Tallahassee Democrat from Tallahassee, Florida • Page 2

2ATallahassee Democrat Monday, August 29, 2005 w.TI.I.AIISSi;E.coin From Page 1A Thursday Garden Wednesday Food Saturday i Religion BGO! Friday Entertainment in Limelight Outdoors in Sports Monday For information, contact Jane Parrish atjparrishtallahassee.com or (850) 599-2349. Health Sunday Government calendar in Local State Datebook in Business Editorial Community Calendar in Spots The Democrat recycles paper products. Tuesday Families Community Calendar in Sports Flights COAST From Page 1A l' 1 ri I 4 i i I fy yvtify Di -r iv- Tallahassee Regional Airport was expecting normal operations today, and none of the airlines had warned of any cancellations or delays as of Sunday evening. But Jim Durwin, the assistant superintendent for airport operations, warned travelers to check with their airlines about possible delays with connecting flights. Nationwide, flights to New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Biloxi, Fort Walton Beach and Mobile were to be canceled as of today.

As of Sunday evening, Baton Rouge was expected to reopen at 7 tonight, Fort Walton Beach at 10 a.m. Tuesday and Biloxi at noon Tuesday. New Orleans and Mobile were closed indefinitely. The regional hub in Atlanta was experiencing 45-minute delays as of Sunday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. U.S.

Airways and Continental are allowing flight changes for passengers flying to, from or through Tallahassee or Pensacola; U.S. Airways will cover flights originating between this past Friday and today, and Continental will cover flights between last Wednesday and this Wednesday. In Panama City, Delta had canceled today's 5:55 a.m. and 7:28 a.m. flights to Atlanta, and Northwest had canceled its 6:15 a.m.

flight to Memphis. The Pensacola Regional Airport was scheduled to close by noon today, and perhaps earlier. No reopening date had been set by Sunday evening. Continental: (800) 523-3273 or www.continental.com Delta: (800) 221-1212 or www.delta.com Northwest: (800) 225-2525 or www.nwa.com US Airways: (800) 428-4322 or www.usairways.com Trains The Sunset Limited route between Los Angeles and Orlando, on which Tallahassee sits, has been revised because of the storm: Eastbound trains from Los Angeles weren't going past San Antonio as of Sunday; westbound trains from Orlando were canceled. Amtrak: (800) USA-RAIL or www.amtrak.com Buses The Greyhound route between Tallahassee and Mobile is canceled indefinitely.

Greyhound stations in Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola and Pompano Beach were closed indefinitely, as were some stations in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Passengers traveling from the Southeast to the Southwest were being rerouted through Atlanta and El Paso. Greyhound: (800) 231-2222 or www.greyhognd.com Cars State troopers weren't expecting any unusual traffic jams because of the storm, although evacuees had started trickling in from the west Sunday evening. Only one road, in St. Marks, had been closed because of flooding.

Shelters In Tallahassee: A shelter is open at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3717 Thomasville Road, one mile north of Interstate 10 in Tallahassee. In Crawfordville: A shelter is open at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 3251 Crawfordville Highway. School closings Taylor County Public Schools and Coast Charter School in St. Marks are closed today. Friday," he said as he stood in front of the Fire Department building.

"People know it's a big one. It was so far away on Friday, you couldn't tell its direction. It seems like people are talking it seriously enough. The (evacuation orders) are mandatory right now, because we don't want people to be sleeping through it." Horace Privett used his sport utility vehicle to haul a friend's fishing boat out of the water. Privett lives in a mobile home in The Village at Shell Point.

He helped pull boats out of the water for about three friends. "Everybody helps everybody around here," he said. He said he's not too worried about his own home flooding, since it's about 3 feet above the ground. But, he said, he's concerned about his neighbors' homes that are 2 feet or less above the ground. The evacuation orders had been voluntary for Wakulla County until the National Weather Service issued a warning about the storm-surge predictions in the late afternoon.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Mary Ann Campbell, one of the owners of the Sweet Magnolia bed and breakfast in St. Marks, rode her bike through the neighborhood. She said she planned to travel to Tallahassee and stay with with a friend Sunday night and today. With Hurricane Dennis' 10-foot surges, water peaked at about 3 feet in the inn on Woodville Highway. During the surge, hotel staff and a few guests remained.

With Katri-na, Campbell said she didn't plan to take any chances. "We're going to shut our power down and take off," she said. "We don't know what's going to happen, but it's not going to be good. This storm looks unbelievable." Farther west, on St. George Island, the wind was whipping sand Sunday evening so hard it felt like it was exfoliating exposed skin.

Part-time resident Paul Markwell was standing on a slice of boardwalk with friend Gina Quintana watching the waves chase themselves in. "This was a river through here last time," he said, waving his arm from Gulf to bay as he referred to Hurricane Dennis. "Of course, this storm is worse, but I don't think itU be as bad here." The island regular known as "Sailboat" Dave and pal MIKE EWEN Democrat Raymond Rich, whose Shell Point home was flooded by Hurricane Dennis in July, spent Sunday helping a friend protect her home from Hurricane Katrina. Mark Williams, who run the local beach service, were pulling in umbrellas before hopping into a pickup. Already, the tallest waves were 6 to 7 feet.

"The great thing is, we know we'll be having surf for awhile," Dave said. Farther down the beach, near St. George Island Plantation, Dionne Wheeler was playing with her dogs Scully, Gabby, Mayday and Flaps. She'd come down to help a friend bring in patio furniture. Wheeler, who now lives in Wakulla County, said she lost her house, car and job she tended bar at Angelo's restaurant after Dennis' storm surge.

"What else can this one take?" she asked. In the eastern Big Bend, Keaton Beach residents said floor of his home. "If it gets too high, I'm gone," he said. "I ain't no hero. I rode out the rest of them, but it's too dangerous I guarantee you." Another Keaton Beach resident, Lonnie Houk, was moving his 23-foot fishing boat on a trailer to higher ground before deciding whether to evacuate.

"I guess we're probably going to wait until the last minute to move out," he said. Joel Singletary, manager of the Keaton Beach Marina, said residents were taking evacuation orders seriously. He said the high tide earlier in the day sent a nearby canal overflowing into the marina parking lot. "The worst is yet to come," he said. they'd be watching the storm closely today.

About 30 black skimmers and other shore birds sat along the beach as gentle waves lapped at the shoreline. A shimmering sunset was disturbed by a band of gusty wind, rain and lightning. Steven Hawsey said his group of family and friends from Tifton, were ready to evacuate if the water rose. Until then, they were enjoying beers on the deck of their rented home while a ham and a turkey were cooking slowly on the grill. "When the sun comes up tomorrow, we'll be back here," Hawsey said.

D.L. White, a 31-year resident of Keaton Beach, said he's wary of storms since water from the 1993 "storm of the century" rose to the second LOCAL Local concerns are mostly on storm surge, flooding From Page 1A I FFERSONyV- WAKULLA tL Crawfordville TV TAYLOrVV franklin vHk keeping an eye on A 4 gulf i0k COASTAL FLOODING I Sr Storm surge from Hurricane Katrina is expected all along the Big Bend coast. -n 1 storm surge is: Water pushed onto land by wind. It 55 Jr can have damaging speed and force. Storm surge from Hurricane Katrina is expected all along the Big Bend coast.

What storm surge is: Water pushed onto land by wind. It can have damaging speed and force. flooding. But nine deaths were blamed on the storm, which blew out into the warm Gulf of Mexico waters and strengthened steadily as it curved north toward Louisiana. In addition to evacuation orders that extended across the Panhandle to the Big Bend, the storm's slow approach forced closure of oil refineries and offshore drilling rigs near the Louisiana-Alabama shore.

Bush said fuel supplies will be hurt in the aftermath of the storm but that Florida has ample shipments at Port Everglades and Tampa, and urged Floridians to conserve and cooperate in the crisis. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in parts of Escambia County and barrier islands of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties. The state as well as the Red Cross opened shelters from Escambia County to Tallahassee and Crawfordville. "Floridians must continue to remain vigilant because Hurricane Katrina remains a very dangerous system," Bush said. "This storm will have significant effects for the Panhandle and Florida's Gulf Coast counties.

Once again, for folks living in the p' rs coordinating with the three neighboring states to direct eastbound refugees on Interstate 10 toward shelters inland from Florida's coast: "It's going to cause problems coastal flooding, significant beach erosion," said Nelson, the meteorologist who has tracked dozens of hurricanes and tropical storms at the state's Emergency Operations Center. "It's a very large hurricane and it really is stirring up the waters in the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to have a significant impact, very far away from where the eye of Katrina does make landfall." He said tropical-storm warnings were posted from Destin to Indian Pass. Tornados are also a big threat in the outlying rain bands of Katrina's pinwheel pattern, he said. "If Katrina did take a little bit of a deviation to the right, the hurricane-force winds especially the gusts will impact Mobile Bay and come very close to the western Panhandle, potentially, especially with these rain bands," Nelson said.

"They can really, really bring these winds down to the surface in a hurry." Contact political editor Bill Cottereli at (850) 671-6545 or bcotterelltallahassee.com What causes it: Storms lower the atmospheric pressure on the ocean, allowing water levels to rise. The water is then picked up by Apaiacnicoii (Mf the wind and pushed in the direction the storm is moving. northwest Florida when the monster storm makes landfall today. Nelson said Hurricane Dennis, a Category 4 storm that struck the Pensacola area last month, sent storm surge of 9 to 1 1 feet into the Big Bond. Katrina, farther away but more powerful, will probably have storm surge of 6 to 8 feet at high tide from Apalachicola to the Suwannee River area.

"That's 6 to 8 feet for Wakulla, Jefferson, Dixie, Franklin and Taylor counties," he said. Top surges are expected between about 9 and 10:30 a.m. in the Big Bend. "That's when you're going to have the highest water," Nelson said. "Since we're kind of far away from the center, it's not going to be the kind of sudden surge they're going to get over in Louisiana it's going to be spread out." Katrina first came ashore in the Broward and Miami-Dade area of South Florida on Friday as a Category 1 storm, sloshing across the Everglades and causing widespread Why we're vulnerable: Apalachee Bay is so shallow that it can't hold much water, and the coast is low-tying and not very protected.

"That's true, but they're still very dangerous," he said. "People need to stay safe and stay inside." Bush said he spoke with his brother, President Bush, and phoned the governors' offices in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to offer whatever help Florida can provide. Those states, and many others, sent medical assistance, utility crews and shipments of food and water during Florida's four Panhandle, please don't focus on the skinny black line, where the hurricane hits." Bush and Nelson said hurricane-force winds will extend at least 105 miles from Katrina's eye, and tropical-storm winds will swirl 100 miles farther. Bush expressed concern that people will not worry about tropical-storm winds, compared to the Category 5 punch at Katrina's core. big hurricanes last year and Dennis last month.

Dr. John Agwunobi, head of the Department of Health, said 200 nurses are ready to go to the New Orleans area after the storm, "and that's just a down payment." Fugate said a mobile medical team and two urban search-and-rescue teams from Florida have already been put on alert. Fugate said his office is (USPS 533-1201 (ISSN 0738-5153) FLORIDA LOTTERY WINNING NUMBERS FOR 82805 GEORGIA LOTTERY CASH 4: CASH 4: FANTASY (Noon) (Night) 827 9 04 1 828 3 0 4 6 828 7 1020 28 CASH 3: (Night) 828 082 CASH 3: I Noon 827 -30 5 LOTTO: 824 214 21 2332 34 PLAY 4: '28 7 0 3 0 82? 98S5 FANTASY 828 9 10 2023 29 827 4 5132530 CASH 3: 828 120 827 J79 MEGA MONEY: ft26 31011 18 TODAY IN HISTORY 1533 The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, was murdered on orders of Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro. 1944 15,000 American troops marched down the Champs Elysees in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis. POSTMASTER.

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