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Saturday, August 14, 2004

ABC 33/40 E-Forecast

ABC 33/40 E-FORECAST
Afternoon Edition For Saturday August 14, 2004

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* Call Before You Dig
* Wait the Required Amount of Time
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HURRICANE HEADLINES: Tragic reports continue to come out of
Southwest Florida this afternoon. No one is giving any definite fatality
numbers at this time because everything is very chaotic. One Charlotte
County hospital official reported that she knew of somewhere between 150-200
fatalities that had come to their three hospitals. Florida Governor Jeb
Bush says that disaster teams are having a hard time getting into some
areas. A Charlotte County government official reports that as many as 9,000
homes and buildings have been destroyed. He said, "We have met our
Andrew."

HARDEST HIT AREA: Charlotte County, Florida was at ground zero as
Hurricane Charley struck land yesterday afternoon. The cities of Port
Charlotte and Punta Gorda were hardest hit. They are situated on a body of
water called Charlotte Harbor. There are reportedly thirty one mobile home
parks in Charlotte County. Looking at helicopter video of the damage, many
of the residences are travel trailers with foundations built around them.
Quite a lot of them are smashed into smithereens. Video from Sanibel Island
reveals that virtually every home was damaged. Upper Captiva Island was
split in two by the storm. The eyewall of Charley edged along the outer
islands before it turned inland at Charlotte Harbor.

CHARLEY'S OTHER IMPACTS: One fatality occurred in Orlando as winds
gusting to 105 mph flipped a tractor-trailer onto a car on the interstate,
killing a young girl. A person was electrocuted in Daytona Beach by a
fallen electrical line. Damage is evident is all across the state of
Florida all along the path from Charlotte County to Volusia County on the
East Coast with the greatest damage in Charlotte, Highlands, DeSoto, Hardee
and Lee Counties. The hurricane passed into the Atlantic, remaining
offshore of the Georgia coast and coming inland again between Charleston,
South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina. That is a big area, but the
storm had a huge center. Charley was downgraded to a tropical storm at 2
p.m. EDT. A wind gust to 66 mph was observed at Wrightsville Beach, NC
before the equipment failed. Charley will continue over eastern North
Carolina, Virginia and into Maryland tonight.

TROPICS: Tropical Depression Four is about 600 miles southeast of
the Windward Islands. It will pass into the Caribbean tomorrow as Tropical
Storm Earl. It will become a hurricane as it passes south of Puerto Rico on
Monday. By Tuesday it will be near Haiti. The long range forecast is for
it to be south of the western tip of Cuba on Thursday. Tropical Storm
Danielle is way out in the eastern Atlantic and will stay well out to sea.

OUR WEATHER: Dozens of record lows were reported this morning
across the country including here in Birmingham (54) and Pinson (49.) We
will come close to records again tonight. Skies will be mostly sunny
through at least Monday, with partly cloudy conditions into midweek. An
approaching front will set off showers in the Thursday and Friday time
frame. Daytime highs will quickly rebound to normal levels which is near 90
degrees. We still have a three nights of readings in the 50s and 60s still
ahead for us.

Bill Murray
bmurray@theweathercompany.com

ABC 33/40 7 Day Planner: http://www.abc3340.com/weather/7day.hrb
ABC 33/40 Weathertalk:
http://www.abc3340.com/weather/weathertalk.hrb

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TONIGHT
Clear skies, comfortable temperatures. Another record low likely.
Morning Low 56
WIND: Light

SUNDAY
Mostly sunny.
Morning Low 56 Afternoon High 85
WIND: N 5-10

MONDAY
Continued sunny.
Morning Low 61 Afternoon High 87
WIND: E 5-10

TUESDAY
Partly sunny. A hotter afternoon.
Morning Low 64 Afternoon High 90
WIND: SW 5-10

WEDNESDAY
A mix of sun and clouds. Hot and humid.
Morning Low 70 Afternoon High 91
WIND: SW 5-10

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Tonight on ABC 33/40

6:00pm ABC 33/40 News
6:30pm Wheel of Fortune
7:00pm NFL Football: Titans and Browns
10:00pm ABC 33/40 News/Sports Final
10:35pm Providence

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