Ernesto Soaks Fla.; John Gains Power

Florida is taking Tropical Storm Ernesto very seriously – with over a thousand people evacuated to shelters, and countless others hunkered down with emergency supplies.

At 11:30 p.m., Ernesto came ashore at Plantation Key, Fla., after several hours of rain from its outer edges, but with a diminished force that surprised forecasters who had thought it might strengthen as it approached Florida.

As the threat of damaging winds abated, rain became the number one concern, and police distributed thousands of sandbags in the low-lying Miami suburb of Sweetwater. As much as ten inches of rain is predicted.

At 2 a.m., the center of the storm was located about 50 miles south-southwest of Miami, with maximum sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour, and a chance of being downgraded to a tropical depression during the day on Wednesday.

Ernesto is moving toward the north-northwest at about 7 miles per hour, and a turn to the north with an increase in forward speed is expected during the day Wednesday.

The center of Ernesto is forecast to move through the middle of Florida and exit by early Thursday, via the northeast coast on its way to the Atlantic, where it could regain hurricane strength before hitting Georgia or the Carolinas.

Briefly a hurricane Sunday, Ernesto lost much of its punch crossing mountainous eastern Cuba. The storm crossed the Florida Straits with top sustained winds of 45 mph and was expected to move through Florida overnight as a weak tropical storm.

"Fortunately it didn't get too big," said David Rudduck of the American Red Cross. "It was the little train that couldn't."

That was good news for Florida, the victim of seven hurricanes since 2004.

"Frankly, I am surprised it has not strengthened," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center. "But for all those thousands and thousands of people with blue-tarped roofs, that's good news. ... As a homeowner, I'm very happy. As a forecaster, I'm not very happy."

The storm has been especially worrisome for thousands of residents still awaiting repairs to damage from hurricanes in 2004 and 2005.

Many Floridians will weather the storm with nothing between them and the elements but a thin blue tarp. CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports nearly 20,000 families in the Miami area alone are still waiting to have their roofs repaired from damage done by Hurricane Wilma last October. The problem is lack of money, materials and manpower.

"I understand, you know, other places are destroyed completely, but a year later?" says Glenda Mora of Miami. Her entire condo community was damaged last October. "They gotta look at us, too. We're still waiting."

In Key Largo, John and Rebecca Strydom planned to ride out the storm in their sailboat in shallow waters among mangroves, which they said protect boats from large waves and cause less damage than being tied to a dock. Rebecca Strydom, 35, said about 40 vessels were joining them there.

"We make sure that everybody is tied in because we don't want them to get loose," she said. "I feel safer out there."

Accidents on rain-slickened expressways have killed at least two people. A Miami woman died after the car in which she was riding hydroplaned and struck a palm tree, and a motorcyclist was killed near Boca Raton after skidding and being struck by two other vehicles.

Officials had feared much worse weather. In the Keys, Monroe County emergency management director Irene Toner smiled as she watched steady rain fall.

"This is great," she said. "Compared to what it could have been, we are fortunate."

On Miami Beach, usually vibrant Lincoln Road was quiet, and many businesses closed early. Among those finding food at an Italian restaurant was actor Mickey Rourke with his dog Loki, wearing a pink argyle sweater.

"What storm?" Rourke said. "This is nothing."

The state has been standing by, ready to respond if necessary with 500 National Guard members and another 500 state law enforcement officers.

"This does not look like a catastrophic event, but we always want to be ready," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in Tallahassee. He attended Katrina anniversary events earlier in the day in Louisiana and Mississippi.

NASA scrubbed Tuesday's launch of Atlantis. The space agency began moving the shuttle back to its hangar to protect it from the storm, then reversed course later in the day when forecasters predicted that winds would not be as severe as initially feared.

"It is always difficult to forecast intensity," Mayfield said. "We've been very honest with people about that."

Tropical storm watches or warnings remain in effect for much of coastal Florida. A hurricane watch was posted for the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Across populous south Florida Tuesday, residents scurried to make last-minute preparations before hunkering down. Lines formed early in the morning at groceries, gas stations, pharmacies and home supply stores, and many schools were closed through Wednesday.

More than a thousand people sought refuge at shelters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Others embraced the weather as an opportunity. A squall preceding the storm brought out kite-surfers on Miami Beach until the wind became too strong.

In the laid-back Florida Keys, many residents took the storm in stride. At the Hurricane Grille in Marathon, wall-mounted televisions showed Ernesto heading for the Keys as Dean Carrigan enjoyed beer and a game of darts.

"It's definitely the Keys lifestyle that we're out here drinking and having a good time," he said.

Ernesto killed at least two people in Haiti, including a woman washed out to sea Sunday from a southern island, the country's civil protection agency said.

There were no reports of damage or deaths in Cuba. In an unusual public acknowledgment of the cooperation that has long existed between U.S. and Cuban weather services, the hurricane center thanked Cuba's government for permitting reconnaissance aircraft "to fly right up to their coastline to gather this critical weather data."

Meanwhile, off Mexico's west coast, Hurricane John grew into a powerful Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph. The storm threatens to cause flooding and ruin vacations in some Pacific resorts, but it is not expected to directly hit land.

John became the sixth Pacific hurricane of the season earlier in the day on Tuesday.