外报选读From New York Times

shirogumo

Dennis Hits the Florida Panhandle and Alabama Coast
From New York Times


PENSACOLA, Fla., July 10 - After strengthening over the Gulf of Mexico and scaring coastal residents into neighboring states, hotels and shelters, Hurricane Dennis weakened to a Category 3 storm just before speeding ashore near Pensacola this afternoon.

The highest winds were clocked at 120 miles an hour near the wall of the hurricane's eye when it made landfall, dropping from 145 m.p.h. earlier in the morning. The difference of 25 m.p.h. may translate to millions of dollars of damage that was spared the area, while the mass exodus out of the area or into shelters kept injuries at a minimum.

Also contributing to the relative lack of destruction was the speed of the storm's passage. Hurricane Dennis came ashore at a brisk 17 m.p.h., according to the National Hurricane Center. By comparison, the deadly Hurricane Ivan that ravaged Pensacola 10 months ago stalled over the city at 6 m.p.h., with 135 m.p.h. winds.

Hurricane Dennis was expected to continue northward almost along the state line that Florida and Alabama share, finally tipping into Alabama's central and northern counties with winds and heavy rainfall.

"I think it slipped through, and we got lucky on this one," said Ron McNesby, the sheriff of Escambia County, which includes Pensacola.

Calls to the Sheriff's Department's 911 dispatchers were a fraction of those during Hurricane Ivan. "The phones rang so much during Ivan - it was people crying and screaming and yelling that they needed our help," said Lynda Aiken, 44, the assistant officer in charge of communications. "Today, we've been able to watch the storm on TV. We've been able to eat." As the eye of the storm came ashore, most of the approximately 55 calls had been triggered by automated alarm systems designed to send a call when the power goes out, she said.

The storm was distinguished by its small, tight eye, just 10 miles in diameter, but perfectly formed throughout its Gulf journey, finally dissolving as it came ashore. Near the wall's eye, the clouds rose to 33,000 feet, about twice as high as the broad outer bands of the storm. Hurricane-force winds blew 40 miles from the storm's center and sent rain into four states.

The command center, a large room in the basement of the sheriff's office, was brimming with nervous energy, with officers from several local police agencies and the National Guard drinking Diet Cokes and working on laptop computers. An enlargement of a satellite image of the storm constantly updated the projections for landfall.

The storm shut down the region's airports, major highways and bridges.

The city appeared all but deserted early this morning, with sheriff's deputies driving most of the few cars on the roads, their blue lights flashing. The shelters were filled about halfway to capacity, with some 4,700 people arriving Saturday and today, said Sonya Smith, public information manager of Escambia County. The respect for the storm's strength could be measured by the seemingly high percentage of people in the city's shelters who had never slept in one before.

"This is a first for me," said Debra Crowley-Freeman, 47, a Pensacola housepainter waiting in the 8 a.m. breakfast line after a short night's sleep in a corridor at the Pensacola Civic Center. "I ran from Ivan. I wasn't going to run again. We couldn't find a place to stay and we ended up driving around for two days."

A man believed to be in his 70's died in the Civic Center early this morning, the sheriff's department said. He was believed to have died of natural causes, but because he was in a shelter, he may be counted as the city's first storm-related fatality.

Eugene Lavern, a 61-year-old retiree who lives in a trailer park, said he had never been in the shelter, either, and complained about sleeping on the concrete floor: "Ain't no reason in the world they don't have bunk beds. I know the government's got better money than that." Another man, Barney Wise, 41, a painter, said he found the shelter to be safe, but cold. "They've got the temperature lowered, I guess to keep the bacteria levels down," he said.

chris_110

偶来帮忙顶 楼主加油

shirogumo

呵呵
原来鬼在这里啊

chris_110

看看