Reformed Ivan makes 2nd U.S. landfall
Florida readies for fourth hurricane, Jeanne
 |  Satellite image of Ivan and Jeanne taken at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. |
| |
| | HURRICANE JEANNE | As of 11 p.m. ET Thursday:
Position of center: 390 miles east of Great Abaco, Bahamas
Latitude: 26.1 north
Longitude: 70.8 west
Top sustained winds: 105 mph
Source: National Hurricane Center
|
|
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Reborn Tropical Depression Ivan, packing 5 to 10 inches of rain, made its way inland late Thursday night near the Texas-Louisiana border.
As of 11 p.m. ET, the storm's maximum sustained winds were 35 mph (56 kph) and Ivan was moving northwest at about 8 mph (13 kph), said the National Hurricane Center. The storm was expected to weaken as it moved farther into Texas.
On the eastern side of the storm, tornadoes are possible in southern Louisiana, the center said.
Ivan will probably make a westerly turn in the next 24 hours.
Ivan originally came ashore in Gulf Shores, Alabama, on September 15 as a major hurricane and made its way through Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. It dumped massive amounts of rain as far north as Pennsylvania, and while its winds subsided the storm never fell completely apart.
Ivan turned and moved to the south before regaining strength Wednesday as a tropical storm over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's just kind of like a cold front," Freddie Richard Jr., emergency preparedness director in Louisiana's Cameron Parish, told The Associated Press. "We're just getting some rain and a little bit of wind."
Meanwhile, Hurricane Jeanne is likely to strengthen and hit the Florida coast this weekend, giving the Sunshine State a record for the most hurricanes in a season, the nation's top hurricane forecaster said Thursday evening.
Jeanne follows hurricanes Charley and Frances, which hit the Florida peninsula, and Ivan.
Florida disaster officials attributed 22 deaths to Ivan, 30 to Frances and 27 to Charley.
Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said the center's research could find no other time that the Sunshine State has had that many hurricanes in a season. Texas was hit by four hurricanes in 1886.
Although there are several possibilities for the hurricane's path, "most of the computer projections, at least at this time, have it continuing toward the Florida peninsula," Mayfield said.
"The way it looks now, we will indeed have an impact in Florida. I don't see any way to get around that," he said.
Jeanne, currently a strong Category 2 storm, should strengthen in the next 24 hours and there is a strong chance it could become a major hurricane -- Category 3 -- on Friday. Mayfield said it is likely that a hurricane watch will be issued for Florida on Friday morning.
By Saturday afternoon, the hurricane's eye is expected to be in the northwest Bahamas, which is already under a hurricane watch. A watch means hurricane conditions are possible in the watch area in 36 hours.
There is a strong chance that by Saturday afternoon, Jeanne will produce tropical-storm-force winds on the east or east-central coast of Florida.
At 11 p.m., Jeanne's top winds were 105 mph (169 kph) and the storm was centered about 390 miles (628 kilometers) east of Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. It was moving west at near 6 mph (10 kph) and was expected to pick up speed early Friday, the center said.
Dangerous surf and rip currents, caused by large swells from the hurricane, are possible along the southeastern Florida coast, the center said.
A tropical storm watch has been posted for the central Bahamas, including Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.
Mayfield said there are several options for the track Jeanne might follow: from the Florida east coast into the Carolinas, or over the Florida Peninsula and Tampa and into the Gulf of Mexico, then northeast toward the Panhandle.
Haitian officials said Jeanne has killed more than 1,100 people in the Caribbean nation. More deaths were expected as floodwaters recede and disease spreads through a populace struggling with an insufficient health care system and a lack of potable water.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
