Hurricane Ivan came ashore between Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida in the pre-dawn hours, carrying winds of 215 kilometers (135 miles) per hour. The storm, roughly the size of Texas, drove towering surf inland, stripped roofs from homes, and inundated neighborhoods along Alabama's Gulf Coast.
Tornadoes spawned by the system killed at least seven people across northeastern Florida, a state still dealing with damage from hurricanes Charley and Frances. Around Gulf Shores, dozens of residents were stranded by floodwaters reaching three meters in some areas, while hundreds of thousands of Alabama households lost power and Mobile's streets filled with fallen trees and debris.
President George W. Bush declared Alabama a major disaster area to unlock federal aid. Baldwin County reported hundreds of damaged homes and at least one that collapsed entirely. Some 400 National Guard troops were deployed for search-and-rescue operations and to deter looting.
By mid-afternoon Ivan had been downgraded to Category 1 on the five-point Saffir-Simpson scale, with winds near 121 kilometers per hour, though forecasters warned that heavy rain and tornadoes remained a threat. The storm had already killed more than 70 people crossing the Caribbean, with Grenada the hardest hit (at least 37 dead, up to 90 percent of buildings damaged or destroyed) and Jamaica recording 21 fatalities.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.