Hurricane Katrina Path may hit the Florida Panhandle

August 25th 2005

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Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Florida with wind gusts of 92 mph centering just south of Fort Lauderdale.  The storm slowed and slightly weakened after hitting land dumping 12 inches of rain.  It is expected to re-strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico’s warm water and could swing back up hitting the Florida Panhandle.  This area was hit in July by Hurricane Dennis and last September by Hurricane Ivan.

"This is going to be a long night for Miami-Dade and Broward counties," hurricane centre director Max Mayfield told CNN.  There are an estimated 2 million people without power at this time.

Since it was only a category one hurricane there is expected to be little damage to permanent structures. According to Reuters some residents filled sandbags to try to protect their homes from flooding, but few bothered to put up hurricane shutters.

Cruise Lines rerouted their trips as the local seaports shut down.  It is expected that the skies will clear in time for the MTV music awards on Sunday. The awards will be held in Miami Beach.

Two men and one woman were killed in Florida after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.  WFOR television reported the man was killed when a tree fell bringing power lines down on his car. 

The National Hurricane Center said in a written statement there is a “95% to 100% chance of an above-normal 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, according to a consensus of scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center (CPC), Hurricane Research Division (HRD), and National Hurricane Center (NHC). This forecast reflects NOAA’s highest confidence of an above-normal hurricane season since their outlooks began in August 1998”.

They expect an extremely active season with an estimated 18-21 tropical storms with 9-11 of them becoming hurricanes.  Usually there are only 10 tropical storms and 6 hurricanes.  They expect 5-7 major hurricanes where there are usually only 2 or 3.  

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By Dan Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer

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Keywords and misspellings:  Hurricane Huricane Katrina Catrina