Hurricane Jeanne struck Florida's Atlantic coast late on 25 September 2004, the fourth major storm to hit the state in six weeks. A Category 3 system with sustained winds near 115 miles per hour, the eye lay about 55 miles east-southeast of Fort Pierce at 9 p.m. Landfall north of West Palm Beach was expected later that night.
Authorities had ordered 3 million residents to evacuate. Power failed across southern Florida, downing lines that had only recently been repaired after earlier storms. Southeastern areas faced flood warnings from heavy rainfall, and officials warned of tornado risks. Police imposed overnight curfews in several communities to discourage looting.
The National Hurricane Center projected storm surge of four to seven feet above normal tide levels. Governor Jeb Bush asked President George W. Bush to issue a fourth federal disaster declaration for the state in six weeks.
Jeanne had already killed roughly 1,300 people in northern Haiti the previous week. The storm followed Hurricane Ivan, which killed more than 130 across the Caribbean and eastern United States, and hurricanes Charley and Frances, which had torn through Florida's southeastern coast and destroyed thousands of homes.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.