After causing thousands of deaths in Central America as a hurricane, Tropical Storm Mitch hit southern Florida yesterday with 55 m.p.h. winds, flooding and tornadoes.
The Keys, the chain of islands at the state's southern tip, were hit especially hard. Mobile homes toppled, a motel's roof ripped off, and power lines snapped in the same areas where Hurricane Georges struck in September.
The storm moved over the state and out over the Atlantic later yesterday.
In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes this century, the threat of epidemics loomed over Central America, where for more than a week floods left a trail of wreckage and a death toll mounting to at least 9,000. Dr Almeida said.
He said a case of severe psychosis - possibly the first of many - had been reported in a person who saw a raging river sweep 160 people to their deaths in Chilanguera, 150 km south-east of the capital, San Salvador.
According to the UN World Food Programme the storm has set Central America back 20 years.