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Published on Saturday, September 4, 2004
in the Palm Beach Post

Police to check highways during eye of storm

The Florida Highway Patrol will venture out into the eye of the storm to look for motorists who might be stranded but have no way to call for help, said Lt. Pat Santangelo.

Troopers also will clean up debris from major highways, remove disabled vehicles, and otherwise make sure main roads are cleared in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. The eye is expected to reach land sometime overnight.

The priorities will be Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike.

"There may be people out there right now that have been stranded for hours," Santangelo said.

FHP cruisers - "dozens at least" - are on standby to "haul butt" when the eye arrives, Santangelo said.

"We'll have cars flying all over the county," he said.

In other news, the first fire during the hurricane was reported, said Capt. Don DeLucia of Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. The patient was not breathing when rescue workers arrived, DeLucia said. No further information was available yet, he said.

Statewide, 1.4 million Florida Power & Light customers have lost power. But 300,000 of those have had power restored, spokesman Tony Newbold said.