Ivan spins a deadly tail

Hurricane Ivan has spun off deadly tornadoes, swamped streets in storm-weary Florida and battered the Alabama coast, drenching other south-eastern states with heavy rains and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.

Ivan was the deadliest hurricane to hit the United States since Floyd in 1999 and was blamed for 70 deaths in the Caribbean and at least 27 in the United States, more than half of them in Florida.

More bad news could be coming, though: Tropical Storm Jeanne looms in the Atlantic on a track toward the south-eastern United States – and, possibly, Florida.

It could be the fourth hurricane to hit the Sunshine State since Charley struck in mid-August. And Tropical Storm Karl is building up in the Atlantic and heading west.

Jeanne, a slow-moving system loaded with torrential rains and deadly wind gusts, hovered over the Dominican Republic today, tearing down walls and roofs of homes, triggering mudslides and toppling power lines and trees. At least four people in its path died.

The storm forced the evacuation of thousands as it slammed into the Dominican Republic as a hurricane after punishing Puerto Rico, leaving many of the four million islanders without electricity and a half million without water.

Forecasters warned it could strengthen before it reached the southern Bahamas tonight and headed toward the southeast United States, possibly Florida, as early as Sunday.

“People need to monitor it very carefully,” said Max Mayfield, director of the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami.