Rain from Tropical Storm Ernesto swept across parts of the vulnerable Florida Keys today as residents hurried to fill petrol tanks, gather emergency supplies and board up windows before the main body of the storm strikes.

A jogger in the US was killed by an alligator which ripped her arms off before dragging her body into a canal.

By all accounts, Rigoberto Alpizar was frantic as he darted off a plane at Miami International Airport, bumping past passengers and yelling that he needed to get off the aircraft.

In the Keys island chain, where Wilma’s storm surge caused extensive flooding, plans were announced to welcome tourists beginning today, as power was restored to nearly half the South Florida homes and businesses that lost it during Hurricane Wilma.

Beginning an agonising, all-too-familiar process, Floridians lined up for generators, chain saws and other clean-up supplies only hours after Hurricane Wilma cut a costly, deadly swathe across the peninsula.

Hurricane Wilma crashed ashore early today as a strong Category 3 storm, battering south-west Florida with 125 mph winds and pounding waves as it began a dash across the state.

FIVE people were killed, a family of five was missing at sea and more than a million homes and businesses lost power after Hurricane Katrina crashed ashore in southern Florida early yesterday.

Hurricane Katrina churned through Florida’s densely populated south-eastern coast today with sustained 80mph winds and lashing rain.

BROWARD COUNTY in Southern Florida can’t be explained like any other place in America, even the vast sprawls of suburbia that you get only in America.

EARLY voting for the US presidential election began in Florida yesterday as activists urged people to opt for early ballots to avoid a repeat of the 2000 election fiasco, but computer problems and queues soon emerged.

Weakened but persistent, Tropical Storm Frances took aim at north-western Florida today as its successor – Hurricane Ivan -gathered in the Caribbean, threatening Barbados and St Lucia.

NEARLY 1.2 million Floridians were urged to leave their homes yesterday as massive and powerful Hurricane Frances roared toward the crowded south-east US coast.

A British student arrested in the United States after joking that she had bombs in her aircraft baggage, has been released from jail on bail, authorities said.

A British student is in a Miami jail after allegedly telling a Miami airport security official she had bombs in her carry-on bag.

A review of 10,644 uncounted ballots in Miami-Dade County showed Al Gore would not have gained enough votes to overtake George W Bush in Florida, a newspaper claims.

Police in Florida have been called to a disturbance at the home of OJ Simpson's girlfriend.