By Hilary Roxe
The Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. - The only whooshing sound Hurricane Ivan stirred in the Keys and populous South Florida on Sunday was a sigh of relief from residents no longer fearful the 150-mph storm would make a direct hit.

But even as Ivan veered west on a course that would take it away from the 120-mile island chain and Florida's east coast, forecasters warned that the state, already slammed by two powerful hurricanes in a month, was not out of the woods yet.

Ivan's forecast track across the eastern Gulf of Mexico could take it ashore on the Florida Panhandle, which took a glancing blow from Hurricane Frances, or parts of the state's west coast that are recovering from Hurricane Charley.

"It's creepy," said Amanda Morrow, sipping frozen coffee at a Tampa restaurant that still had windows boarded up against the earlier storms. "No one knows where it's going to go. That's what is stressful."

Ivan, blamed for at least 60 deaths and hundreds of injuries as it roared across Caribbean island nations, was expected to pass near or over the western tip of Cuba - possibly as an intensified Category 5 storm - sometime Monday.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, Ivan had top sustained wind of 150 mph, down from 165 mph on Saturday, and was centered 210 miles southeast of Cuba's western tip, the National Hurricane Center said. The minimum for Category 5 status is 156 mph wind.

The storm was moving toward the west-northwest at 10 mph and was expected to turn gradually toward the northwest.

While hurricane center projections had the storm bypassing the Keys, brushing it with only tropical storm-force wind, uncertainty about its course prompted officials to keep an evacuation order in place for the island chain's 79,000 residents.

"We would be foolish to lift the evacuation order now," said Irene Toner, Monroe County's emergency management director.

Gov. Jeb Bush said about half of the Keys' residents obeyed the evacuation order. But the Overseas Highway, the only way in and out of the Keys, was not blocked and some evacuees began trickling back during the weekend, though officials were not sure how many.

Tom Bordovsky, 51, was among the Key West residents who never left.

"Motel rooms, gas ... it's just a big hassle," he explained.

A few Key West restaurants reopened, beachgoers went kite surfing and some grocery shoppers - no longer fearful they'd lose power for their freezers - bought ice cream.

"They made a panic out of nothing," said Evaldas Kubilius, 30, who took advantage of what he called perfect conditions for kite surfing. "It's great, especially when you've got nothing to do."

Forecasters acknowledged Sunday what many were thinking.

"The east part of Florida looks like it got lucky," said Rafael Mojica, a meteorologist at the hurricane center. However, he added: "The west part is still within the cone of uncertainty and any deviation to the right by Ivan could mean a close call."

Farther north, in the Florida Panhandle, some residents boarded up their homes Sunday. But others may have been thinking of Hurricane Frances, the second of three storms that struck the Florida peninsula, which threatened the region last week but limped through without causing major problems.

"It came on a lion and went out a lamb - a lot of people are going to remember that," said Billy Porter, 57, of Sopchoppy, who left the St. Marks boat ramp Sunday to fish for mullet. "They'll think this one might do the same thing. That's what's scary."

Because of Frances, some 335,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity Sunday, utilities said.

However, schools and government offices in many counties planned to reopen Monday after an unplanned week off. And gas stations no longer teemed with motorists rushing to top off their tanks.

Alex Medwit, 50, of Boca Raton, filled the tank of his BellSouth repair truck in an uncrowded filling station, the first time he's seen it that way since Frances struck.

"We definitely did not need another hurricane," said Medwit, who's received food, water and even a thank-you card from homeowners whose phone lines he's repaired. "People are so relieved, so happy that Ivan isn't going to hit. ... These people do not need another hurricane - it's all been too much."