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Ernesto swirls to Miami as weakened tropical storm
By Patrick Moser
AFP
MIAMI
Petroleumworld.com 08 30 06
Exactly one year after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, residents of the southern United States heaved a sigh of relief Tuesday as Ernesto swirled to Florida as a weak tropical storm.
As Ernesto neared Islamorada, south of Miami Tuesday night, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) lifted all hurricane watches for Florida, but did not rule out the possibility Ernesto might regain its punch later in the week when it could make a second US landfall in South Carolina.
Contrary to expectations, it did not strengthen after leaving the Cuban coast, and its maximum sustained winds remained at 72 kilometers (45 miles) per hour as it crossed the Straits of Florida Tuesday.
The most likely track has the storm traveling along south Florida, heading back out to sea and eventually coming ashore again in South Carolina, according to the Miami-based NHC.
On Sunday Ernesto had strengthened into the first Atlantic hurricane of the year, before losing power Monday as it moved over mountainous areas of Cuba.
Experts initially feared Ernesto would hit Florida as a powerful hurricane packing the same intensity as Katrina, which killed 1,500 people after it slammed ashore near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005.
The initial concern prompted Florida Governor Jeb Bush to declare a state of emergency, while visitors were ordered to leave the Florida Keys.
Schools shut down in some areas and several gas stations ran out of fuel after residents rushed to tank up their cars in case they needed to evacuate.
NASA canceled the Tuesday blast-off of space shuttle Atlantis from Florida's Atlantic coast, but changed its mind about moving the shuttle to its hangar for protection as the storm outlook improved.
Ports in Miami and other areas of southern Florida shut down on Tuesday, and several airline flights were canceled.
At 2359 GMT, the center of Tropical Storm Ernesto was 25 kilometers (15 miles) southeast of Islamorada, in the Florida Keys chain of islands, and 115 kilometers (70 miles) south of Miami.
Local media in Haiti said the storm killed one person as it blew over the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic.
There were no immediate reports of casualties in Cuba, where people who fled to safety ahead of the storm started returning to their homes. Authorities said hundreds of thousands of people had been evacuated before Ernesto hit Cuba.
AFP 300104 GMT 08 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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