Hurricane Charley slammed Florida's west coast with winds of 145 mph (233 kph) on Friday, striking south of populous Tampa and threatening to swamp the vulnerable shore with a 15-foot (4.6-metre) tidal surge. The approach of the rare and powerful Category 4 storm, the second strongest on the hurricane intensity scale, prompted evacuation orders for nearly 2 million people, shut down Disney World's central Florida theme parks and sent U.S. warships out to sea. Blamed for four deaths in Jamaica and Cuba, Charley threatened to swamp seaside buildings from the tourist islands of Sanibel and Captiva, off the southwest coast, to downtown Tampa. Emergency managers in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, the three largest cities in the area, urged people to move from beach communities, flood-prone lowlands and mobile home parks. Officials estimated that hundreds of thousands headed to higher ground, settling in hotels or public shelters. South Tampa resident Marge Glauch moved to a hotel with her family, including three young grandchildren, to escape the expected flood. --more 2329 Local Time 2029 GMT
