Hurricane Frances slams into Florida, Bush declares 'major disaster'

Hurricane Frances weakened slightly as it moved across south-eastern Florida early Sunday but forecasters warned there were many hours of bad weather still in store for the Sunshine State.
At sunrise Sunday (11 GMT) the back edge of the eye of the hurricane was just slamming into Florida's Atlantic coast, which had already endured hours of wind and rain that ripped up trees and power lines and left more than two million without power.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush was due to inspect conditions here later Sunday after his brother, President George W. Bush, declared a "major disaster" in the five Florida counties the day before to expedite federal aid to the zone.
Authorities warned residents hunkered down in shelters, motels and boarded up homes to resist the temptation to go outside to investigate conditions with the light of day.
"As we all know, some of the loss of life occurs after the storm. There'll be a lot of rain, a lot of utility lines down, a lot of power lines in that water," the Florida governor said.
He also warned that the relatively calm eye of the storm would be followed by the powerful tail of the hurricane.
The center of the hurricane was near Lake Okeechobee in central Florida at 1100 GMT, moving west-north-west at 12 kilometers (eight miles) per hour, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
Frances was packing maximum sustained winds of 152 kilometer (95 mile) per hour and further weakening was expected as the storm moved over land. But hurricane warnings were still in effect in many areas including the north-western Bahamas, still lashed by the tail of the storm as it made landfall in Florida.
Several islands in the Atlantic island chain east of Florida suffered severe flooding, and two people were reported killed by the slow-moving but large hurricane.
Governor Bush warned that the storm "will do damage to a whole lot of places."
Before the full fury of Frances even hit the coast, wind gusts of about 150 kilometers (90 miles) per hour uprooted trees, sent palm fronds flying onto highways, tossed shingles off roofs and downed power lines.
Authorities declared a curfew in several areas, including St Lucie county, which was slammed the hardest.
In Miami-Dade county, Mayor Alex Penelas declared a state of emergency and said any employer forcing staff to work could face charges of criminal negligence.