The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-09-16
200 Injured In Navf
Base Fire AS Storm
Continues Northward
CONTINUED from Page One)

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distance out in the Gulf of Mexico.
This movement will cause the
storm to- affect all of peninsula
Florida and adjacent water area.
obstructive winds are indicated
for central Florida late tonight and
Sunday and over north Florida Sum-
day. Hurricane winds that now
prevail over extreme south Florida
will begin to diminish slowly after
midnight.
Hurricane warnings are now
displayed over the entire Florida
peninsula"
At 9 D. m. the winds in Miami
had ebbed to 68 M. P. H.
The highest unofficial reported
winds at West Palm Beach were
about 60 M. P. H.
Full hurricane warnings were dis
played from Palm Beach around
the southern Florida coast to Tam
pa and at 5:45 pm. storm warn
ings were ordered up along the east
coast to Fernandina, near the Geor-
gia state line, and St. Marks on
the west coast south of Tallahas-
lsee..
Swirls
The hurricane swirled viciously
across the Florida Keys and at
5:45 o'clock its center was in Florl-
da bay about so mills north Of Ia
vernier, a little fishing village at
the southern tip of Key Largo. The
storm was pointed towards Ever.
glades City on the mainland.
Eighty-nine mile winds roared
through Miami and Miami Beach
at 6:32 pm, smashing plate glass,
carrying away colorful beach ca
banas, lifting roofs off few build
ings, overturning automobiles and
flooding deserted Collins Avenue,
along the oceanfront.
The weather bureau said the
wind direction had changed to
southeast at Miami and should be-
gin to diminish in this area about
10 pm, after increasing to ap-
proximately 10 miles an hour.
Grave fears that south Florida's
multi-million dollar grapefruit, or
ange, lime and avocado crops
would be destroyed were express
ed. Many fruit trees were uprooted.
A number of Miami's streets were
blocked by fallen trees.
The police department halted all
traffic over the three causeways
connecting Miami and Miami
Beach to prevent motorists from
being blown into Biscayne Bay.
During the great Miami hurricane
of 1926 when 327 persons died and
6,327 were injured, many of the
dead were lost by venturing out
on the causeways as the storm CEN
ter passed giving treacherous
| lull.
Storm Shelters
ALI public buildings including
schools, police stations, post offices
and motion picture theaters were
thrown open as emergency storm
shelters in virtually every south
Florida city. Hundreds were under
cover in them, some late arrivals
bedraggled and soaking wet.
More than 1000 Red Cross work
ers were on the job, some in dan
zero spots. Gene Hall of Miami,
letter carrier and Red Cross vol
unteer, carried an emergency r.
dio transmitter into the storm at
Key Largo
"Cocoanuts were yanked off trees
and flew through the air like foot
balls in forward passes" he re-
ported. water covers the overseas
highway on Key Largo. I located
one family covering in the storm
after most of their house blew
away"
The extreme 143 mile velocity
was reported at Carysfort Light, 40
miles southeast of Miami.
Earl Shugars, Associated Press
staff photographer, reported his
car was blown three-quarters of a
block backward as he attempted
to buck the wind in bring in pic
lures of the great storm.
Highways Uttered
August Rizzolla, of New York
city, said he drove almost to Key
Largo at the height of the hurri
cane and saw several facilies COW.
ering in makeshift shelters after
their rough wooden homes had
been blown away, trees and palm
fronds Uttered the h g w y
throughout the 40-mile trip, he
said.
A $3.50 p. m. advisory sent hur-
ricane warnings flying at Palm
Beach and Tampa and placed the
rest of Florida on the alert. Prev
iously the hurricane warning zone
covered South Florida from Fort
Lauderdale to Naples.
The Lake Okeechobee region
scene of Florida's greatest hur,
ricane disaster in 1923 when some
1000 persons were killed, was in
Guided in the area in which the
grim red-and-black warning were
hoisted.
Chief forecas.er Grady No~tor,