Hurricane Katrina Batters Florida, Killing Four

[PixieDust32]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Aug. 26) - Hurricane Katrina flooded streets, darkened homes and felled trees with wind gusts reaching 92 mph as it plowed through South Florida and emerged over the Gulf of Mexico early Friday. Four people were killed and 1.3 million customers were left without power.


Weather officials said flooding was the main concern as the storm dropped up to 15 inches on parts of Miami-Dade County. Katrina's plodding pace meant that strong wind and heavy rain would continue to plague throughout the day.

Rain fell in horizontal sheets, seas were estimated at 15 feet and sustained winds were measured at 80 mph as the hurricane made landfall Thursday night along the Miami-Dade and Broward line. Florida Power & Light said the vast majority of people without electricity were in the two counties.

In an oceanfront condominium in Hallandale, Carolyne and Carter McHyman said heavy downpours pelted their windows after the eye passed.

"It's been horrible," Carolyne McHyman said. "Basically all our windows are leaking. We just keep mopping up and taping the windows, mopping up and taping again."

By early Friday, Katrina had weakened into a tropical storm with top sustained winds of 70 mph. At 3 a.m. EDT, it was about 45 miles south-southeast of Marco Island and emerging over the Gulf of Mexico, heading south-southwest at 11 mph.

Katrina was expected to regain strength over the gulf and perhaps make a second landfall in the Florida Panhandle early next week, forecasters said.

Gov. Jeb Bush urged residents of the Panhandle and northwest Florida - areas hit by Hurricane Ivan last year and Hurricane Dennis this year - to monitor the storm.

Katrina left a trail of mayhem in its wake along the southeast coast.

In Key Biscayne, dozens of families were forced to evacuate their homes after they became flooded under 3 feet of water.

Three mobile home parks in Davie sustained considerable damage, including lost roofs. One person was trapped inside a mobile home, but officials did not know whether the person was injured, according to the Broward Emergency Management Agency.

 

[PixieDust32]

Surfers took advantage of the waves off Ft. Lauderdale as Hurricane Katrina approached.

Strong winds blow sand off the beach in Fort Lauderdale as Hurricane Katrina comes ashore.

A tree sits on top of a car in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. as Hurricane Katrina comes ashore

 

[powellrj]

wow, its always amazing the strength of these storms. Thanks for posting

 

[PixieDust32]

Y welcome! I know, poor people! And looks like is heading towards the panhandle AGAIN and GEORGIA AGAIN!

 

[kaylajr]

unreal

the pictures just make me feel even worse for these poor people

thanks for posting

hope all the Disers in the area check in soon and let us know they are OK

 

[MeanLaureen]

My new boss is named Katrina - hopefully this isn't foreshadowing!

 

[Zandy595]

Most of the deaths, during/after hurricanes can be prevented. 2 or 3 of those people were out in the middle of it walking around or driving and trees fell on them. If people would just stay inside they would be safe.

 

[tnhillbilly]

Roxy, Is it comming your way? Have others caused problems where you live? Hope the socks turned up, my ds could not find a clean orange shirt for today.

 

[catherine]

WOW and I thought that the weather was bad here!

 

[minniepumpernickel]

Most of the deaths, during/after hurricanes can be prevented. 2 or 3 of those people were out in the middle of it walking around or driving and trees fell on them. If people would just stay inside they would be safe.

I never understood the people who go out and drive in the middle of hurricanes. I remember when I lived on base housing a young marine went out in the middle of a hurricane and ended up getting swept away off of a flooded bridge!

Stay safe, you guys!

 

[Figment22]

I was reading something on a weather site earlier today that said we need to get the term "minimal hurricane" out of our vocabularies. It just tends to have people let their guards down and not take the proper precautions. Prayers and sympathies to all those affected by Katrina

 

[ladycollector]

I live in the panhandle and after Ivan and Dennis here comes another one. They're expecting it to strengthen over the Gulf and become a category 2 or 3 before landfall.

 

[Aurora63]

I was reading something on a weather site earlier today that said we need to get the term "minimal hurricane" out of our vocabularies. It just tends to have people let their guards down and not take the proper precautions. Prayers and sympathies to all those affected by Katrina

Totally agree. That term does nothing but put our guard down.

I stated on another thread, but I'll say it again. We survived! No power outage for us! My parents are in South Broward County, still don't have power. Something like 450,000 customers are without power now. That's just Broward. In Miami Dade, it's over 700,000. But thankfully this is only a minor annoyance for most.

 

[Aurora63]

I live in the panhandle and after Ivan and Dennis here comes another one. They're expecting it to strengthen over the Gulf and become a category 2 or 3 before landfall.

It's already a 2.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Katrina could actually get up to a category 4 before her next landfall. Scary stuff.

And yes people need to stay indoors during these things, not only for their safety but for the safety of police officers, firefighters and EMT/Paramedics who have to go out into the weather to help these people.

 

[froglady]

A lot of people don't seem to understand that a DIRECT hit from a Cat 1 is just as bad as a "near" miss from a Cat 4 or 5! We were not in the direct path of Charley, Danielle,and Charlene last year, but I was still without power for 2 weeks, and a tree just missed my house; others on my BLOCK were not as fortunate. Our area sustained damage in varying degrees from each storm.

ANY hurricane (and many tropical storms) is dangerous and should be treated with respect.

 

[ladycollector]

It's already a 2.

I did not need to hear that! I just got my photos developed from Hurricane Dennis, LOL.

 

[wdw4us2]

I never understood the people who go out and drive in the middle of hurricanes. I remember when I lived on base housing a young marine went out in the middle of a hurricane and ended up getting swept away off of a flooded bridge!

I blame the media for making people think it's okay to go outside and watch the hurricanes and tropical storms. All you have to do is turn on the news or the Weather Channel. Inevitably, they'll show some fool broadcasting from a parking lot somewhere in the path of the storm.

In my 33 years of living in Florida, I've never gone outside to watch one of these storms. All you have to do is see the aftermath of one of these events and that will convince you to NEVER go outside during the storm. People who have not witnessed the fury of these storms first hand has no clue just how dangerous they are.

Hurricanes Frances & Jeanne both came ashore 5 miles from our house last year. We didn't go out on the roadways until the Sheriff's Office gave the okay. Some of the deputies I talked to afterwards said they couldn't believe how many people were out trying to drive around after the worst part of the storms had passed. They had to threaten them with arrest to get them to go home. There were downed power lines, trees and snakes everywhere. Why anyone would think it was a good idea to be out in that, I'll never know.

I feel badly for the people in the Panhandle. They've already endured so much in the past two years, they need to be spared Katrina's wrath.

 

[Zandy595]

I won't drive after hurricanes when the traffic lights are out. There are always a lot of accidents because people don't understand that you are supposed to treat it like a four way stop. They see other people in front of them going so they think they can go too.

Hi Lisa. I wish the school board would have waited until yesterday to decide if they should have school today. I don't think they would have cancelled it. It's a beautiful, sunny day and DS is home doing nothing.

Is the concert still on for tomorrow night? My brother's girlfriend lives in Sunrise near Office Depot Center. She stayed with my DB in Boynton Beach, but she said her parents (in Sunrise) don't have power.

 

[Buzzlvr31]

Posting here from sunny Delray Beach!!! I came out of this Hurricane totally unscathed!!! In fact, since it made a last minute turn southward, I never even lost power!!! Great,huh?