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Tropical Storm Fay kills 11 in Florida

mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com

Fay, the killer tropical storm that made an unprecedented four Florida landfalls, lumbered slowly across the Panhandle on Saturday, leading to more deaths as rivers crested to record levels, homes flooded and old oaks, pines and power lines snapped.

Fay's death toll in Florida now stands at 11 ---- all accidental ---- state officials said.

One Floridian died of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Two have drowned. Seven have been killed in traffic accidents -- including a Duval County man whose car was smashed by a falling tree. And a seven-year linesman with Talquin County Electric was electrocuted in Gadsen County on Friday evening.

''This is still a dangerous storm,'' said Gov. Charlie Crist. ``The damage from Fay is a reminder that a tropical storm does not have to reach a hurricane level to be dangerous and cause significant damage.''

If another person dies by mistake as a result of Fay, it will have killed as many people accidentally as did Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Including natural deaths, a total of 14 people died from Dennis.

Fay also might have caused $20 million in agricultural damage in South and Southwest Florida -- ''including decimation of the region's entire tomato crop,'' Crist wrote President Bush in a request for a federal declaration of a major disaster.

Crist's labor department seeks an additional $20 million for job-assistance help in Florida, which is already leading the nation in total job loss. Bush already approved an emergency declaration helping local governments pay for debris clean-up and emergency-response overtime pay.

Crist said even more help will be needed and announced the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund is seeking private donations online at FLADisasterFund.org or by phone, 1-800-825-3786.

Late Saturday, state and local officials ordered an evacuation of those living along the St. Marks River, south of Tallahassee. The river is expected to crest Sunday afternoon five feet above flood stage -- six inches above the record level set in 1973.

Earlier in the day, residents braced for a flood in the little town of St. Marks, which Hurricane Dennis flooded out in 2005.

At Bo Lynn's Grocery store, which had been swamped by Dennis, owner Joy Brown watched the water driven by Fay lap up six inches above the front step of her little store at high tide. But as the tide from the Gulf receded, she said the water level fell as well.

''But with every gust of wind we see the water get higher,'' she fretted.

Earlier in the day, the Black Creek in Clay County and St. Mary's River north of Jacksonville were cresting long after the storm's center passed the East Coast. And the north-flowing St. John's River could bring flooding later today or tomorrow from Seminole to St. John's County, officials said.

At the Shell Island Fish Camp in St. Mark's, manager Sherie Bevis said water was ankle deep this morning but has started to recede. She is crossing her fingers that tonight's high tide doesn't bring back another surge of flooding from the St. Mark's River, an arm of the Gulf.

The camp ''lost everything'' from the storm surge that followed Hurricane Dennis in 2005 and it was flooded three times by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

''We used to say you only get a surge once, but Ivan proved that wrong,'' Bevis said. ``We're just watching and waiting.''

The entire state has done just that: watched and waited ---- and been soaked. Fay, expected to leave the state Saturday after leaving Pensacola, first hit Key West on Monday. It then headed to Cape Ramano, zigged to the Space Coast, re-entered the state at the First Coast and then zagged over to the Panhandle.

More than two feet of rain fell in parts of Brevard County. And some areas in Jacksonville reported 20 inches of rain and flooding.

Fay's dangers could increase as the storm deluges the Panhandle's hilly country, making patches of road more subject to quick and dangerous flooding. The conditions are hazardous even for seasoned professionals.

Talquin Electric's Curtis King, 47, was trying to repair a fallen line Friday when he was unexpectedly electrocuted. Later, a tree fell on a part of his widow's home, causing minor damage.

Some of the hardest-hit areas of Fay are finally seeing relief on the Space Coast. But Crist, in his disaster-declaration request, says local-governments and people need federal help. The request seeks public-assistance aid for Monroe, Brevard, Okeechobee and St. Lucie Counties.

The state-run Citizen's Property Insurance Corp. announced 1,605 claims have been filed and private insurers reported 5,086 more claims. Allstate has not reported its claims data, however.

Crist also seeks federal help for uninsured residents, particularly in Brevard County, where 1,572 homes were damaged, including 785 mobile homes that are still unacessible.

In Brevard's Lamplighter Village, where the floods were so deep Thursday and Friday that even military Humvees couldn't get in, resident Carol DeBlasis finally got back into her house and found that the waters stopped just inches from spilling into her home.

''It's a miracle from God that the water receded. I don't know where it went, but I'm thankful,'' she said by telephone Saturday. ``We still don't have any power. We hope it's all over.''

Staff writer Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report

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