Hurricane Dorian: Elderly woman evicted as devastating storm bears down on Florida

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A 75-year-old woman has been evicted from the Miami apartment where she has lived for 28 years – just as other residents are boarding up homes ahead of Hurricane Dorian.

Maria Cazanes had her belongings tossed from her second-floor condo in the US city after her landlord claimed she was violating rules by keeping cats.

Police, who were there to serve the eviction notice, are understood to have watched on as the landlord's associates threw her belongings from the second-floor South Beach flat onto the street below.

The timing of the incident – an old lady effectively being made homeless as the city goes into lockdown – caused disgust across the country when a neighbour posted pictures online of Ms Cazanes’ belongings left in the street.

“The hurricane is coming, and they just threw everything away,” one witness told the Miami New Times newspaper. “She’s a good lady. She never had a problem with anyone. And to take her out like that when a hurricane is coming? This is supposed to be a country of justice and compassion.”

Ms Cazanes, along with her 81-year-old brother and disabled son, are currently staying at a local Salvation Army following the incident on Friday evening.

But, after the national outcry, authorities now say they will stop eviction notices being served in times of crisis.

Mayor Carlos Giménez of Miami-Dade County said that police will no longer be allowed to serve such papers during storm emergencies

“The Miami-Dade Police Department will not be evicting anybody during a time of emergency,” he said. “We’re going to be stopping that.”

Hurricane Dorian is currently tearing through the Bahamas, where latest reports suggest at least five people have been killed and 13,000 properties damaged or destroyed.

It is expected to sweep up the US east coast after smashing into Florida, although, on Tuesday morning, it remained unclear when it would make landfall.