Evening star., 1945-09-15
Full Gale Winds Lash
Miami as Hurricane
Sweeps Florida Keys
Wind Velocity in City
Hits 66 Miles Per Hour;
Wide Area Warned
Ely the Associated Press.

MIAMI, Fla, Sept. 15.-Winds
rapidly built up toward hurri-'
cane velocity in Miami today,
jumping from So miles an hour
at 10:47 am. to 66 miles an hour
at 1897. Palm fronds and tree
limbs were flying and Biscayne
Bay was whipped into racing
whitecaps.
The crash of glass sounded as
globes toppled from street lamp
posts and the fragments rolled with
the wind. The barometer officially
registered 1881 inches at 10:47 am.
Barometric pressure was slowly
falling At midnight, 1t registered
3o.o3 with mild north-northeast
breeZes. At 8 am. the reading
was 1892 inches with a 24-mile
northeast wind.
The lighthouse at Careysfort Reef,
southeast of Miami, reported a Co.
mile northeast wind at II am, and
Fowey Rock lighthouse, south of
Miami Beach, recorded 50-mile
winds.
Key West, south of the storms
path, reported clear skies, and no
rain at 11:30 am West Palm
Beach. north of the threatened area,
had 24-mile winds.
Bahamas Escape.
The hurricane which was sweep
ing to the Florida coast passed over
the Bahama Islands with no major
damage reported. The highest aver
age winds recorded were 40 miles
per hour. with puffs registering 55
miles per hour.
Miamis strong winds blew pedes-
trians around on the streets Groups
of Russian sailors, shouting with de-
light, walked Biscayne boulevard,
holding on to telegraph poles and
street light standards.
The ocean off Miami Beach was
whipped into foam but the tide
was only slightly above normal.
In tightly boarded buildings the
air became sitting hot, but windows
opened for a breath of fresh air
tapped wildly and threatened to
tear from their hinges.
On Same Course.
"The core of the storm should
strike the keys between 2 and 3
pm. with winds we'll over 100 m p. h, -
Grady Norton, Miami forecaster
said.
Mr.. Norton said the storm was
approximately $50 miles southeast
of Miami at $50 am, driving on
the same north northwestward
course with no sign of a turn to
the north. When it strikes, he said
the hurricane will be travelling al
most parallel with the necklace of
keys" which stretch out into the
Gulf of Mexico.
Ominous black and red warning
flags-were hoisted along the
Florida west coast from the keys
to Naples as the great winds
whirled on after battering the
Bahamas.
Residents in most outlying ex.
posed areas had already moved te
havenS OF safety.
/ Both Miami and Palm Beach hac
brief power failures as the storm
drew nearer. Over 100 patients al
the Morrison Field Hospital were
moved to the Biltmore Hotel in
Palm Beach. Forty per cent Of
them were bed patients.
| Vanguard HITS Keys.
At 10:30 am, ALI advisory said
the vanguard of the storm had al
ready reached the keys and tina;
the heart of the hurricane would
strike with winds of well over 125
m.ph.
Strong winds and gales now pre-
vail over the Florida keys and
Southeast Florida coast. Winds will
continue increasing, attaining hur-
ricane force at Naples and Fort
Lauderdale southwark by this after
noon," 1t warned.
Residents Of the keys, mindful OF
the 1885 blow that cost more than
500 lives, sped northward today by
bus lines, Army buses and private
cars to Homestead, on the main
land, or to shelter at Key West.
1 A Homestead police officer after a
tour Of the string OF islands report
ed at am. that ''just about every
| tSee HURRICANE, Page A-3.)
Truman News Conference
President Truman's next regular
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