Mike Strong boards up his mobile home Thursday near Melbourne Beach. He and his wife moved south 4 years ago from Mattoon, Ill. They rode out Charley and Frances in Orlando and lost their carport in Frances. (GARY W. GREEN/ORLANDO SENTINEL / September 24, 2004)
UPDATE FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hurricane Jeanne trekked westward today on a path that could lead to Florida's east coast by Sunday, setting off another round of storm preparations in a state still reeling from three earlier strikes.
At 8 a.m., Jeanne was centered about 510 miles east of Miami, moving west at 8 mph, the hurricane center in Miami said. The storm had top sustained wind of 100 mph and could strengthen as it reaches warmer water closer to Florida's coast. Hurricane force wind extended 45 miles from the center, and tropical storm wind extended 140 miles.
A hurricane watch was issued early Friday for most of the state's eastern coast, from Florida City to St. Augustine. A watch means hurricane conditions with wind of at least 74 mph are possible within 36 hours.
An eventual turn to the northwest was predicted, but it was unclear if that would happen before Jeanne reached Florida. Computer models showed possible landfall anywhere from South Florida to Cape Canaveral.
MIAMI -- After ambling in the Atlantic for days, Hurricane Jeanne began a trek toward Florida's east-central coast Thursday, increasing the history-making odds that the Sunshine State will suffer its fourth strike by a hurricane this year.
"We've been through Charley and Frances and Ivan, and now we're going to have to deal with Jeanne," Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Thursday night. "It's headed toward Florida. There's nothing to suggest otherwise."
In Tallahassee, state meteorologist Ben Nelson was anguished by the prospect.
"Considering what we've already been through this year, it couldn't get much worse," Nelson said. "Four landfalls in six weeks is unheard of. In Florida, we've never had four in one season."
Only Texas, researchers said, has been affected by four hurricanes in a season -- back in 1886.
In Central Florida, where many residents are still recovering from back-to-back hits by Charley and Frances, few people cared to take part in this slice of history.
"I'm getting my [anti-anxiety drug] Xanax refilled," said Tamra Brady, 43, a Mims resident who lost trees, power and telephone service during hurricanes Charley and Frances. "It's getting to be like, 'Come on, pick on somebody else!' "
Late Thursday, Jeanne was moving west toward the Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, making it a strong Category 2 hurricane. Forecasters said there was a good chance Jeanne would strengthen to a Category 3 before landfall, making it a major hurricane, with winds of at least 111 mph.
The official forecast track put the storm ashore Sunday near Daytona Beach, well north of where Frances struck Sept. 5, then curving offshore and toward the Carolinas. But forecasters cautioned against concentrating on the official track, noting that almost the entire state was in Jeanne's potential strike zone.
There's also a possibility that a high-pressure system keeping Jeanne on a westerly track could weaken more in Florida's favor, turning the storm further northward and possibly keeping it just off the east coast. But, in a refrain all too familiar to Floridians, forecasters said the timing of the turn would be critical.
Whatever the timing, forecasters said that, given its size, Jeanne was on a course to bedevil Florida no matter what. With hurricane-force winds extending 45 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 140 miles, Jeanne was destined to bring the state heavy rains, high winds and pounding surf for the fourth time since Aug. 13, when Charley ushered in Florida's mean season in Charlotte County.
"If the ridge moves out quicker, it could recurve and maybe just scoot close to the East Coast," said Stacy Stewart, a forecaster at the hurricane center. "But there's no getting around it: It's going to affect Florida one way or the other."
The wait-and-worry pattern put much of Central Florida in a state of guarded readiness Thursday.
County officials across the region made plans to reactivate their emergency-operations centers and reopen shelters if need be. In Brevard County, Port Canaveral officials ordered all small vessels to evacuate beginning at 7 a.m. today. At Patrick Air Force Base, response teams were placed on standby as county officials discussed evacuating barrier islands, mobile-home parks and flood-prone areas.
"There is a very strong possibility of evacuations starting Friday afternoon or early Saturday," said Joan Heller, spokeswoman for Brevard's emergency-operations center. "We are urging residents to take the necessary precautions."
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