Ivan the Terrible hits USA
Hurricane Ivan struck the Alabama coast today with 130 mph winds spawning tornadoes and torrential rain, sending floodwaters surging over roads and swirling around homes. Power was knocked out to 200,000 people.
The dangerous hurricane, its violent spiral raking a broad section of the upper Gulf of Mexico, moved into Alabama bearing the threat of a prolonged, destructive march up the state.
As a Category 3, it at least matched the most powerful storm on record to roar into the Alabama coast. Hurricane Frederic, also a Category 3 storm that hit the Mobile Bay area on September 12, 1979, left widespread damage as the most expensive hurricane in the United States up to that time.
Ivan offered a day-long preview of its destruction as it took aim at the coast: Sheets of rain across the region, a series of tornadoes, and escalating winds that shredded signs, knocked out power to tens of thousands and rocked traffic lights and oak trees.
“We have never seen a hurricane of this size come into Alabama,” Governor Bob Riley said, who earlier asked President George Bush to declare much of the state a disaster area.
An 11th-hour shift turned Ivan away from New Orleans, but the sheer size of the storm could create catastrophic flooding in the bowl-shaped city. Officials warned that the levees and pumping stations that normally hold back the water may not be enough to protect the below-sea-level city.
In the Florida Panhandle near Panama City, tornadoes produced by the storm killed two people and damaged more than 70 homes. Rescuers dug through rubble last night but found no one trapped underneath.
“We have a report from a deputy that it looks like a war zone,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Ruth Sasser.
Hurricane-force winds extended out 105 miles from the storm, threatening widespread damage no matter where it strikes. After reaching land, Ivan threatened to stall over the Southeast and southern Appalachians, with a potential for as much as 20 inches of rain.
Ivan is centred about 40 miles south of the Alabama coast and is moving north at 12 mph. The storm, which ploughed through the Caribbean, has now killed at least 70 people in all.
Ivan’s waves – some up to 25 feet – were already destroying homes along the Florida coast yesterday. Twelve-foot waves boomed ashore at Gulf Shores, Alabama, eroding the beach. A buoy about 300 miles south of Panama City registered waves over 34 feet high.
Firefighters in Gulf Shores were forced to evacuate to the police department after the roof began peeling off the fire department.
Winds estimated at 120 mph rocked vehicles and pulled metal strips off City Hall, where about 15 workers were trying to weather the storm.
In Mobile, majestic oaks that line the streets swayed in gusting winds as the city of some 200,000 braced for a hurricane expected to be even more destructive than Frederic, which killed five people 25 years ago.
At least 11,000 people crowded into 95 shelters across Alabama, and thousands more went to homes of relatives and friends.
