blather
a_'marathon'_of_anxiety_and_devastation
Frances
What's_the_'Point'?

* Gaston_and_Frances *

Satellite view taken September 4, 2004 of Hurricane Frances as it nears the Florida coast.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040904/ids_photos_ts/r3964073209.jpg
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. the storm pummeled Florida's shore with 90 mph (145-kph) wind gusts and promised to dump torrential rain on the peninsula for up to 15 hours... 040904
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. Storm Tracker: Hurricane Frances

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/HURRICANE?SITE=YAHOO&SECTION=HOME
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jpg Hurricane Frances is seen just after making landfall north of West Palm Beach Florida in this National Weather Service (news - web sites) regional composite radar image shot at 11:45 p.m. EDT, Saturday, Sept. 4, 2004

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040905/lthumb.ny12709050422.hurricane_frances_ny127.jpg
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a "point" ***
* "marathon"
***

The storm's eye is so huge -- a staggering 60 miles in diameter -- and its 4-mph speed is so slow that forecasters were invoking the word "marathon" to describe the ordeal that much of Florida is about to endure. 040904
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