Ordered to leave

By KELLY RYAN and DAVID BALLINGRUD

lmost 400,000 Tampa Bay residents were ordered to evacuate coastal areas and mobile homes today as Hurricane Georges threatened to bring tropical storm force winds to the area as early as tonight.

Click for strike probability chart

Just before midnight, Georges entered the Florida Straits with 85 mph winds, bearing down on the Florida Keys, where an estimated 50 percent of the population had ignored an order to leave.

If Georges maintains its northwesterly course and speed of about 14 mph, it would pass closest to the Tampa Bay area -- about 100 miles -- before sunrise Saturday. The storm would be west of Fort Myers at that point, headed toward landfall Sunday near Mobile or Pensacola.

In other developments:

With today's evacuation likely to put tens of thousands of cars on local roads, officials warned that traffic might be painfully slow. Get started early, they advise. High winds could force the closure of the Sunshine Skyway, too.

Gov. Lawton Chiles said he was worried about people who chose to ride out the storm in the Keys, where strong winds and rain were being felt Thursday. Rain and wind gusts of 55 mph began hitting the island chain Thursday evening.

More coverage from the Times on our Georges site.

The state could be looking at moving millions of people, depending on where Georges goes. Eighty percent of Florida's 14-million residents live along the coast.

As Georges approached the Keys, its hurricane force winds extended 35 miles out fromthe center, and its tropical storm force winds 175 miles out. Forecasters warned it could grow larger as it intensifies.

They also cautioned about the potential for error in the forecast, but noted their computer models came into general agreement about the storm's movement Thursday.

People on the move

The Pinellas County order affects an estimated 200,000 residents of the Zone A evacuation area, plus some elderly and people with special needs. It is the biggest evacuation in Pinellas County since Hurricane Elena in 1985, when 500,000 left their homes

The Hillsborough order affects about 175,000 people -- also mostly residents of Zone A. Pasco County officials plan to decide today on evacuations. Hernando County told about 16,000 people to leave coastal areas and mobile homes. Citrus County recommended evacuation for residents of low-lying areas.

Beginning at 6 a.m., police will guide traffic out of the affected neighborhoods to hurricane shelters or evacuation routes. Residents will be allowed to returnhome after the storm passes, probably sometime Saturday.

"Even though the weather looks lovely, pack up your bags and leave," said Pinellas County Commission Chairwoman Barbara Sheen Todd.

While most people probably will learn of the evacuation order from the news media, fire and police officials will be driving through coastal areas and mobile home parks alerting residents.

Deputies were stopping people heading northbound out of the Keys, telling them it was too late to evacuate the islands. They were sent home. A curfew was ordered beginning at 9 p.m., lasting until the storm was over.

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People who disregard the mandatory evacuation are guilty of a misdemeanor and could face a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. However, Pinellas Emergency Management director David Bilodeau conceded that arresting residents who refuse to leave will not be a high priority for law enforcement officers. Hillsborough officials made a similar statement.

Pinellas fire departments will be evacuating residents with special needs starting at 6 a.m. today. Those residents, who were required to sign up in advance, include elderly residents, those who can't drive and those with illnesses or disabilities. About 2,000 residents are signed up for assistance.

Residents who have not signed up still can call their local fire department or the county's Emergency Operations Center, but Bilodeau was making no promises. "We can't guarantee that we can pull a rabbit out of our hat at the very last minute," Bilodeau said.

Officials debated opening the shelters at 6 p.m. Thursday but settled for 12 hours later because of concerns for the older residents who would have to spend the extra time sleeping on floors and cots.

Keys quiet, but not deserted

In the Keys, the day started breezy and sunny. By late afternoon, though, the air was thick and damp, and by evening the winds were whipping over 50 mph, sending sand and leaves swirling across U.S. 1

Pounding rain started falling before 6 p.m. as the first band of showers from Hurricane Georges passed. A waterspout was reported, and the water grew choppy.

Officials estimated that more than 50 percent of Keys residents had left, but they acknowledged there is no real way to know. They based their guess on how few people were on the roads and how few businesses were open.

The roads, mostly being used by emergency workers, were eerily quiet, especially in Marathon, where forecasters said the storm could make landfall. Although the county's rumor control hot line was swamped with calls, the county was fielding few 911 calls.

Deputies were stopping people heading northbound out of the Keys, telling them it was too late to evacuate the islands. They were sent home. Monroe County Sheriff Rick Roth issued a curfew beginning at 9 p.m., lasting until the storm was over.

"At some point, we're not going to let vehicles on the highway," said Monroe County sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin, who was spending the night at Ground Zero in Marathon's Emergency Operations Center. "Usually that's when the tropical storm force winds begin."

Hurricane-force winds were expected to begin before sunrise. Even the emergency operations center, off U.S. 1 in Marathon, boarded up its doors early Thursday evening with aluminum sheets.

Extra ambulances were brought in, for a total of 14, to respond quickly after the storm passed. During the storm's height, though, officials warned that no emergency services would be available because it becomes unsafe for cruisers and ambulances when winds near 50 mph.

Officials spent two days evacuating the Keys' hospitals, using helicopters to fly patients to a facility in Sebring. A special-needs shelter, for those who need medical care, was set up at Florida International University.

One of the safest places in the Keys is the Stock Island Detention Center, a spacious facility just north of Key West, built to withstand a Category 5 storm and with space for hundreds.

Besides inmates awaiting trial or serving short sentences, the facility became a hurricane shelter for nursing home patients and caged wild beasts from Key West's animal farm. All other jail inmates from the middle and upper Keys also were bused in because other holding cells are not as secure.

The animals were stored in staircases. The nursing home residents will stay in cells, with medical care available from the jail's staff.

"They'll have cots and mats," said Gary Boswell, the paramedic shift supervisor for Monroe County Fire-Rescue.

The accommodations won't be luxurious.

"It's going to be crowded but at least it is going to be safe," Herrin said. "There's a generator but no air-conditioning so it should be interesting."
-- Times staff Writers Joe Newman, Julie Hauserman and Jeffrey Gettleman contributed to this report. Information from Times wires was also used.