HOBE SOUND, Fla. -- Greg Norman and his wife rode out Hurricane Frances at their estate on the golf star’s enclave of Jupiter Island.
‘We, like everybody else, had a lot of tree damage. It’ll probably take me a day and a half to get off the property,’ Norman told WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach.
He checked the damage during a lull. When the worst of the storm was blowing through early Saturday, Norman was in his bedroom.
‘It was just like a wall of air started hitting the west side of our building. Everything was rattling, including the storm shutters,’ said Norman, who has twice won the British Open. ‘It was a strange, eerie feeling. What really got to me was the constant 70, 80, 90 mile an hour winds and how long they’ve lasted.’
The Normans switched to a generator when they joined 4 million people in Florida who lost power. The barrier island is 90 miles north of Miami.
Frances pounded Florida with high wind and heavy rain Sunday after it smashed across the state’s east coast. The storm weakened Sunday morning, crawling westward with maximum sustained wind near 90 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. Forecasters said it was possible Frances would regain intensity by Monday evening.
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