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Back to DC for business, the President met with reporters and then members of Congress in the newly-remodeled Cabinet Room at the White House. He and Governor Bush of Florida assisted hurricane victims. Enjoy your Dose of W @ Sanity Island!

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- North Carolina Department of transportation crews are working to reopen Interstate 40 and more than 215 primary and secondary roads due to mudslides, downed trees, and high water in the western region of the state. I-40 is currently restricted in both directions between mile markers 67-72 due to a mudslide on Old Fort Mountain. One lane is open in each direction, but traffic is moving very slowly through the area. NCDOT crews are hoping to reopen the road by Thursday morning. The worst conditions are found in counties surrounding the Asheville area and along the Tennessee state...

ARCHER, Fla. -- Dozens of sink holes have opened up in north central Florida after three days of heavy rain from Hurricane Frances, including one that swallowed a Chrysler LeBaron as a man parked to get breakfast at a grocery store. Lawrence Means, 43, had stopped for a cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits Tuesday when he felt the earth move beneath him. A sinkhole opened under his car and nearly swallowed the entire vehicle, which was left standing on its nose in the hole with only its trunk above ground. "I felt something drop and I tried...

High storm cycle is here to stay BY MARTIN MERZER mmerzer@herald.com Charley, Frances and Ivan. Three major hurricanes. Two assaults on Florida already and possibly a third by next week. Get used to it. This is the new normal. Scientists say we are in a period of enhanced hurricane activity that could last for decades, ending a 24-year period of below-average activity. They also say the law of averages has caught up with Florida, with a change in atmospheric steering currents turning the state into a hurricane magnet. ''People are suddenly alert, suddenly paying attention,'' said Stanley Goldenberg, a meteorologist...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Hurricane Frances did more damage to the Kennedy Space Center than any other storm in history, tearing an estimated 1,000 exterior panels from a giant building where space vehicles are assembled, officials said Monday. No space shuttles were inside the 525-foot-high building, a familiar landmark at the space center. But center director James Kennedy said he feared the damage could set back NASA's effort to resume shuttle launches next spring. Monday marked the first time anyone from NASA had seen the damage from the storm because the agency completely evacuated the space center — the first...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hurricanes Charley and Frances dealt Florida a one-two punch that ravaged citrus groves and ground the state's most important industry to a halt by keeping tourists away from its sandy beaches and fantasy-filled theme parks. State officials and executives at the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, said it was too early to guess how much damage Frances wreaked on Florida. But economists said Sunday that Florida's economy should withstand the buffeting in the long term. "In terms of the long haul, I don't think it's going to depress Florida," said David Denslow, a University of Florida...

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LAKE WORTH, Fla. -- One northbound lane has been closed by a washout on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County due to erosion from a washout blamed on Hurricane Frances. The Florida Highway Patrol says the pavement fell away from the slow lane at Tenth Avenue in Lake Worth. Traffic is squeezing into fewer lanes, and drivers are being asked to avoid the area. A construction crew is on hand, but the washout is still growing. Troopers are warning that other lanes may be affected later.

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 45B NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 3 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004 ...LARGE EYE OF HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES MOVING INLAND... ...EASTERN PORTION OF EYEWALL WITH STRONG WINDS STILL TO COME... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM FLORIDA CITY NORTHWARD TO FLAGLER BEACH...INCLUDING LAKE OKEECHOBEE. A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GRAND BAHAMA...ABACO...BIMIMI AND THE BERRY ISLANDS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF FLAGLER BEACH TO ALTAMAHA SOUND. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF FLAGLER BEACH TO...

Better Safe Than Sorry! Hurricane Frances just might be a down-graded hurricane when it reaches Florida. A few days ago, then a category 4 storm with potential to devastate a state barely recovering from Hurricane Charley, Frances prompted Governor Jeb Bush to order the evacuation of millions of people from the southeastern coastal areas of his great state. There will no doubt be naysayers who second-guess Governor Bush's evacuation order if Frances continues to degrade and becomes a weak category 2 or a weaker Category 1 hurricane. (Although both are dangerous.) Those who understand risk assessment, however, will understand that...

The gas shortage we here in Florida are expericening is another example of unintended consiquesces due to the State of Florida. The State of Florida gave the citizens an $0.08 per gallon break on gas during the entire month of August. Gas station ownwers purchased storage tanks full of gas at the decreased prices, and did not order gas as usual trying to get the most of the $0.08 per gallon windfall during the first few days of September. Just another example of unintended conciquesces.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 September 3 Hurricane Frances Approaches Florida Credit: NASA, NOAA Explanation: A major hurricane is heading for Florida. Hurricane Frances, one of the stronger storm systems of modern times, may cross the eastern coast of Florida sometime tomorrow. Those in the path of a hurricane should take precautions. For example, NASA's Kennedy Space Center has completely shut down. The orbiting GOES-12 satellite took the above image of Hurricane...

. Hurricane Frances : Free Republic's Friday Discussion Thread (2004-09-03) ========================================= First, Thursday Night's Closing Summary (AlanCarp's Post): ETA Computer Model - Melbourne strike - taking 24 hours to approach the coast. Arrival 11am Sunday. Takes at least another 24 hours to cross Florida - exiting in the Big Bend region. GFDL Computer Model - Melbourne strike - similar to the ETA solution. A little quicker to the shore, arriving at 2am Sunday morning. GFS Computer Model - Melbourne strike, from a lower angle, and still slow to approach, arriving 8am Sunday morning. This is a worse-case solution, creeping up...

Fellow FReepers, let us all join together and pray for our brothers and sisters in the path of Frances. Many are still being afflicted by the ravages of the first two hurricanes, and the effects of a third may be unimaginable. Thank you all in advance!

For Jupiter, it was the big one. Local pioneer Bessie DuBois, who lived through it, called the hurricane that hit on Sept. 16, 1928, "the hurricane of the century."It was a Category Four storm, said Senior Hurricane Specialist Gil Clark of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Cables.The power of hurricanes is ranked by categories one through five. A five is very rare, and so is anything on the border lineApproachThis particular storm was not unnoticed before it struck Florida. Ships at sea recorded its movement and strength, beginning on Monday, Sept. 10, when the developing low pressure area was...

There it was, at the top of the Drudge Report: the many projected paths of Hurricane Frances. And then it hit me: it could go left, it could go right, it could go anywhere. Sound Familiar ? Let's give a big welcome to Hurricane Frances: The Kerrycane !!

. Free Republic Community: Welcome to Wednesday's Hurricane Frances news-twist ! It looks like a Melbourne Landfall after all, once again (to Section9's worst fears) churning it's way North along the Coast Highway ... Excellent Hurricane Frances Websites: HURRICANE ALLEY U.S. Weather Observers Patton@Bastogne Free Republic Member since 1998. General George S. Patton Jr. Website .

Hello all... I hope I am not stepping out of line here, if so, please forgive me, I've been reading FR for a long time but don't have much posting experience yet. I noticed there are loads of Frances threads, and it's hard to find which ones are dead and which ones have new info. So, perhaps we can make one official Frances thread so everybody knows where to get the latest or post the latest. Perhaps one of the mods could, hereafter, could rename the thread accordingly. I will start by posting the 11pm discussion from the NHC. Hurricane...

Hurricane Frances Intermediate Advisory Number 27a Statement as of 2:00 PM AST on August 31, 2004 ...Powerfull Hurricane Frances...with 140 mph winds...moving westward a little faster... a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the southeastern Bahamas ...Which includes Acklins...crooked...Inaguas...Mayaguana and Ragged Islands...and for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the central Bahamas which includes Cat...Exumas...Long Island...Rum Cay and San Salvador. A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within the next 24 hours. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. A Hurricane Watch means that...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Even as tree limbs were cleared away and power gradually returned across eastern South Carolina after Tropical Storm Gaston, officials waited and watched Monday for Hurricane Frances. While Gaston caused some problems, "it's not the kind of catastrophic damage we see in a major hurricane," Gov. Mark Sanford said. He urged coastal residents to monitor Frances, which has 125 mph winds but is still days away from the Southeast coast. An evacuation would be tremendously difficult, warned Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "The whole state would be naked," he said. "This will be a challenge...