Millions without power in Florida as Irma plows north

— Millions of Florida residents were without power Tuesday as the remnants of Hurricane Irma spun northwest into the U.S. mainland, drenching the region and causing rivers to overflow.

Most of the Sunshine State however appeared to have dodged forecasts of catastrophic damage despite dire early warnings.

But Irma’s overall death toll jumped to at least 40 after Cuba reported that 10 people had been killed there over the weekend.

Irma roared ashore as a powerful Category 4 hurricane when it hit the far southern Florida Keys on Sunday, tearing boats from their moorings, uprooting palm trees and downing power lines, after devastating a string of Caribbean islands. By the time it hit the peninsula the storm had been downgraded, and by late Monday it had weakened fur- ther to a tropical depression.

Across the Caribbean, hard-hit island residents struggled to get back on their feet as Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States increased relief efforts.

Floridians who spent an anxious night huddled indoors were venturing out Monday to survey the damage, which in most cases were not as bad as feared.

“If this had been a Category 4 hurricane the whole scenario would have been completely different,” said Bob Lutz, a 62-year-old business owner.

More than 6.5 million customers in Florida were without power, however, and Governor Rick Scott said the island chain known as the Keys had suffered widespread damage.

“It’s horrible what we saw,” Scott said after flying over the island chain aboard a Coast Guard helicopter.

He said the water, electricity and sewage systems in the Keys were non-operational, and that trailer parks had been “overturned.”

“We now go through the much longer phase, which is the recovery phase,” said Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez. “And believe me, folks, some of this is going to take a while, especially power restoration.” Most Keys residents evacuated from the low-lying tourist archipelago, known for its fishing, scuba diving and boating, before Irma struck.

The storm felled trees and left debris and vehicles strewn across the streets. But concrete homes appeared to have withstood the powerful gusts.

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Irma to a tropical depression in its 0300 GMT Tuesday bulletin.

Irma’s maximum sustained winds dropped to 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour, and the storm’s eye was in western Georgia, and expected to cross into eastern Alabama and Tennessee later Tuesday.

“Additional weakening is forecast, and Irma is... likely to dissipate by Wednesday evening,” the NHC said.

Heavy rain however was a problem: Florida’s northeastern city of Jacksonville, population 880,000, ordered urgent evacuations amid record flooding along the St Johns River.

Flooding was also reported in Charleston, South Carolina.

Irma had triggered orders for more than six million people to flee to safety, one of the biggest evacuations in U.S. history.

In flood-prone Miami, the largest U.S. city in Irma’s path, crews were busy clearing branches, debris and fallen street signs from downtown.