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Hurricane Katrina moved into the Gulf of Mexico on Friday after pummeling Florida’s southeastern coast leaving 2 million people without power and killing four.
The storm was upgraded to hurricane status on Thursday when it brought 12 inches of rain to the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Area on Thursday beginning around 7 p.m., but lost some strength as it crossed the Florida peninsula. Katrina was downgraded to a tropical storm early Friday, but had regained hurricane force as it moved into the Gulf of Mexico.
A public advisory from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center at 7 a.m. Friday morning, the center of the hurricane was located about 50 miles north of Key West, Florida, and about 60 miles south of Naples, Fla. Katrina is moving toward the West at about 5 mph, which is expected to continue for the next 24 hours with a slight increase in forward speed. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph now – a Category 1 hurricane – with some strengthening expected over the next 24 hours.
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Hurricane Katrina will likely come around to make landfall on the Florida panhandle sometime Monday.
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties were the hardest-hit areas, with power lost to 1 million homes and businesses. The Palm Beach Post reported that the Florida Light & Power Co. may have power restored by Saturday.
Some worry that Hurricane Katrina could bring further increases in oil prices, which closed at $67.49 on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday, according to Bloomberg. Oil company BP said yesterday it would evacuate non-essential personnel from one of its production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico as the hurricane approached. Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest publicly traded oil company, and Chevron Corp. were among companies watching the storm's progress before deciding whether to move employees from offshore platforms and rigs.
Last year, four hurricanes ravaged Florida and the southeastern U.S. in a matter of weeks. Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne hit the state between Aug. 4 and Sept. 26, 2004, yielding more than $5.6 billion in federal and state disaster assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Less than one year after hurricane Charley made landfall the 2005 hurricane season descended on Florida again, beginning with Hurricane Dennis on July 11.
Many Floridians were still recovering from the 2004 season when it made landfall, including nurseries and foliage producers that feed the needs of many green industry companies. According to Lawn & Landscape’s sister publication Interior Landscape Business, the 2004 storms caused a collective $536 million in estimated foliage and structural losses statewide.