Storm Brings 80-M.P.H. Winds, 9-Foot Tides, Heavy Rain : Thousands Flee as Hurricane Heads Over Gulf Coast

Hurricane Florence moved across the tip of Louisiana and headed toward the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Friday night, flogging coastal communities with 80-m.p.h. winds as thousands of residents fled to higher ground. An Alabama man preparing for the storm drowned while trying to tie down a boat.

Winds were well below the 100 m.p.h. predicted while Florence was offshore.

The eye of the storm, about 30 miles wide, was expected to bypass New Orleans and cross the Mississippi Gulf Coast about 4 a.m. EDT.

Forecasters warned coastal residents to prepare for 9-foot tides and up to 10 inches of rain. Tornado watches were posted from Pensacola, Fla., to Lake Charles, La.

High School Shelter

“When it’s a hurricane, I get out,” said Melodia Buras, of Boothville, La., who joined about 500 others Friday night at Belle Chasse High School, which was opened as a shelter for Venice and other Plaquemines Parish towns in coastal Louisiana.

A Coast Guard helicopter had to abandon plans to rescue four men on work barges trapped at the mouth of the Mississippi River, said Coast Guard spokesman Dan Dewell. He said wind gusts there were over 90 m.p.h.

“It looks like they’re going to have to ride it out. The hurricane, as well as I can make out, is right about there,” said Dewell.

Earlier, a Coast Guard helicopter rescued two fishermen who got into trouble while running their crab traps, also near the mouth of the river.

In Alabama, police in the coastal community of Orange Beach said a 32-year-old man drowned Friday afternoon when he fell into the water as he was trying to tie down a boat in windy, rainy conditions.

Could Not Swim

“They were trying to secure a boat, and one of their lines got caught up underneath it,” Cpl. Marvin Glass said. He said the man, who could not swim, lost his balance tugging on the snagged line and fell into a bayou, about half a mile from the gulf.

The storm, which had been stalled in the Gulf of Mexico, suddenly strengthened into a hurricane Friday morning and began churning northward at 15 m.p.h., the National Hurricane Center reported.

An estimated 10,000 Mississippi-coast residents moved to higher ground, with more in Alabama and Louisiana, and students in parts of Louisiana and Alabama were dismissed from classes early in preparation for the hurricane.

Evacuation shelters opened at late afternoon in the four states.

Some Don’t Leave

But not everyone was heading for higher ground. Curtis Mallon, who lives on the tiny Dauphin Island, a barrier island off the Alabama coast, said he wasn’t leaving.

“Once you make up your mind to stay, all you can do is stay,” Mallon said, boarding up his house.

The U.S. aircraft carrier Lexington, based at Pensacola Naval Air Station, put out to sea Friday morning to ride out the storm, said Navy spokeswoman Margaret Flowers.

Alabama Gov. Guy Hunt declared a state of emergency Friday. Alabama Emergency Management Director J. Danny Cooper said the declaration would allow officials to cope with the potential side effects of the hurricane, including the need for public shelters and the possibility of tornadoes and flash floods.

Cooper said motel space as far north as Montgomery had been filled by evacuees.

Prepares for Cleanup

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Brad Dye, acting in behalf of Gov. Ray Mabus, who was out of the state, also declared a state of emergency to activate the Mississippi Emergency Operations Center, which will coordinate any needed cleanup.

From Taiwan, where he was on an industry-seeking mission, Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer ordered the National Guard to stand by for emergency duty.

Boat owners moved their vessels to safe harbors.

“We’ve put everything we’ve got on land into the water. We tie it good so if the tide goes up, the boat goes up,” said Randy Speas, manager of Dog River Marina, south of Mobile, Ala.

‘We began evacuating the harbors Thursday, and we are now in full bore,” said Wade Guice, who has headed Harrison County, Miss., civil defense for three decades. “Shelters will be up, and we’ll be doing all the other things we usually do when a hurricane threatens.”

Bayou Gates Closed

In Louisiana, workers closed storm gates on bayous and canals leading inland toward more heavily populated areas and plugged gaps in the ring of levees that surround metropolitan New Orleans.

The levees and big pumps keep the saucer-shaped New Orleans area dry. At its highest point, New Orleans is about 14 feet above sea level. Much of it is below sea level.

Twenty-three years ago Hurricane Betsy pushed a storm surge over levees and flooded the eastern end of New Orleans, killing 70 people in Louisiana and causing $1.1 billion in damage.