RESCUE teams, insurance adjusters and US National Guard troops scattered across Florida yesterday to help victims of Hurricane Charley and deliver water and supplies to thousands of people left homeless.

Residents left homeless by Hurricane Charley’s 145 mph winds dug through their ravaged homes, sweeping up shattered glass and rescuing what they could as US President George Bush promised rapid delivery of disaster aid.

AS the remnants of Hurricane Charley disintegrated off the New England coast yesterday, Florida residents began the massive task of cleaning up.

The US presidential helicopter flew low over destroyed homes, downed power lines and uprooted trees today,as George W. Bush and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush got a bird’s eye view of the destruction caused by Hurricane Charley.

Hurricane Charley struck west-central Florida with a mix of wind and water, ravaging oceanfront homes and trailer parks, tearing apart small planes and inundating the coast before moving inland to assault Orlando and Daytona Beach.

HURRICANE Charley slammed Florida’s west coast with winds of 145mph last night, striking south of populous Tampa and threatening to swamp the vulnerable shore with a 15-foot tidal surge.

More than two million people were told to flee from the path of 110 mph Hurricane Charley as it roared toward Florida’s west coast tonight.

Hurricane Charley gathered strength and advanced toward Florida today where officials in Tampa urged almost two million people to evacuate and avoid the path of a storm that could submerge parts of the city.

Around a million residents and tourists have been warned to leave parts of Florida over fears that Tampa and other parts of the west coast could be submerged by the massive storm surge when Hurricane Charley strikes the state’s central gulf coast today.

TROPICAL storm Bonnie began to make landfall in Florida’s Panhandle yesterday, while residents in the Florida Keys and southwest Florida prepared to meet the stronger Hurricane Charley.

Two hurricanes could strike Florida on the same day – something meteorologists say they have never seen.

Hurricane Charley is expected to slam into the British Cayman Islands today after spinning away from Jamaica.