Katrina Becomes a Hurricane; Moves Into Florida

urricane Katrina blew ashore onto Florida's southeastern coast late Thursday afternoon, shortly after being upgraded by meteorologists from a tropical storm, news services reported.

Katrina's maximum sustained winds passed the 74-mph hurricane threshold as the slow-moving storm came ashore north of Miami near Ft. Lauderdale, the National Hurricane Center said.

Katrina is a Category 1 hurricane, the lowest of five levels, in a category with top winds of 74 mph to 95 mph. Wind damage from them is generally minimal, though Katrina was expected to drench South Florida with rain because it was moving so slowly, the Associated Press reported.

Forecasters have Katrina on a track to move northward into the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s West Coast as it moves toward the state’s panhandle region.

Such a track would keep it away from most Gulf of Mexico oil operations, with minimal disruptions to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

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