National Guard troops moved in and heavy equipment scooped up the rubble of homes today as the US Gulf Coast began to clean up from Hurricane Ivan, which killed up to 20 people.
Rescue teams backed by sniffer dogs prepared to begin house-to-house searches and to venture out to barrier islands where rooftops of luxury villas peeked out from floodwaters and authorities said Ivan's death toll could climb.
Many of the deaths in the Southern United States came after Ivan spawned tornadoes in northwest Florida, while the storm's 130 mph winds plucked tall trees out of the ground and its powerful sea surge swept through beachfront homes and condominiums.
Florida Govenor Jeb Bush, surveying the third major disaster in his state in five weeks, after Hurricanes Frances and Charley, said initial reports from the barrier islands were "heartbreaking".
Up to 2.6 million people in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi were without power and thousands huddled in shelters.
Ivan had killed 69 during a 10-day trek through the Caribbean before its eye hurtled onto land in the early hours of yesterday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, just west of the Florida Panhandle.
Once the sixth most-powerful Atlantic storm on record, it weakened rapidly into a mass of thunderstorms as it carved its way north.
US President George W. Bush, the governor's brother, declared a disaster in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, paving the way for federal emergency aid. The president is planning to visit the hurricane-hit region on Sunday.