"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

More than a million people threatened by Hurricane Frances have been told to get out of Dodge Thursday. With its winds at 145 mph, Frances is as strong as the Category 4 Charley, and it's twice the size of the storm that ravaged Florida just weeks ago, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 80 miles from its center. Frances is about twice the size of 1992's Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 storm that destroyed much of southern Miami-Dade County.



(updated)Hurricane Frances has the potential to be the most costly U.S. catastrophe in history, according to an early estimate issued Thursday, with insured losses reaching as high as $35 billion. - story

(updated) The state of Florida has ordered the largest mass evacuation in its history. A total of 2.5 million people are now being told to evacuate barrier islands, low-lying coastal areas and mobile homes in the path of the storm.