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Hurricane Frances slams into Florida coast

Jay Guillory inspects his mobile home destroyed by Hurricane Frances in Fort Pierce, Florida On Monday. The hurricane killed at least five people and caused damage estimated at up to US$10 billion over the weekend. PHOTO: EPA

Frances sloshed into the Florida Panhandle on Monday, taking a second swing at a storm-weary state where it already had knocked out power to 6 million people, torn up roofs and boats and been blamed for at least nine deaths.

While Panhandle residents rode out the tropical storm's heavy rain and wind blowing at a sustained 105kph, shutters started coming down in the south and residents began returning to homes they had evacuated.

The return revealed fresh hardship as motorists waited for gasoline in queues that stretched up to eight kilometers, and others stood in enormous lines to get water, ice and other basic supplies. There was even a long line at a dump in Miami, where 25 cars waited to dispose of storm debris.

"We really hope to get ice and everything else. We don't know what they have in there," said Christine Bland, standing in line with about 1,500 other people at a Wal-Mart in Palm Beach County. Up the coast in Fort Pierce, hundreds of people stood in a line with buckets and ice chests on a sunny, steamy afternoon.

More than 3 million people remained without power Monday night.

President George W. Bush, expected to survey the damage Wednesday, is asking Congress to approve US$2 billion to help victims of hurricanes Charley and Frances.

The core of the storm, once a powerful Category 4 hurricane before it slowed somewhat, slammed into the state's Atlantic coast early Sunday. After crossing the state and a corner of the Gulf of Mexico, it made its second Florida landfall near Tallahassee early Monday afternoon. At 8pm, maximum sustained winds had dropped to near 64kph.

Forecasters said Frances could bring up to 25cm of rain and a 1.5m to 3m storm surge to the Panhandle. Four coastal counties ordered evacuations.

Frances was moving north-northwest at about 18kph, forecasters said, and bound for Georgia and Alabama.

"You can tell it's getting very close -- there's lots of rain, lots of wind now," said Penny Bolin, executive director of the Red Cross chapter in Albany, Georgia. "What we're concerned most about is flooding -- we're expecting large amounts of rainfall."

But while Frances was heading out of Florida, residents had started keeping a wary eye on yet another storm. Ivan, the fifth hurricane of the year, had sustained wind of near 170kph and was centered 338km southeast of Barbados in the central Atlantic.

Airports in Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach and Key West reopened. By Monday evening, more than 80,000 people remained in shelters, down from about 108,000 on Sunday. The largest evacuation in state history had affected 47 of Florida's 67 counties.

Cruise ships arrived belatedly at the Port of Miami after staying at sea to avoid the storm and extending their passengers' voyages. The Postal Service played catchup by delivering mail on Labor Day. Some schools made preparation for classes after serving as shelters during the weekend.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was prepared to distribute 5.7 million liters of water and 1 million meals.

One risk-assessment company estimated insured losses from Frances could range from US$2 billion to US$10 billion. A state official said damage could have been worse.

"If it's the same all the way across, we're looking at a couple of billion dollars rather than the big numbers we were seeing earlier," state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said.

There were at least 25 arrests for looting statewide.

The storm's core angled across Florida to enter the gulf north of Tampa, its path crossing some of the area hit by Charley, which killed 27 people in Florida and caused an estimated US$7.4 billion in insured damage.

The nine Florida deaths blamed on Frances included a grandson and a former son-in-law of Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden. The pair died in a collision on a rain-slippery highway.

On Monday, a school employee died in Ocala after falling from a ladder while checking the roof of a middle school for damage.

A man in the Fort Myers area died Sunday while walking his dog when he was struck by flying debris.
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