A slight westerly shift in the forecast track of Hurricane Ivan brought cautious optimism to South Florida Saturday, but several other coastal communities were considering another large-scale evacuation.
"This is going to be a very powerful storm," Gov. Jeb Bush said in a televised briefing from the state's emergency operations center. "In all likelihood, it will hit our state. We don't know exactly where."
Ivan increased to a Category 5 storm as it prepared to slam into the western portion of Cuba. It also slowed to 9 miles per hour, down from 13 earlier in the week, according to National Hurricane Center forecasters.
That gave communities around Tampa Bay another day to watch the storm before deciding whether to order evacuations. Most local governments planned to meet again today to evaluate the storm's position.
"You don't want to overevacuate or underevacuate," said Pinellas County Manager Steve Spratt.
Pinellas school officials decided to cancel classes Monday, joining Hillsborough, Citrus and Hernando counties. Pasco County opted to wait another day before making a decision.
The extra time gave people an opportunity to search for supplies that were growing increasingly scarce, including gas and plywood, and to continue the clean up from Hurricane Frances. At one brush site in Hillsborough, people waited more than an hour to dump their debris.
About 730,000 homes and businesses statewide were without power, and utility officials said it could take at least another week before it is restored.
Late Saturday, Ivan's maximum sustained winds were around 165 miles per hour, an increase from earlier in the day. As of 8 p.m., the hurricane was centered near 18.2 north latitude, 79.7 west longitude, or about 130 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman.
The powerful hurricane has killed 56 people across the Caribbean, including 34 in Grenada and 11 in Jamaica. Ivan is projected to turn to the north and start heading into the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane is expected to weaken slightly after hitting Cuba, but could make landfall in the United States as a Category 3 storm, said Michelle Mainelli, a forecaster with the center.
Tropical storm-force winds reach 170 miles from the eye of the hurricane, which means South Florida could feel the effects of Ivan even if it is spared a direct hit, Mainelli said.
Monroe County, which includes the low-lying Florida Keys, remained under a mandatory evacuation order. There was a limited evacuation in Charlotte County for all barrier islands, mobile homes and special needs facilities.
But three hurricanes in a month proved to be the breaking point for many Floridians, who continued to leave the state by the thousands Saturday.
At Tampa International Airport, Richard and Sally Myers of Sarasota bought tickets to Detroit, and had to scramble to find pet carriers for Alexi, a Bichon Frise, and Gypsy, a Shih Tzu.
"The third one's a charm," Richard said of Hurricane Ivan. "We went through Charley and had no damage, we went through Frances and had no damage. We decided, this one's the big one. It's coming right at us, so it's time to get out."
Others took to the highways. Traffic heading north along Interstate 75 doubled compared to southbound traffic - even as early as daybreak. Several travelers said they hoped to get out of the state before evacuations were ordered and the interstate comes to a standstill.
A normally desolate stretch of U.S. 19 north of Levy County saw a rush of traffic late Saturday morning as Floridians fled north. On most days a motorist sees an occasional semi-truck plus a few fellow travelers. But within two hours Saturday, at least 80 motor homes and large campers had driven up the freeway.
Around Tampa Bay, the availability of gasoline continued to be a major concern. While state officials insisted there was no shortage, pumps were empty at many local stations, forcing motorists to search for a place to fill up.
At the Keeman station on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 10th Avenue N in St. Petersburg, owner Alex Handa said he was expecting a gas delivery this morning but urged customers to call first.
"You didn't want to be here yesterday," Handa said. "I didn't have a parking lot. The cars were back to back."
Diana Scott stopped to fill up her tank at the Suncoast Exxon on Fourth Street N near her St. Petersburg house. But she ended up buying only cigarettes because the station was out of gas.
"I'm going to pick up my daughter and then go on a gas hunt," she said.
Hardware and home improvement stores felt the strain. A line to get into the Home Depot on N Dale Mabry in Northdale snaked the length of the building by 6 a.m., 30 minutes before the store opened. Several cars passed through the parking lot only to depart after failing to find a spot.
City crews and homeowners rushed to get rid of debris before Ivan approaches.
Judy Nardini, 50, of Lutz made three trips in her GMC Sierra to the Northwest County landfill on Linebaugh Avenue in Hillsborough County. She took brush, limbs and other possible missiles from her yard and from her neighbors' yards.
Each time it took an hour to get through.
"It was self-preservation," Nardini said. "To have good neighbors, you have to be one."
Across the state, the fallout from Hurricane Charley and Frances continued.
A mosquito control plane performing relief operations for Charley crashed after hitting a communications tower Saturday morning, killing both pilots.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the twin-engine Piper Aztec crashed into an orange grove east of Lake Wales in Polk County. The main pilot worked for Vector Disease Control Inc. of Greenville, Miss., and was working under contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Flooding in north-central Florida worsened Saturday with flood warnings in effect in Union, Suwannee, Columbia and Gilchrist counties. The Santa Fe River was expected to crest on Saturday at 6 feet above flood stage, and the National Weather Service warned more flooding is possible as water moves downstream in the Santa Fe and Suwannee rivers.
About 2,900 people were in Florida shelters, with some housing a few victims of Charley.
And amid a rising level of frustration for residents from Palm Beach County north through the Treasure Coast, state officials emphasized they were not pulling out. But Bush cautioned Floridians that some field operations "will be temporarily suspended" to secure people or property in advance of Ivan.
"They're not leaving," Bush said. "They're preparing for the eventualities of another storm."
Times staff writers Steve Bousquet, Lucy Morgan, Jeffrey S. Solochek, Jay Cridlin, Alisa Ulferts, Joe Black and Michael Sandler contributed to this report, which includes information from the Associated Press.
