BRACING FOR FLOYD; SOUTHEAST SET FOR WORST AS HURRICANE NEARS.

Byline: Tracy Fields Associated Press 

More than 1 million people were told to evacuate the Atlantic coast Monday, and NASA all but abandoned Cape Canaveral as Hurricane Floyd - one of the most powerful storms ever to threaten the United States - charged toward Florida with potentially catastrophic 155 mph winds.

Floyd was much larger than Hurricane Andrew, which smashed into South Florida in 1992, causing $25 billion in damage, killing 26 people and leaving 160,000 homeless.

Forecasters said Floyd would brush past the Bahamas overnight and could hit land in the next couple of days between central Florida and South Carolina. They predicted it was capable of causing enormous damage.

``It's scary. It's very scary,'' said Gov. Jeb Bush, who declared a state of emergency Monday night. ``Andrew hit Miami in the middle of the night, and it was haunting. This is as strong and . . . three times bigger.''

The storm could be dangerous even if it does not come ashore. Floyd's hurricane-force winds - at least 74 mph - extend for 125 miles. By comparison, Andrew's hurricane-force winds extended about 25 or 30 miles.

With a hurricane warning in effect Monday from Florida City, south of Miami, to Brunswick, Ga., residents along 400 miles of coastline packed stores to stock up on canned food, bottled water, plywood and aluminum shutters. Navy ships left port to ride out the storm at sea, and aircraft were sent inland.

Officials said 1 million people were urged to evacuate in Florida.

Georgia was under a hurricane watch from Brunswick to Savannah, a 70-mile span, and forecasters said that likely would be extended into South Carolina overnight. Coastal residents in the Brunswick and Savannah areas were urged to evacuate.

``This is probably the most serious threat we've had to the Georgia coast this century,'' said Gary McConnell, director of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges ordered 600 National Guard troops and 500 state police to the coast to help in case an evacuation is ordered.

At Kennedy Space Center, which is just 9 feet above sea level, almost all of the 12,500 workers were leaving. A skeleton crew remained behind, but they, too, will evacuate if the wind gets as fierce as predicted. That would be the first complete evacuation of the space center.

Three of NASA's space shuttles were in a hangar that was designed to withstand wind of only up to 105 mph. A fourth was in a building designed to stand winds of up to 125 mph. Four multimillion-dollar rockets were exposed on launch pads and could not be moved.

Universal Studios and other tourist attractions in central Florida that were built in the last 30 years and have never been through a major hurricane prepared by lowering water levels in man-made lagoons and removing trash cans and anything else that could become projectiles.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Floyd was 360 miles east-southeast of Miami. The hurricane was moving slightly north of due west near 14 mph with top winds of 155 mph - just below Category 5 strength, the highest rating for hurricanes.

Forecasters predicted that Floyd would turn northwest on Tuesday, possibly sparing Miami and other parts of South Florida.

Only two Category 5 hurricanes have hit the United States since records have been kept: the 1935 Labor Day storm that slammed the Florida Keys, killing 423 people, and Hurricane Camille, which roared ashore in Mississippi in 1969, killing 256. Andrew was a Category 4.

Forecasters in North Carolina said the storm could move through there Wednesday night. Coastal residents, still recovering from Hurricane Dennis last week, were reminded of Hurricane Hugo, which hit South Carolina 10 years ago this month and was one of the state's worst disasters.

``Hurricane Floyd is huge, he's powerful, he's fast, and he's mean,'' said Richard Moore, North Carolina's public safety secretary.

James McDougal of Cocoa, Fla., spent the last day of his vacation Monday at a Home Depot in Merritt Island, waiting to pick up plywood to cover his home's windows.

``It's kind of a mess,'' he said of the store. ``Once you get inside, every single cash register is crammed.''

June Mastandrea, whose home was destroyed by Andrew, said she was already prepared for Floyd and was doing some last-minute food shopping for friends. She had already told employees in her cabinet business to go home.

``I am ready,'' she said. ``I'm too busy to think about it. If I do I'll start to cry.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) At top, Hurricane Floyd dwarfs the state of Florida. Above, workers in Indialantic, Fla., prepare for Floyd's arrival.

Delinda Karnehm/Florida Today

(3) Residents of Nassau, Bahamas, line up in a supermarket early Monday to buy supplies in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Floyd.

Christopher Saunders/Associated Press

(4) As Hurricane Floyd moves closer to making landfall, a municipal worker in Charleston, S.C., prepares by securing plywood to the windows of City Hall.

Robin Bass/The Post And Courier