THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180508
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 63 lines
While Havana braced for the arrival today of Hurricane Lili, residents of Florida turned a wary eye south wondering if they are next.
Hopes are - and the forecast says - that Lili will make a sharp right turn just after passing over Cuba and steer toward the Bahamas. But that's too close for comfort for many people in the easily isolated Florida Keys.
``We're outta here,'' said Jon L. Ricks of Norfolk, who cut short a 10-day visit to Key West with three friends. ``Some people are staying, but I don't like that one-road-out idea.''
The forecast for rain, rain and more rain made the decision to pack it up easier, he said.
With four days left in their vacation, Ricks said he and his buddies were off to Orlando. ``We got a room up there, so we'll do the Mickey Mouse thing instead of the beach thing.''
Others were undeterred.
``I've put up some shutters on the house, but not the business,'' Ed Davidson, a dive shop operator in Marathon, Fla., told The Associated Press. ``In the Keys, in `Manana County,' we don't get too serious. When it starts to blow the foam off your beer, then it's time to get serious.''
Officials were getting serious, however.
All state and county parks in the Keys were closed Thursday. The Everglades National Park also was shuttered. And all county schools will be closed today.
``Nonresidents and motorists driving high-profile vehicles should consider leaving the Keys now,'' the National Weather Service in Miami warned Thursday afternoon.
``Frequent squalls with seas of 12 feet or more will create life-threatening conditions for mariners. Flooding of coastal areas as well as widespread flooding from heavy rains can also occur,'' the Weather Service said.
Lili is a minimal hurricane, with top winds of 80 mph and gusts to 100 mph. But it has already claimed eight lives in Central America, because heavy rains caused flooding and mudslides.
In South Florida, the prospect of more rain is unwelcome. Already, in recent days, between 4 and 8 inches of rain has fallen in the Keys and South Florida. Lili's rains could cause flash floods and turn agricultural areas into mudflats.
In response, Dade County officials ordered floodgates opened on the areas's extensive system of canals, in hopes of at least managing heavy rainfall.
At 5 p.m. Thursday, the center of Lili was about 125 miles south-southwest of Havana, moving north-northeast near 12 mph. That motion was expected to continue overnight, with a turn to the northeast today.
A hurricane warning was in effect for the Isle of Youth and mainland Cuba from Camaguey Province westward. A tropical storm warning was posted for the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Dry Tortugas, including Florida Bay.
The government of the Bahamas issued a hurricane watch for the Northwest Bahamas.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami said storm-surge flooding of 3 to 6 feet and large battering waves are possible today near and to the east of where the center crosses the southern coast of Cuba. Rainfall totals of 6 to 12 inches also are likely. ILLUSTRATION: TRACKER'S GUIDE
STEVE STONE
The Virginian-Pilot
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm for this date.] by CNB