Show I Florida Storm Gradually Losing Force ForceST ST ST. PETERSBURG Fla Sept 6 UP A UP-A A backtracking hurricane hurricane hurricane hurri hurri- cane be began an to lose some ome o of its punch Wednesday day after h battering the Florida west coa coast t for or hours with winds up to 12 mph mp h. h The coast const h g guard u a r d reported Wednesday morning that th the tug Cherokee battered by the storm for two days had reached safety in St. St Petersburg harbor with its iL man 10 crew The vess vessel l was towed in by the coast guard cutter cutter cut cut- ter N Nemesis ig after her rudder broke during what the Mi Miami ml weather i bureau classified a as the worst storm ever to hit the north end of the gulf coast Damage was estimated at more than in the St. St Petersburg Peters Peters- burg burg- area alone Its long Jong stay over o land coupled with drier air feeding ceding in from the northwest drained the storm of much of oC its vigor Anclote key had winds of oC 62 m mph p h at am a.m. and the weather wel bureau said it was WM doubtful there were any more winds of hurricane force However squalls ranged out over most of north and central Florida and high tides pounded the coast from Tampa bay southward A mid midmorning morning morning- advisory said the storm was centered a short distance distance dis dig tance north ot of Tampa and was movin moving very slowly if at all |