The Nation : Florida Coast Braces for Tropical Storm

Emergency planners opened shelters and warned residents along Florida’s Gulf Coast to stock up as Tropical Storm Keith brought its near-65 m.p.h. winds and torrential rains toward land. At MacDill Air Force Base at Tampa, 85 multimillion-dollar F-16 jets were flown to Dobbins Air Force Base at Marietta, Ga., to wait out the storm, and officials were moving sand to beaches for replenishment after the predicted erosion from the rain. A 216-foot freighter, Percy Navigator, with 10 people aboard stalled about 140 miles west of Ft. Myers, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Forecasters predicted the storm would hit land near Clearwater east of Tampa before dawn today, cross the state and head into the Atlantic Ocean north of Cape Canaveral late this morning or early afternoon.