Jeanne batters Florida anew

HUTCHINSON ISLAND, Fla. -- Jeanne, Florida's fourth hurricane in six weeks, piled on destruction in already ravaged areas Sunday, slicing across the state with howling wind that rocketed debris from earlier storms and torrents of rain that turned streets into rivers.

At least six people died in the storm, which was a cruel rerun for many still trying to recover from earlier hurricanes. Jeanne came ashore in the same area hit three weeks ago by Hurricane Frances and was headed for the Panhandle, where 70,000 homes and businesses remained without power because of Hurricane Ivan 10 days earlier.

The storm peeled the roofs off buildings, toppled light poles, destroyed a deserted community center in Jensen Beach and flooded some bridges from the mainland to the Atlantic coast's barrier islands. Utilities estimated more than 2.5 million homes and businesses were without power late Sunday.

"The last three weeks have been horrific," said Joe Stawara, owner of a Vero Beach mobile home park where about half the 232 trailers were damaged. "And just when we start to turn the corner, this happens."

Until this weekend, no state had suffered a four-hurricane pounding in one season since Texas in 1886. And the hurricane season still has two months to go.

Rain blew sideways in wind that reached 120 mph when Hurricane Jeanne's eye hit land late Saturday night; by 7 p.m. CDT Sunday it had weakened to a tropical storm with sustained wind near 55 mph.

The storm unleashed several inches of rain in many areas. Official Sunday night totals included 5.84 inches in Melbourne, 5.35 inches in Orlando and 2.69 inches at Palm Beach International Airport, but meteorologists said the actual totals probably were much higher because heavy winds can make rain gauges inaccurate.

At least a foot of water rushed through some streets in Vero Beach.

President Bush declared a major disaster area in Florida. The hurricanes have prompted the largest relief effort in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's history, eclipsing responses for the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, Calif., and the 2001 terrorist attacks, director Michael Brown said.

"You're going to have some areas that have been hit once, twice and sometimes maybe three times," Brown said. "That's very frustrating, I know, for those who live in those communities."

Frances was larger, while Charley and Ivan were more powerful. But Jeanne was bad enough, once again sending the Sunshine State into a state of emergency.

Gov. Jeb Bush sought to reassure weary Floridians. "This will become a memory," he said. "This does come to an end, and when it does we can probably use the term 'normal' again."

Seawater submerged the bottom floor of condominiums on Hutchinson Island, where Josh Lumberson rode out the storm. The parking lot was under 5 feet of sand and water, and sand rose to the kitchen cabinets inside first-floor condos. The ocean, once 75 yards away, lapped at the foundation.

"It sounded like the whole building was coming down," Lumberson said. "You could hear every metal screw coming out of the walls."

As the wind subsided, the clang of metal siding could still be heard on the barrier island.

Jeanne made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of up to 120 mph just before midnight Saturday at Hutchinson Island, 35 miles north of West Palm Beach. Frances struck in almost the same spot.

Once inland, Jeanne's 400-mile diameter system trudged across the state, passing northeast of Tampa. It then headed toward the Panhandle, which was still recovering from Ivan.

Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, described the similar paths of Jeanne and Frances as perhaps unprecedented.

The toll from the latest storm extended as far north as Daytona Beach, where the famous beach was ravaged by erosion, and south to Miami, where one person was electrocuted after touching a downed power line.

More than 3,000 National Guard troops were deployed to aid relief efforts.

But some residents acknowledged it could have been worse. Peirce Braun assessed the mess from the front yard of his bungalow.

"It's really not that bad," he said. "The worst thing in Florida is to be without the AC."