA CITY NORTHWARD TO ST. AUGUSTINE...INCLUDING LAKE OKEECHOBEE. A HURRICANE WARNING IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS...INCLUDING THE ABACOS...ANDROS ISLAND...BERRY ISLANDS...BIMINI...ELEUTHERA...GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND...AND NEW PROVIDENCE. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY IN THE HURRICANE WARNING AREA SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF ST. AUGUSTINE NORTHWARD TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GEORGIA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM EAST CAPE SABLE NORTHWARD TO THE OCHLOCKONEE RIVER. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM ENGLEWOOD TO THE SUWANNEE RIVER. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM SOUTH OF FLORIDA CITY AROUND THE SOUTHERN END OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA TO EAST CAPE SABLE INCLUDING FLORIDA BAY...AND THE FLORIDA KEYS NORTH OF THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE. AT 7 PM EDT...2300Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE JEANNE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 27.1 NORTH...LONGITUDE 79.1 WEST OR ABOUT 90 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF VERO BEACH FLORIDA. JEANNE HAS BEEN MOVING BETWEEN THE WEST AND WEST-NORTHWEST AT 14 MPH DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS. A GRADUAL TURN TO THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THIS TRACK...THE CORE OF THE HURRICANE WILL REACH THE FLORIDA EAST COAST TONIGHT. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INLAND AS MUCH AS 100 MILES ALONG THE TRACK OF JEANNE. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 115 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. JEANNE IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE BEFORE LANDFALL IN FLORIDA. STRONGER WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN GUSTS...ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70 MILES FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 205 MILES. SETTLEMENT POINT ON THE WESTERN END OF GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND RECENTLY REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 98 MPH. A FLORIDA COASTAL MONITORING PROGRAM WIND TOWER IN VERO BEACH RECENTLY REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 63 MPH. THE LATEST MINIMUM PRESSURE CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY A NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE 951 MB...28.08 INCHES. STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 2 TO 4 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...ARE STILL OCCURRING NEAR THE WESTERN END OF GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND. COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 4 TO 7 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL ALONG THE FLORIDA EAST COAST. A STORM SURGE OF UP TO 5 FEET ABOVE THE PRESENT WATER LEVEL IS LIKELY TO OCCUR MAINLY ON THE EAST SIDE OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE. TIDES OF 1 TO 3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WARNED AREA ALONG THE FLORIDA WEST COAST....POSSIBLE REACHING 3 TO 6 FEET IN AREAS OF ONSHORE FLOW NORTH OF TAMPA BAY. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS ...ARE POSSIBLE ALONG THE TRACK OF JEANNE OVER THE NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS AND FLORIDA. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE EAST FLORIDA PENINSULA TONIGHT. REPEATING THE 7 PM EDT POSITION...27.1 N... 79.1 W. MOVEMENT TOWARD...WEST TO WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 14 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...115 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 950 MB. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE. AN INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT 9 PM EDT FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT COMPLETE ADVISORY AT 11 PM EDT. FORECASTER PASCH

I'm in Palm Bay, just next door to Melbourne and closer to Vero Beach, and, still have satellite tv and power.

My old neighborhood in Viera (Melbourone) are still passing the beers from house to house like we used to do and they still have phone and power.

I fear we may lose our power again this time though. We lost it for 12 days last time with Frances and the winds are much higher.

IF FPL did their jobs good, we will last, otherwise, we go into about 6 weeks of no power as all the power company trucks (which came down here in caravans, miles long) have migrageted up to the panhandle and La. and Ak., Miss., etc.

It's exciting, I must say, but the curfew is no fun.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.