400,000 Flee as Hurricane Aims at Florida

Hurricane Elena, its winds clocked at 110 m.p.h., veered suddenly eastward Friday from the northeast Gulf of Mexico and began a slow march toward the tourist-rich condominium coves of the Florida Panhandle.

Saying he feared “the needless loss of thousands of lives,” Florida Gov. Bob Graham ordered a door-to-door evacuation of seven Florida counties considered the most likely target of the sprawling storm.

By Friday night more than 400,000 persons had fled the storm’s target area, including 120,000 from the Panhandle’s white beaches to Louisiana’s bayous who had fled the storm’s growing wrath Thursday as Graham and the governors of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana declared emergencies when the hurricane seemed an imminent threat to the entire Gulf Coast.

But the change in direction Friday--while it allowed the storm to gather power from the heat and moisture below--gave the other three states a reprieve.

The National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Miami said the storm was moving northeast at about 5 m.p.h. and predicted its center would make a potentially deadly landfall around noon today.

“Residents in the newly warned area should evacuate immediately as directed because escape routes could be cut off by morning,” the center warned. Late Friday night the storm was centered about 85 miles from Apalachicola.

The leading edge of the hurricane reached the Panhandle coast Friday night with booming surf, torrential rain and high tides. Graham’s evacuation order prompted another 318,000 residents and holiday vacationers to jam highways inland, and he sent 1,600 National Guard troops to the counties of Escambia, Walton, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Bay, Franklin and Gulf to direct the massive movement to higher ground.

“Immediate evacuation is necessary to avoid the needless loss of thousands of lives,” Graham said. “If the hurricane strikes the Florida coast, coastal residents face almost certain death, or they can evacuate immediately and protect their lives.”

Meanwhile, forecasters extended their hurricane warnings to cover the area from Panama City to Sarasota, including heavily populated Tampa and St. Petersburg.

By nightfall the streets of Panama City Beach were virtually deserted. Businesses were boarded up, their windows crisscrossed with masking tape for reinforcement.

Rain fell so hard at Apalachicola that visibility at midday was only about 20 feet. Tall waves rolled over some streets on Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola and coastal highways were closed around Panama City.

“We feel we have 95% of the tourists cleared out,” said Bay County Sheriff Lavelle Pitts. “We’re preparing for a direct hit, though we hope and pray we’re wrong.”

Elsewhere in the Florida Panhandle, people jammed stores and gas stations to stock up on food, gasoline, batteries, candles, canned goods, duct tape, distilled water, lamp oil--and beer.

“The place has gone crazy,” said Ann Newman, a bookkeeper at Albertson’s grocery in Pensacola. “There’s over an hour wait to get through the checkout.”

“We’re scared of it,” said Pat Donnelly, Escambia County Civil Defense director. “We realize the longer it sits out there and churns around, the bigger it’s getting and the more powerful and dangerous it is.”

‘Movements May Be Erratic’

Although it officially discontinued all hurricane warnings east of Pensacola late Friday, the National Weather Service pointed out that the storm’s “steering currents remain weak and future movements may be erratic.”

Officials in other states, while expressing relief at their apparent reprieve, nonetheless warned evacuees against returning prematurely to their homes.

“Some people are being fooled by what they see and they don’t realize that the danger has not passed,” said Richard Glazier of the Harrison County Civil Defense office in Gulfport, Miss.

And Mobile County, Ala., Commission President Jim Mason had more pointed words for the homeward-bound. “I want them to stop a deputy on the highway and give him their names so we can notify the next of kin,” he said.

Typical Preparations

Panama City Beach’s preparations for the onslaught were typical of other cities in the danger zone:

Officials set up a command post in a Hardee’s fast food restaurant just south of the Hathaway Bridge, which is located between the island and Panama City. Repair vehicles, fire trucks and a tanker full of fuel were at the ready in case the storm damaged the bridge.

“If we’re cut off from the mainland, there will be a lot of property to protect,” Sheriff Pitts said.

Cots were taken from the county jail and placed in the restaurant so officers could nap between patrols.

“The only folks we’re allowing to stay have a darned good reason,” the sheriff said. “One fella said he pulled out for the last hurricane and vandals cleaned out his store. Him, we let stay.”

Storm ‘Would Flatten It’

Among those who locked up and headed for the mainland was Matt Muehl, owner of Mama’s, a lunch counter on Highway 98.

“A big hurricane would just flatten it,” he said, nodding toward the green cement restaurant and its sign which promises homemade recipes and gourmet sandwiches.

“It’ll just blow it in,” he said, visualizing the windy assault. “Whooosh, is what it would be.”

Still, a few residents refused to be led to safety, and many said they were actually hoping to watch the intense storm from waterfront balconies.

Beer Drinker to Stay

Larry Higgins, 25, a sandwich maker, prepared to greet the storm by spending the day drinking beer.

“I’m staying here all night, and if it gets us, it gets us,” he said defiantly.

Higgins lives in the Panaroc Motel. He said police forced only nightly guests to leave and allowed the monthly residents to stay.

“I ain’t ever been this close to one before and I want to see what it looks like,” he said.

Barry Bearak reported from Panama City Beach, Fla., and J. Michael Kennedy from Mobile, Ala. Times Staff Writer Ted Thackrey in Los Angeles contributed to this story.