Fury of Frances set to slam Bahamas
Hurricane watch issued for Florida's east coast
(CNN) -- Hurricane Frances, a Category 4 storm, continued its path toward the Bahamas on Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
The center has issued a hurricane watch for the east coast of Florida from Florida City, south of Miami, to Flagler Beach, north of Daytona Beach. A hurricane watch means hurricane-strength conditions are possible in the area within 36 hours.
A tropical storm watch was issued for the Florida Keys north of the Seven Mile Bridge.
By 11 p.m. Wednesday ET, the eye of Frances was 60 miles east-northeast of the southeastern Bahamas, and 585 miles east-southeast of Florida's east coast.
Hurricanes are classified as categories 1-5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. A Category 4 storm has winds of 131-155 mph (201-249 kph). Frances has maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph).
Winds as fast as 72 mph were reported on Grand Turk Island as the eye of the storm passed to the northwest.
No injuries had been reported, but many telephone lines were still down, Karen Delancy with the Turks and Caicos Emergency Management Service told The Associated Press.
Forecasters expected Frances to strike the southeastern islands of the Bahamas on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Rainfall amounts between five and 10 inches are possible, the NHC said. Frances was heading west-northwest at about 14 mph.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the center of the storm, and tropical storm -force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 kilometers).
"It may weaken a little bit, but we really do think it will regain its strength, and people should really be preparing for a Category 4 hurricane," National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield said.
The hurricane will be significantly larger than Charley, which hit southern and central Florida last month.
"Wherever Frances makes landfall, it will likely have an impact over a much, much larger area," Mayfield said.
Two states that could lie in Frances' path have recent experiences with devastating storms.
Florida is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 storm that slammed into Charlotte County on the Gulf Coast on August 13, then crossed the state and headed into the Atlantic near Daytona Beach.
South Carolina, which could get heavy rain from Frances, is reeling from Tropical Storm Gaston, which pushed deadly flooding into already saturated areas Sunday.
Two Category 4 storms have never struck the United States in the same year, according to National Hurricane Center records dating back to 1871.
According to the hurricane center, the last time two major hurricanes made landfall in the same year in Florida was 1950, when two Category 3 storms, Hurricane Easy and Hurricane King, struck.
With the approach of the storm, the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for U.S. visitors to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and authorized nonemergency embassy personnel and their families in the Bahamas to leave.
The warning urged visitors to the Turks and Caicos Islands to seek shelter and to register with the embassy.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
