MIAMI (Reuters) - Powerful Hurricane Frances pounded the Bahamas and roared toward the crowded southeast Florida coast on Friday, sending hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes and shutting down a large part of the state.

Gasoline stations throughout south Florida ran short of fuel and storm shelters quickly filled up as the authorities ordered 2.5 million people to evacuate mobile and prefabricated houses, and coastal islands, while the weakening but still extremely dangerous hurricane edged closer.

Frances, coming just three weeks after Hurricane Charley cut a swath of destruction in southwest Florida, battered the Bahamas, a 700-island chain, throughout the night with winds up to 125 mph, residents said.

"We have been given a good licking for the last 10 hours. Stones are being picked up off the ground and thrown against the house," a resident of Wemyss Bight, on Eleuthera island, told local radio. Roofs were torn off and trees uprooted but there were no early reports of injuries.

By 8 a.m., Frances was located over Eleuthera at latitude 25.3 north and longitude 76.4 west, around 260 miles east-southeast of Florida's southeast coast.

Its sustained winds had eased to 120 mph from 140 mph Thursday, but meteorologist Colin McAdie of the U.S. National Hurricane Center said there was still a reasonable chance it would strengthen before reaching Florida.

The Bahamas capital Nassau braced itself for ferocious winds later in the morning that could last for up to 12 hours.

"The Bahamas will suffer hurricane conditions for quite some time. The whole archipelago is going to be affected," said the country's chief meteorologist, Basil Dean.

The storm was moving more slowly, at 9 mph, in a west-northwesterly direction, and was expected to slow further, meaning hurricane-strength winds would last longer and cause more damage over built-up areas.

"Slowing down may not be such good news," said Craig Fugate, director of Florida's division of emergency management.

"Some of those areas will experience hurricane force winds for longer periods of time and also see a lot more rain. We used to talk about how many inches, now we may be talking about how many feet."

'HURRICANE SEASON FROM HELL'

As Tropical Storm Ivan developed off Africa's Cape Verde islands, state meteorologist Ken Nelson reminded emergency officials that the June 1-Nov. 30 Atlantic hurricane season was only beginning to ramp up.

"This is the hurricane season from hell. It's starting to look that way," Nelson said.

Frances took aim at the Florida peninsula just three weeks after Charley caused $7.4 billion in insured losses and killed more than 20 people.

It carried a potential storm surge of up to 14 feet above normal tides, and was expected to pour 10 to 20 inches of rain on Florida.

Almost the entire Florida east coast was under a hurricane warning, reviving memories of Hurricane Andrew, the most costly U.S. storm in history, which ravaged the Miami area in 1992, causing $25 billion in damages. Frances was broader than Andrew.

Florida's most populous areas were at risk, including Tampa and tourist center Orlando, home of Disney World . Kennedy Space Center secured its three space shuttles.

International airports at Miami and Orlando were scheduled to close at midday Friday but the storm's slower approach meant they could stay open longer.

Long lines continued throughout the night at the few gasoline stations that still had plentiful fuel supplies. Authorities in central Osceola county declared a curfew from Friday night to deter looters.

Schools, courts and offices closed and stores ran out of plywood and flashlights. Automatic teller machines ran out of cash.

Fugate said people needed to take responsibility for their own safety and their neighbors.