Hurricane Frances churned its way toward the Bahamas today after forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes in the nearby British territory of Turks and Caicos as the Caribbean faced one of its strongest storms in years.
More than million people in Florida, where a state of emergency was declared, were told the evacuate their homes. States of emergency were also declared in Georgia and the Carolinas.
Workers hang plywood over the window of a home in Jupitor, Florida in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Frances
Frances is predicted to hit the US coast with winds of up to 156 mph tomorrow night.
The hurricane's lashing winds of more than 145 mph tore tin roofs off houses and plucked trees from the ground as it hit the Turks and Caicos. No injuries were reported but hundreds fled their homes and many telephone lines were still down, said Karen Delancy, with the Turks and Caicos Emergency Management Service.
Many of the territory's 20,000 residents ignored the call to evacuate. The chain of more than 700 islands has a population of about 300,000 people.
Forecasters warned Americans from Florida to the Carolinas to monitor Frances - the third major hurricane of the Atlantic season, following Alex and Charley.
Frances already could be felt in the south-eastern Bahamas this morning. Government officials were still trying to assess the damage in the southern islands.
More than a million Florida coastal residents were told to flee today in advance of Frances, which could be the mightiest storm to hit the state in a decade. Florida Governor Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency, and called up the National Guard.
Three weeks ago, Hurricane Charley raked Florida's western coast with 145 mph winds, killing 27 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.