Hurricane Frances killed two people in Florida and knocked out power for about three million people, authorities said Monday, as a new storm gathered force in the Atlantic.
Frances felled thousands of trees, tore roofs off houses, smashed traffic lights, downed power cables and left Florida facing a new multi-billion dollar bill only weeks after Hurricane Charley killed more than 20 people and left more than 6.8 billion dollars of damage.
Frances killed two people in Gainesville in north-central Florida on Sunday after the hurricane had already killed two in the Bahamas. It has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.
A man died when he lost control of his car and hit a tree, and a woman was killed when an oak tree fell on her mobile home, Captain Beth Hardee of Alachua County Fire and Rescue said.
Experts said it could build up strength again over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and cause new havoc on Florida's northern Gulf coast. Authorities ordered evacuations in some counties there. The National Hurricane Centre warned that isolated tornadoes could strike in Florida and neighbouring Georgia and Alabama.
Forecasters said Ivan could hit Haiti and the Dominican Republic around Thursday.
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