2 killed in Fla. as Ivan comes ashore
Eye of Category 4 storm should hit near Mobile, Alabama
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 VIDEO |
 Some Floridians plan
to ride out the hurricane in mobile homes.
 As Ivan approaches,
the exodus of coastal residents continues.
 Ivan leaves parts of
Cuba in ruins.
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RELATED |
Camille's memories still haunt
New Orleans: The Big Uneasy
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| HURRICANE
IVAN |
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As of 11 p.m. ET
Wednesday
Position of center: 65 miles south
of the Alabama coast
Latitude: 29.3 north
Longitude: 88.1 west
Top sustained winds: Near 135
mph
Source: National Hurricane
Center
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MOBILE, Alabama (CNN) -- Two people in
Florida were killed when the outer edge of Hurricane Ivan bashed
four southeastern states with strong winds and pounding waves
Wednesday.
As of 11 p.m. ET, the storm was centered 65 miles (104
kilometers) south of the Alabama coast and moving north about 12 mph
(19 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It
should continue that path for the next 24 hours, forecasters
said.
The center said Ivan had sustained winds of 135 mph (215 kph),
making it a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson
scale.
The storm is expected to drive a 10 to 16-foot storm surge
onshore as it hits, the hurricane center said.
Forecasters said swells in the center of the storm have measured
50 feet.
Hurricane-force winds extended as far as 105 miles (168
kilometers) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extended
290 miles (464 kilometers).
The hurricane center predicted the eye of Ivan will make landfall
across Mobile Bay in Alabama early Thursday.
Ivan will be the biggest hurricane to hit the Mobile area since
Frederic devastated the region in September 1979, and it "is not
showing any signs of weakening whatsoever," said Max Mayfield,
director of the hurricane center.
"This will cause extreme damage and if we're not careful, loss of
life," Mayfield said.
Tornadoes killed two people in Panama City Beach about 4 p.m. (5
p.m. ET), according to a Bay County spokeswoman.
Tornadoes in southwestern Georgia injured a truck driver and
destroyed two empty mobile homes, said a sheriff's department
spokesman in Early County.
Nearly 2 million residents of coastal Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and the Florida Panhandle have been ordered to evacuate,
state officials said.
About 1.2 million people live in affected parishes in Louisiana,
according to Lt. Col. Pete Schneider of the Louisiana Office of
Emergency Preparedness. At least 33 shelters have opened in the
state for displaced residents, but they are full and no hotels have
vacancies, he said.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said President Bush
spoke Wednesday morning to the governors of Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi and Florida about Ivan and federal preparations for
aid.
In Louisiana, Dr. Walter Maestri, director of the Jefferson
Parish's emergency management office predicted as many as 400,000
people would remain in New Orleans and surrounding areas "because
the evacuation process is taking as long as 10 to 12 hours."
New Orleans imposed a curfew Wednesday afternoon, a city official
said.
The city also has banned price gouging. The official said some
gas stations were charging $10 a gallon, which he called
"ridiculous."
Mayor Ray Nagin said people determined to stay in their homes
should have access to a second floor and be able to hack through the
roof in case the water rises that far.
New Orleans' usual party spots, including Bourbon Street, were
virtually empty. (Full story)
In Alabama, water already was spilling across the western end of
Dauphin Island, about 35 miles south of downtown Mobile, by
Wednesday afternoon.
A surge of about 8 feet will cover a significant part of the
barrier island and Fort Morgan Peninsula, across the mouth of Mobile
Bay, said Randy McKee, head of the National Weather Service office
in Mobile.
Hurricane warnings were posted from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to
Apalachicola, Florida, and a hurricane watch extended westward from
Grand Isle to Morgan City, Louisiana.
A tropical storm warning was in effect east from Apalachicola to
Yankeetown, Florida, and west from Morgan City to Intracoastal,
Louisiana.
Dozens of people missing
Ivan skirted Cuba late Monday as a Category 5 storm and killed
more than 60 people on the Caribbean islands of Jamaica and Grenada
over the weekend. Authorities in the Cayman Islands said dozen of
people remain unaccounted for.
Many homes on Grand Cayman have been flooded or have lost their
roofs, and the islands remained under a state of emergency and a
curfew Tuesday, two days after the storm hit, Department of Tourism
spokeswoman Leanne Drago said. (Cayman Islands begin cleanup)
Tropical Storm Jeanne over Puerto Rico
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Jeanne caused heavy flooding over much
of Puerto Rico on Wednesday and was expected to hit the Dominican
Republic on Thursday and the Bahamas on Friday, the U.S. National
Hurricane Center said.
Hurricane warnings were in effect for the western half of the
Dominican Republic and a hurricane watch was issued for the
southeastern Bahamas.
Jeanne was just below hurricane strength with 65 mph (105 kph)
winds. Forecasters said the storm could become a hurricane by early
Thursday.
CNN's Jason Bellini, David Mattingly, Kathleen Koch, Susan
Candiotti and Paul Courson contributed to this report
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