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Hurricane Katrina

Category 1, but still ugly

CAUGHT OFF GUARD: Miles away from landfall in Homestead, damage shocks residents.

By GRAHAM BRINK, TAMARA LUSH, JUSTIN GEORGE and CANDACE RONDEAUX
Published August 27, 2005

HOMESTEAD - Hurricane Katrina quickly restrengthened Friday in the warm gulf waters and threatened to become a Category 4 hurricane before it makes landfall in the northern Gulf Coast.

Katrina left behind a soggy mess in South Florida, flooding homes, chewing off roofs and tearing down power lines. The death toll rose to seven and about 1-million homes and businesses were still without electricity as night fell.

The storm caught many residents off guard, especially in Homestead, where a foot of rain fell, well to the south of where the storm made landfall Thursday night.

Many in South Florida had dismissed Katrina as a minor annoyance, only to wake up Friday morning to something far worse.

"If any good comes out of Katrina, maybe we can get rid of the phrase "minimum hurricane,"' said state meteorologist Ben Nelson. "There is no such thing as a minimum hurricane."

The storm likely caused about $600-million in insured losses, mostly in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to preliminary estimates.

Katrina took a westerly course Friday night but was expected to begin turning north.

State officials continued to plan for a major hit Monday in the Panhandle, which is still digging out from last month's Hurricane Dennis.

"You have two days to go calmly about your business of getting ready," Gov. Jeb Bush urged Panhandle residents Friday. "Please do."

For Tampa Bay area residents, Katrina's move to the west was welcome news.

Flood and tropical storm watches might be lifted today, and strong winds should stay well offshore, said Pinellas County emergency management director Gary Vickers.

Residents still can expect winds around 25 mph, especially along the beaches. Rain is a possibility throughout the Tampa Bay area today and Sunday, but little or no storm surge is expected.

Emergency crews will remain on standby over the weekend.

"We're almost cursing ourselves with so much good news," Vickers said.

The same cannot be said for the north Gulf Coast, from Louisiana east to Florida's Big Bend.

State officials urged Panhandle residents to get ready for what could be the third major hurricane in less than a year.

They shut down road construction projects in the Panhandle on Friday and county governments opened emergency operations centers. Military officials said they will begin moving aircraft and personnel out of some Panhandle bases today.

Some Panhandle areas already have seen a run on gasoline. But officials said there was plenty of fuel in the supply line, with 160-million gallons stored at the state's ports and another 104-million expected in three days.

Gulf Power Co. added extra workers in Bay County for a possible landfall in Panama City or farther west. Hardware stores reported increased sales of hurricane supplies.

Nelson, the state meteorologist, warned that Apalachee Bay and St. Marks might get 20 feet of storm surge because of the slope of the continental shelf.

Only last month, Hurricane Dennis inundated St. Marks with sea water, even though it came ashore 200 miles away near Pensacola.

"We're going to catch hell, that's the way it looks," said Butch Baker, Franklin County's emergency manager. "It's a big, bad, ugly storm."

South Florida residents already know that.

In Homestead, south of Miami, Monica Orellan usually prepares for the worst when a storm looms in the Atlantic.

But on Thursday, she did nothing. She didn't think the worst of Katrina was headed for Homestead or her family's mobile home.

Instead, the power went off at 8:30 p.m. Then a 20-foot ficus trees crashed onto the carport. Rain poured into the house.

Katrina unexpectedly shifted south as it made landfall, flooding much of downtown Homestead and dozens, if not hundreds, of homes. Many streets were buried under 2 to 3 feet of water.

Orellan was incredulous that Katrina, once a tropical storm forecast to hit Broward County, could cause so much damage nearly 60 miles to the south.

"They said on TV that everything was going to Broward," Orellan said. "We thought this was just a tropical storm."

Every longtime Homestead resident remembers Hurricane Andrew, the storm that nearly wiped Homestead off the map 13 years ago.

Some were just little kids then, but they remember the way the winds sliced through their roofs. They remember the long, hot days crammed side by side into sleeping bags on the concrete floor of a shelter. They remember the destruction.

Katrina brought back the bad memories. Like Andrew, Katrina caught the town flatfooted. And also like Andrew, many residents may have discounted the power of a hurricane.

"It was horrible. The shutters were flapping on our windows. It sounded like hail was hitting the place," said Cynthia Olson. "I just woke up, put my foot on the floor, and I was like, "Oh my God, the house is flooded."'

By Friday afternoon, electricity had been restored to much of Homestead. Stores reopened. Cars lined Publix's entrance. Several parked in fire lanes because the parking lot was flooded.

It will be days before electricity is restored elsewhere in southeast Florida, where debris blocked roads, people canoed through inundated streets, a 727 cargo plane was pushed along a runway fence and sailboats rested askew on several beaches.

Tourists and residents were stranded as airlines canceled flights at Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports. In Key Biscayne, flooding forced dozens of families to evacuate their homes.

Katrina also walloped nursery operations and fish farms in the area. Miami-Dade County is the top nursery county in Florida.

"We will do all that we can to assist our growers," said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson.

Bush hoped Katrina doled out valuable lessons. "Two myths have hopefully been shattered," Bush said. "That storms (always) progress linearly ... and that a Category 1 isn't nearly as bad as a Category 3. It's a hurricane and it's a scary thing to go through."

Times staff writers Aaron Sharockman, Jeff Harrington, Kris Hundley, Steve Huettel and Joni James contributed to this report, which contains information from the Associated Press. Graham Brink can be reached at 727 893-8406 or brink@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 01:15:14]