MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida was braced for a double impact as Hurricane Charley gained strength and Tropical Storm Bonnie was expected to make landfall on Thursday accompanied by torrential rains and flash floods.
By Michael ChristieThe twin storms put millions of people on alert in the Caribbean and on the Florida peninsula, and forced the evacuation of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
Charley had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph as it passed south of Jamaica and headed toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba, on a path expected to hit the low-lying Florida Keys by Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Hurricane warnings were issued for parts of the Keys and for the southwest Florida coast.
"Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion," the hurricane center said.
Hurricane warnings were also issued for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and parts of western Cuba.
Rainfall of up to 6 inches caused flooding and mudslides in some villages of eastern Jamaica, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Businesses were shuttered, universities suspended exams and hospitals sent patients home as people rushed to shops and gas stations to stock up on emergency supplies.
EMERGENCY SHELTERS, CANCELED FLIGHTS
One hundred emergency shelters were opened but few of the island's 2.7 million people took advantage of them. Airlines canceled flights and a cruise ship was diverted from Montego Bay.
While attention focused on Charley because of its strength, the more immediate threat was the looming arrival of Tropical Storm Bonnie in the relatively sparsely populated Florida Panhandle on Thursday.
Bonnie had been expected to reach hurricane strength, but the National Hurricane Center said it had discontinued its hurricane warnings with respect to Bonnie.
Bonnie was looking to make landfall along Florida's central panhandle on Thursday afternoon, several hours later than earlier forecast, with winds of 50 mph or higher, torrential rain, dangerous waves and a storm surge of 1 to 3 feet above normal tides.
Energy companies evacuated workers from 108 production platforms and 37 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. census bureau said 2.1 million people in the Panhandle area and parts of coastal Alabama lived in the area put under hurricane alert, but Bonnie was a small storm whose reach was not expected to spread very wide.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency and around 8,000 National Guardsmen were on alert.
Authorities in the Florida Keys ordered visitors to pack up and go before the arrival of Charley.
In Key West, restaurants and bars were urged to close by 10 p.m. on Thursday. City-operated buildings were already shuttered on Wednesday but most shops and homes were not. Duval Street, popular with tourists, was bustling.
At 5 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Charley's center was 100 miles east-southeast of Grand Cayman, at latitude 18.6 North and longitude 79.9 West.
It was moving northwest at a brisk 16 mph and was expected to gradually turn toward the north-northwest, taking it near or over the Cayman Islands and its 43,000 people.
Bonnie's center at 5 a.m. EDT on Thursday was 175 miles west-southwest of Apalachicola at latitude 28.4 North and longitude 87.5 West. It was moving northeast at 16 mph. (Additional reporting by Laura Myers in Key West)
