ROCKLEDGE - While Hurricane Frances was expected to strike south of here, Brevard County's director of emergency operations warned Thursday that hurricane force winds will likely require major evacuations.
Robert Lay, Brevard's emergency director, said he expects high winds to begin about 5 a.m. Saturday. The latest track puts the hurricane making landfall around Vero Beach.
Heller said all available county personnel, including sheriff's deputies, code enforcement officers and anyone else not involved directly in storm preparation, are focusing evacuation efforts. Teams are going door-to-door handing out flyers with evacuation routes and seeking seniors who want to evacuate but are having difficulty.
Deputies are helping residents pack and find transportation. Shelters across the county were scheduled to open at 2 p.m. Thursday, and everyone in mobile homes and living on barrier islands was urged to evacuate, particularly in the large Barefoot Bay mobile home development.
"We're not locking anybody up, but we really want them to go," Heller said.
Heller said many seniors in Barefoot Bay are confused or scared.
Lay said most gas stations already are closed or out of gas, and he urged everyone, including officials, to conserve.
"That's going to be a problem. You need to be aware of that so you can conserve fuel," he told deputies and other emergency preparedness officials. "It's going to become a very precious commodity before long."
Gas stations in Orlando already were running out of gas as long lines of cars prepared for Frances to head their way, just three weeks after Hurricane Charley barrelled through. Traffic on the Bee Line Expressway and on Interstate 95 north from Melbourne is heavy and moving slowly. Gas stations along the interstate and west as far away as Orlando. There were also long lines for propane there.
Lay said most communities in Brevard County are preparing or evacuating as they are warned. One problem area has been the Intracoastal Waterway where the Coast Guard reported the closure of the Kennedy Space Center, in preparation for the storm, has locked down four draw bridges. There is no way for boat traffic to steam north ahead of the storm, only the southern route, into the projected path of Frances, remains.
The parking lot outside a Lowe's Home Improvement Center in Rockledge was empty Thursday afternoon. Store Operations Manager Art Lucas said that's because he is out of most items.
A sign on the store doors read: "We are out of plywood, tarps, propane, tapcons, gas cans, generators, candles, shutters, duct tape, plastic, flashlights, screws, batteries, drill bits."
Lucas said 40 percent of his staff had already been evacuated Thursday, and the store was going to close at 3 p.m., not to reopen until Sunday, if possible. Wednesday, he said, was the busiest shopping day he had ever seen.
Heavy traffic kept resupply trucks loaded with plywood from getting to the store Thursday morning, he said.
Crossing the store parking lot with a loaded shopping cart, the Guyre family said they will have to learn to make do. The family planned to evacuate to friends around the state, only to learn that Frances is so big that pretty much everyone they know will also be impacted. Instead, they'll ride it out at home, they said.
But without propane, Carolyn Guyre said the family has to resort to charcoal. They bought two bags and a barbecue grill.
Lay said his team met with Gov. Jeb Bush Thursday morning and already was looking ahead to debris removal and security. If needed, he said, the National Guard will be summoned to back up deputies.
On the wall of the Emergency Operations Center a digital clock counts down the time to the end of Hurricane Season: 60 days; 17 minutes; 16 hours, 44 seconds.
