by Patrick Moser
MIAMI, Sept 2 (AFP) - Florida raised the alert Thursday as ferocious Hurricane Frances lashed the Bahamas and barreled toward the southeastern US state forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
"We need to take this seriously, this is a deadly storm" said Florida Governor Jeb Bush, urging residents of threatened areas, including Miami Beach, to board up their homes and seek shelter inland.
Most of Florida's densely populated Atlantic coast was placed under a hurricane warning, which means the huge storm could slam within 24 hours into the state that is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Charley earlier this month.
"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," said forecaster Lixion Avila of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.
Early in the afternoon, the fierce storm was pounding the Bahamian island of San Salvador and heading for Florida, with sustained winds of 230 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and higher gusts.
At 2:00 pm (1800 GMT), the eye of the storm was near San Salvador and 660 kilometers (410 miles) east-southeast of south Florida's east coast.
Hurricane-force winds extended 130 kilometers (80 miles) from the center of the storm, which was moving west-northwest at 20 kilometers (13 miles) per hour.
The NHC warned that the Bahamian islands of Eleuthera and Grand Bahama could expect "storm-surge flooding of six to 14 feet (two to seven meters) above normal tide levels, ... along with large and dangerous battering waves."
The storm pounded the southeastern Bahamas early Thursday and was expected to be near or over the center of the group of islands later in the day.
As residents of the Bahamian islands battened down, Florida braced for the new storm.
Hundreds of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate low-lying coastal areas of south Florida, and emergency shelters were being set up across the area.
"The consequences of not evacuating could be very severe," Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas said after announcing a mandatory evacuation for threatened areas in the county.
He said that while there was no certainty the powerful hurricane would hit the area, "I'd rather be safe than sorry."
Long lines formed outside gas stations, and stores were running out of basic supplies, including bottled water and batteries, as residents rushed to make last minute preparations ahead of the storm.
Schools, office buildings and restaurants shut down Thursday, though some people were still out a the beaches enjoying what could be a lull before the storm.
Throughout the day, officials warned the impact of the storm could be massive.
"This is going to be, if this storm makes landfall in Florida, a very large, a very dangerous storm. We're going to have a lot of people in harm's way," Florida Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate said.
Florida is still recovering from the death and destruction wrought by Hurricane Charley in southwestern parts of the state.
The eventual hurricane track will depend largely on a ridge of high pressure just north of the storm. If that system remains where it is and maintains its strength, "it will be a Florida hurricane," said NHC director Max Mayfield.
Several cruise ships diverted from their initial course to steer clear of the storm.
"We can't control the kind of damage that Frances is going to cause, but if people are smart, lives can be saved," said Max Mayfield, the NHC director.
Wednesday, Frances lashed the Turks and Caicos islands, damaging roofs, uprooting trees, causing power outages and downing telephone lines.