WEATHER Fla. takes hard hit from Ivan

The storm-weary state may be in the path of Tropical Storm Jeanne.
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- Hurricane Ivan was the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Floyd in 1999, but it could have been worse. It spared New Orleans and left millions feeling lucky in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
But storm-battered Florida was less fortunate. Ivan flattened homes, swamped streets and spun off at least a dozen tornadoes in the panhandle. In all, the hurricane killed 70 people in the Caribbean and at least 24 along the Gulf Coast, most of them in Florida.
More bad news could await: Tropical Storm Jeanne looms in the Atlantic on a track toward the southeastern United States -- and, possibly, Florida -- and Tropical Storm Karl strengthened today in the far eastern Atlantic, but posed no immediate threat to land.
"People are just sick of it," groaned Dennis Mace, who as a handyman is one of the few Floridians benefiting after the third hurricane in five weeks assaulted the Sunshine State. Hunting for work in the wake of Ivan, Mace spotted a sign that summed up the feelings of many:
It read: "1 Charley, 2 Frances, 3 Ivan, 4 Sale."
Rainfall
Ivan quickly weakened to a tropical depression after coming ashore, but it continued to spin off tornadoes and cause flooding across the South, already soggy after Hurricanes Charley and Frances. Seven inches of rain fell on parts of Georgia, and forecasters warned that Ivan could bring twice that amount before it was through.
In North Carolina, Ivan's heavy rain and wind forced evacuations along rivers, knocked out power to thousands of residents and sent trees crashing into homes across the western part of the state. The hurricane's remnants also prompted flood warnings in 34 eastern and middle Tennessee counties, where forecasters predicted up to 7 inches of rain.
Meanwhile, threatening to regain hurricane strength, Tropical Storm Jeanne headed for the Bahamas on a track for the southeastern United States after killing three people and causing extensive damage in the Caribbean.
The storm forced the evacuation of thousands Thursday as it slammed into the Dominican Republic after punishing Puerto Rico with flash floods and deadly winds.
Jeanne's path
Jeanne made landfall on the Dominican Republic's eastern tip and then weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm as it raked the north coast. But forecasters warned that it could strengthen before reaching the southern Bahamas today.
It could then move toward the United States, anywhere from Florida to the Carolinas.
"People need to monitor it very carefully," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Karl, the 11th named storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, had top sustained winds near 65 mph at 5 a.m. EDT, up from 40 mph late Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Karl could intensify even more and become the seventh hurricane of the season, forecasters said.
Ivan came ashore with 130 mph winds near Gulf Shores Beach, Ala., around 2 a.m. CDT Thursday, but it was the panhandle -- squarely in the northeast quadrant of the storm, where the winds are most violent -- that took the brunt. More than 2 million residents along a 300-mile stretch of the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Panama City, Fla., cleared out as Ivan closed in.
In Escambia County, home to Pensacola and some 300,000 residents, at least seven people died in the storm, including one who suffered a heart attack at a shelter.
"Some of the houses, everything inside was gone out of one side -- like a heavy wave of water hit it and spit the stuff inside of the house out," Sheriff Ron McNesby said.
Damage in Florida
Off Gulf Shores Highway, in a neighborhood nestled along Pensacola's Grand Lagoon, at least a half dozen homes and businesses were demolished -- some swept clear off their foundations.
The hiss and stench of leaking gas filled the air as stricken residents waded through calf-high water collecting what belongings they could.
Doug Pacitti, a deck hand on a charter fishing boat, lived with his friend and 4-year-old son across the street from the bay. On Thursday, he stepped over crumbled bricks, broken dishes and plywood to survey what was left of the house he rented.
Where the kitchen should have been, silverware and skillets sat under an open sky. The refrigerator was propelled into the back yard, where it came to rest under a fallen pine tree.
"Everything's gone -- everything," said Pacitti, 31. "Three thousand dollars' worth of fishing poles. The antique dishes my grandmother gave me -- gone. Even my kid's toys."
A storm surge of 10 to 16 feet spawned monster waves. A portion of a bridge on Interstate 10, the major east-west highway through the panhandle, was washed away.
Search and rescue missions in Florida continued, but no new storm victims were found early today, Santa Rosa County spokesman Don Chinery said. A National Guard convoy left Tallahassee early today to deliver food, ice, water and other supplies to hard-hit areas, and counties hoped to get relief centers set up later in the day.
Power outages
About 400,000 homes and businesses in eight panhandle counties -- nearly all of Gulf Power Co.'s customers -- were without power. Federal Emergency Management Agency director Mike Brown said today that another 500,000 people in Alabama were also in the dark, and warned that some of those may have to live without electricity for up to a week.
Brown said search and rescue workers may have to use aircraft to get to hard-hit areas that are cut off by washed-out roads.
"Virtually the entire state of Florida is a disaster area," Brown told CBS' "Early Show." "These people are just worn out from these storms."
Insurance experts put Ivan's damage at anywhere from $3 billion to $10 billion. Hurricanes Charley and Frances had combined estimated insured damages between about $11 billion and $13 billion after striking Florida in the past month.