Tourists, residents told to leave Keys: Hurricane Ivan winds weaken slightly to 150 mph

Tourists and residents were told Thursday they will have to leave the Florida Keys to avoid mighty Hurricane Ivan, even as Floridians still struggled with the destruction and misery left by Hurricanes Frances and Charley.

Forecasters said Ivan — which weakened slightly Thursday to near 150 mph — could reach the island chain as early as Sunday, making it the third hurricane to hit Florida in a month. The last time three hurricanes hit Florida in single season was 1964, when Cleo, Dora and Isbell hit the state.

“In all likelihood it’s coming our way,” said Gov. Jeb Bush. “And that should give people concern.”

Charley struck southwest Florida on Aug. 13 with winds of 145 mph, causing an estimated $6.8 billion in damage and 27 deaths. Frances hit the state’s eastern coast early Sunday with 105 mph winds, leaving $2 billion to $4 billion in insured damage and at least 16 dead in the state. An electric worker died Thursday cleaning up Frances debris.

Should Ivan strike Florida, it would be the first time since 1950 that two major hurricanes — ones with top sustained winds of at least 111 mph — hit Florida so close together.

Jim Lushine, warning coordination meteorologist with National Weather Service in Miami, said Ivan could make history.

“We could have three of the most intense storms to ever hit Florida in one season that we know about, anyway,” Lushine said.

Ivan has already killed at least 15 people as it tears through the Caribbean, the most powerful hurricane to hit there in a decade.

Ninety percent of the homes in Grenada were damaged, looting erupted and a prison was destroyed, leaving criminals on the loose.

At 5 p.m., Ivan’s center was about 350 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica with top sustained winds of 150 mph.

National Hurricane Center forecasters predict that Ivan could hit the Florida Keys as a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 131 to 155 mph, late Sunday or early Monday.

Monroe County emergency officials asked tourists to leave the Keys at 9 a.m. Thursday, the third visitor evacuation there in a month, following Charley and Frances. Mobile home residents were urged to begin evacuating at 6 p.m. Thursday, and other residents were told they should prepare to leave Friday.

A single highway links the low-lying islands with mainland Florida. The last time everyone on the Keys were told to evacuate was in 2001 for Hurricane Michelle, a 135 mph storm that wound up missing a direct hit on the chain. Officials estimated that only 15 percent of Keys residents left then.

“I don’t think that people will think twice when we tell them it’s a Four heading right at us. I think they will be pretty responsive,” Monroe County emergency manager Irene Toner said.