HURRICANE In a rerun of ruin, Jeanne kicks Fla. when it's down

The hurricane knocked out power to about 2.3 million homes and businesses.
MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) -- Hurricane Jeanne tore a fresh path of destruction and despair as it marched up storm-ravaged Florida, where the fourth major hurricane in six weeks shut down much of the state and prompted recovery plans on a scale never before seen in the nation.
At least six people died in the storm, which plowed across Florida's midsection in a virtual rerun for many residents still trying to regroup from hurricanes that have crisscrossed the Southeast since mid-August.
Rocketing debris scattered in earlier storms, Jeanne came ashore around midnight Saturday with 120 mph wind, striking its first blow in the same area hit three weeks ago by Hurricane Frances.
It remained at tropical storm strength with winds of 45 mph when its center moved over southwestern Georgia early today, but it was expected to weaken into a tropical depression later in the day.
It had moved east of the Panhandle, where 70,000 homes and businesses remained without power because of Hurricane Ivan less than two weeks ago.
Jeanne ripped off roofs, left stoplights dangling precariously, destroyed a deserted community center in Jensen Beach and flooded some bridges from the mainland to barrier islands straddling the Atlantic coast.
About 2.3 million homes and businesses were without power.
Florida was the first state to withstand a four-hurricane pounding in one season since Texas in 1886 -- a milestone that came with two months remaining in the hurricane season.
Martin County Commissioner Doug Smith said today that Jeanne left few buildings in his county unscarred because Frances had weakened them and subsequent rain connected to Hurricane Ivan had saturated the ground.
Eye strikes
Rain sprayed sideways when Jeanne's eye struck land. By 8 a.m. today, the center of the storm was over Moultrie in southwestern Georgia. It was moving north-northwest near 12 mph and was expected to turn to the north-northeast.
About 50 homes in Valdosta, Ga., in the south-central part of the state, were evacuated early today because of flooding. Jeanne was dumping about 6 inches of rain on the area, according to the National Weather Service.
President Bush declared a major disaster area in Florida while officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said the hurricanes represented the largest relief effort in the agency's history, larger than the response to the 1994 earthquake in the Northridge section of Los Angeles.
More than 3,000 National Guard troops were deployed to aid relief efforts. Several counties, including Palm Beach and St. Lucie -- two of the hardest hit by Jeanne's winds and rain -- planned to open distribution sites early today, but the plans were contingent on water and ice supplies' being delivered as scheduled by federal officials.
Storm list
Charley was a faster storm when it hammered Florida's southwest coast Aug. 13; Frances blanketed much of the peninsula after striking the state's Atlantic coast Sept. 5; and Ivan blasted the western Panhandle when it made landfall Sept. 16. The three storms caused billions of dollars in damage and killed at least 73 people in Florida alone.
Jeanne was a Category 3 hurricane when it made landfall at Hutchinson Island, 35 miles north of West Palm Beach -- almost the same spot that Frances struck.
Once inland, the 400-mile wide storm stretched across the state, passing northeast of Tampa and moving east of the Panhandle.
Officials at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the similar paths of Jeanne and Frances were possibly unprecedented.
At least 21 Florida county school districts canceled classes today, including St. Lucie County, where schools had not reopened since Frances struck.
Families rescued
Police in St. Lucie rescued five families when the hurricane's eye passed over late Saturday, including a couple in their 90s in wheelchairs whose mobile home collapsed around them, emergency operations spokeswoman Linette Trabulsy said.
A Coast Guard helicopter crew found two fishermen who had radioed a mayday after failing to reach port Sunday in their vessel, The Rogue.
The men were rescued early today from a life raft off Anclote Key, about 25 miles northwest of Tampa. They were examined by medical personnel and released, officials said.
The toll from the latest storm extended as far north as Daytona Beach and south to Miami, where one person was electrocuted after touching a downed power line. Two people died when their sport utility vehicle plunged into a lake south of Boca Raton.
A 15-year-old boy was pinned by a falling tree Sunday and died in Clay County southwest of Jacksonville. And in Brevard County, a man was found dead in a ditch in what police called an apparent drowning.
In nearby Micco, a 60-year-old man was found dead after a hurricane party at a home. He was found lying in water after the house had flooded; police said the death may be alcohol-related or the man may have drowned.
Floods, tornadoes
Most counties in South Carolina's northeast corner were under a flood watch, and the U.S. Weather Service placed much of southern Georgia under a tornado watch. Some school districts in both states called off classes today.
Earlier, Jeanne tore across the Bahamas, leaving some neighborhoods under 6 feet of water. The storm caused flooding in Haiti that killed more than 1,500 people.