Covenant News
Preparations Intensify as Hurricane Frances Approaches
ORLANDO, FL (September 2, 2004) - Tension continues to mount for residents along much of Florida's east coast as Hurricane Frances continues its approach, promising winds and rain surpassing those of devastating Hurricane Charley just three weeks ago.Full-alert status has been declared for an area surrounding Covenant Village of Florida, which is located in Plantation, approximately 23 miles from Miami. Covenant Village is part of Covenant Retirement Communities, which is administered by Covenant Ministries of Benevolence of the Evangelical Covenant Church. According to a story published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Broward County officials urged residents to prepare for the worst as they ordered evacuations of mobile homes and barrier islands starting at 2 p.m. (ET) today.
Public schools and state and county government offices were ordered closed today and tomorrow as part of a state of emergency declared by county commissioners. The county has opened an emergency command center in Plantation and has activated a 24-hour public information hotline at 954-831-4000. Shelters in Broward and Palm Beach counties opened at 2 p.m. today with special bus service available to transport residents in the affected areas to safety.
In North Miami, stores have been crowded with people trying to get supplies, though that area is not expected to be hit quite as hard as areas farther north. Bethany Evangelical Covenant Church is one of many preparing for the storm. "We're just living in anticipation," says longtime pastor Andy Anderson. "People are kind of kicking into high anticipation mode of this. It's going to be a big storm. I spent all morning and part of last night putting up my shutters. But a lot of homes don't have shutters and if there are hurricane force storms, there's going to be terrible destruction. Hurricane force winds go out as many as 80 miles and this one is supposed to hit and go north across the state. That's not good news."
Laurie Black, who lives in Boynton Beach, said her family has been boarding up their home today. "They've told us that it's a Category 4 storm with 145-mile-per-hour sustained winds," she noted. "We're five miles from the coast so, technically, we're not required to evacuate. My husband Jim (a pastor at Hope Community Covenant Church) and others from the church are out boarding up the homes of neighbors and putting up shutters. The storm is supposed to hit on Saturday morning and they're projecting that it'll hit (an area) about 25 minutes away from us."
Ten Florida counties have ordered mandatory evacuations for residents in mobile homes and low-lying areas - nine other counties may follow suit, according to the Florida Emergency Management Agency. The Associated Press reports that about 1.2 million people, mostly in South Florida, have been told to evacuate. Interstate 95 northbound toward Jacksonville resembled more of a parking lot than a major thoroughfare this afternoon as thousands of Florida residents and visitors fled low-lying coastal areas, the Associated Press reported.
The storm was set to cross over or near the central Bahamas this afternoon and evening - all of the Bahamas is under a hurricane warning. "We expect the worst conditions late Friday and overnight Friday," said Ed Rappaport, the National Hurricane Center's deputy director. He predicted the affected area could be 150 miles wide and expects a major landfall in Florida in the next 36 hours.
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