Hurricane batters Bahamas
Florida declares state of emergency
AFP, Miami
Hurricane Frances lashed the Bahamas yesterday as it barreled toward the US East Coast, prompting authorities in Florida to declare a state of emergency, order evacuations and close schools. "Dangerous Category Four Frances (is) pounding the southeast Bahamas, ... heading toward the central Bahamas," said forecaster Lixion Avila of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC). On Wednesday, the outer bands of the ferocious storm battered the Turks and Caicos islands, causing damage to roofs and trees and sparking power outages. The State Department urged US citizens to leave the Bahamas and Caicos and ordered non-essential US diplomatic personnel to evacuate. As the storm churned toward the US East Coast with sustained winds of 235 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, a hurricane watch was issued for much of Florida's eastern coast, including Miami. A hurricane watch means that sustained winds of at least 119 kilometers (74 miles) per hour are expected within 36 hours. At 8:00 am Thursday (1200 GMT), the eye of the huge storm was 135 kilometers (80 miles) southeast of San Salvador, Bahamas and 755 kilometers (470 miles) east-southeast of Palm Beach, Florida.
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