Weakened Frances eyes Tampa, Gulf

MIAMI, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Tropical storm Frances neared Tampa, Fla., with 65 mph winds Sunday -- about to leave the state and churn over the Gulf of Mexico.

Damage, some of it heavy, was scattered from Daytona Beach south to West Palm Beach from its slow trip across the state as a hurricane. It had come ashore Sunday with 105 mph winds.

One traffic fatality was linked to the weather conditions, and several people were injured.

Ed Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the sprawling storm is expected to move over Tampa, out into the Gulf of Mexico, and possibly redevelop into a hurricane before it reaches the Florida Panhandle Monday.

At 8 p.m. EDT, the center of Frances was located at 28.1 north, longitude 82.3 west, about 15 miles east-northeast of Tampa, reported the National Hurricane Center at Miami. It was moving west-northwest at 8 mph.

While Frances was battering Florida, a new Category 3 hurricane developed in the Atlantic with 125 mph winds.

At 5 p.m. EDT, Hurricane Ivan was centered at latitude 10.4 north, longitude 47.7 west, or 820 miles east-southeast of Barbados, moving west.

Power failures Sunday in Florida were estimated at 2 million people and counting. Florida Power & Light crews were ready to tackle damage as the storm passed, and more than 6,000 workers from other utilities and contractors were ready to come in and help.

Thousands of trees from Lake Worth, Fla., north to the Kennedy Space Center were reported knocked down, along with sunken boats, downed power lines and signs. Reports of more serious property damage at Stuart and north of there were beginning to trickle in.

A 12-foot deep sinkhole, 30 feet by 40 feet, was reported just off Interstate 95 at Stuart.

Seven of eight light towers were knocked down at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, a minor league baseball park and the spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and Florida Marlins.

There was one report of a 124 mph wind gust Sunday morning at Port Canaveral, Fla.

President Bush declared counties including Palm Beach, Brevard, Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties as federal disaster areas. That clears the way for assistance to individuals and communities.

Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, had declared the entire state a disaster area Thursday.

He cautioned residents Sunday to remain in a safety-first mode.

"I urge all Floridians across the impact area to sit tight. This storm is slow moving and it will take time for it to move across the peninsula," he said.

State meteorologist Ben Nelson also warned that the episode was far from over.

"We're going to see the center move across the state at a slow rate of speed," he said. "Rainfall is 6-10 inches and could be as high as 18 inches.

"There will be storm surges of 2-4 feet into Tampa bay once Frances moves into the northeastern Gulf of Mexico," Nelson said.

He said the water in the gulf was more than 85 degrees.

"We could see some reorganization. Expected landfall with 70 mph winds in the Panhandle is early tomorrow morning from St. Marks to the Walton County area," he said.

In West Palm Beach, traffic lights were down everywhere and the most visible damage was to the trees and business signs. A giant ice cream cone from the roof of a Caraval ice cream shop blocked one busy road.

The Casa Monterrey restaurant in West Palm Beach lost several windows and the inside was heavily damaged, although it kept its roof.

Trailer parks in Palm Beach County, however, appeared to escape without the kind of massive damage experienced when Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of Florida three weeks ago and Hurricane Andrew savaged south Florida in 1992.

Most of the trees were blown down from west to east as the southern portion of the storm passed through West Palm Beach Saturday night and Sunday. That area received steady winds from the west and did not experience the calm at the eye of the storm.

There were as many as three deaths in the Bahamas where torrents of rain were still pelting the archipelago after it roared through Friday and Saturday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

One man drowned on Grand Bahama Island, apparently trying to swim to safety, and another man was believed killed when his house collapsed on the same island, officials said. One man died in an accident involving a portable generator in Nassau.

A roof collapsed on a health clinic on South Abaco Island in the Bahamas, and several of the injured were being airlifted to a hospital in Nassau.