Deadly Hurricane Jeanne strengthened rapidly as it crossed the northern Bahamas on Saturday on its way to deliver a record fourth hurricane strike in one season to densely populated Florida. Up to 3 million storm-weary Floridians were told to evacuate coastal islands, mobile homes and flood-prone areas. Others battened down the hatches one more time, stocking up on batteries, water and gasoline and shuttering homes, or streamed into public shelters. Many on the storm-scarred Atlantic coast, emboldened by having survived Hurricane Frances three weeks ago, vowed to remain at home, an act of defiance that alarmed authorities. As Jeanne's 115 mph (185 kph) winds, up from 105 mph (169 kph) overnight, and 8-foot (2.4-metre) storm surge lashed Great Abaco island in the Bahamas, a 700-island chain of 300,000 people stretching from Haiti to off the Florida coast, U.S. officials urged residents not to be complacent. Gov. Jeb Bush said people living in Florida's coastal areas could not assume they could ride out Jeanne just because they had survived the previous hurricanes. "People on the barrier islands who think they can ride this storm out should think again," Bush, brother of President George W. Bush, told reporters. "It is getting bigger and stronger." --More 2217 Local Time 1917 GMT
