Hurricane-weary Florida mops up, again

MIAMI - Residents armed with chain saws and brooms and an army of electrical repair crews on Tuesday attacked the shambles left behind by Hurricane Wilma's rampage through Florida, where 6 million people were without power.

Wilma, at one time the most intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin, killed at least four people in Florida after a devastating trek through the Caribbean that killed at least ten in Haiti and seven in Mexico.

A powerful Category 3 storm with 200km/h winds when it struck southwest Florida early on Monday (Tue NZT), Wilma was the eighth hurricane to hit the state in 15 months, an unprecedented assault by nature that left Floridians reeling.

"Really, really tired of this. This is the third time I've been without power (this year), first Katrina, then Rita, now this," said Miamian Joe Fraghatti, 30, who spent an hour on Tuesday morning in a fruitless search for petrol. "I'm definitely thinking of moving west."

The 2005 hurricane season, fuelled by warmer-than-usual sea temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean, has been a record-breaker, with 22 tropical storms or hurricanes, besting the mark of 21 set in 1933.

Hurricane Katrina, which burst the levees protecting New Orleans in late August and flooded the city, causing more than US$30 billion in damage and likely becoming the costliest natural disaster in US history.

Risk analysts have estimated Wilma's damage in Florida at up to US$10 billion.

The roar of chain saws ripped through the streets as Floridians cleaned up, stretching blue tarps over damaged roofs, dicing fallen trees and sweeping debris into piles at roadsides. They were heartened by a cold front that descended overnight, making it easier to cope without air conditioning after a steamy Florida summer.

"We're so lucky it's cool," said Fraghatti.

The storm left most of the 5 million people in Florida's most populous region, the metropolitan area of Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, without lights, air conditioning and refrigeration.

Florida Power & Light, the state's major utility, said it had a work force of 5100 replacing blown-out transformers and restringing miles of power lines brought down by the hurricane, which cut a swath across Florida from Naples on the southwest coast to West Palm Beach on the east.

By early Tuesday, power to 251,000 customers had been restored and 2.98 million customers were without electricity, the utility said. It could be four weeks before power is restored. One customer is said to represent two people.

South Florida's major airports in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach were closed, a blow to the state's US$57-billion-a-year tourism industry.

Emergency officials said they were scrambling to find food and tarps as the state emptied its warehouses to provide for victims. Search, rescue and recovery teams streamed into storm-ravaged areas from Naples to West Palm Beach.

"Meals continue to be a problem," state logistics chief Chuck Hagan said at a briefing on Tuesday. "All the food we had in the state ... will be pushed out today and we presently do not have any meals in reserve."

Wilma swamped the low-lying Florida Keys, surprising the estimated 90 per cent of residents who ignored evacuation orders and decided to stay. The tourist island Key West was inundated with hip-high water, forcing officials to postpone this week's annual Fantasy Fest, a Halloween costume celebration that normally draws thousands of tourists.

The storm went on to flood largely uninhabited areas of the southwest coast and raced across the state to greater Miami, where it shattered windows in office towers, littered streets with debris and sunk boats in Biscayne Bay.

Nasa said its Kennedy Space Centre on Florida's east coast would remain closed until inspections were completed. Some buildings were damaged. The centre is the launch and landing port for the US space agency's space shuttle fleet, which is grounded for repairs.

Before hitting Florida, Wilma devastated the tourist resort of Cancun, Mexico, over the weekend. It killed seven people in Mexico and triggered mudslides that killed 10 people last week in Haiti.

The storm also pounded Cuba, paralysing Havana and flooding coastal neighborhoods with 138km/h winds.

Forecasters said Wilma was the strongest storm to hit the Miami area since August 1992, when Hurricane Andrew caused more than A$25 billion in damage.

- REUTERS