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Hurricane Ivan Forms in Central Atlantic
AP, August 5, 2004.
Even as Frances battered Florida, another
hurricane formed Sunday in the central Atlantic
and quickly strengthened with a potential
for following a path similar to the one
that Frances followed.
"You might want to be smart about
whether you take down your shutters,"
Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess
said Sunday at a briefing on the aftermath
of Frances.
Hurricane Ivan had sustained winds of 135
mph, advancing quickly from a tropical storm
to a Category 4 storm, the National Hurricane
Center said.
It was about 760 miles east-southeast of
Barbados, too far away to tell with any
certainty whether it would hit the continental
United States, the hurricane center said.
However, the center's map projections suggested
a path across the Antilles and Hispaniola,
possibly reaching Cuba about Friday.
Ivan was moving west-northwest at about
21 mph and was expected to continue that
direction.
The hurricane was due to reach Barbados
by Tuesday and could strengthen, drawing
power from hundreds of square miles of warm
water.
After being struck by the back-to-back
hurricanes Charley and Frances, Floridians
should monitor the storm, forecasters said.
Both Ivan and Frances formed as tropical
storms near Cape Verde off the African coast,
an area known as a breeding ground for storms
that become big hurricanes.
"They tend to be stronger systems,
just because they have such a great environment
to grow in as they cross the Atlantic,"
said Eric Holweg, a meteorologist at the
hurricane center.
Hurricane Charley hit Florida's southwest
coast with 145 mph wind on Aug. 13 and crossed
the state, killing 27 people and causing
billions of dollars in damage. On Sunday,
Hurricane Frances made landfall near Stuart
with 105 mph wind.
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