Most of Florida remained without power yesterday as it emerged that 420,000 British people were in the state when Hurricane Irma struck.
Yesterday those who had evacuated their homes in the so-called Sunshine State began to return to assess the damage.
Much of the worst destruction appeared to have happened in the Florida Keys, a 120-strong string of islands connected by bridges off the state’s southern tip.
The Keys are home to nearly 70,000 people, some in luxury beachfront homes while some 13 per cent live in poverty.
Local residents walk down a street that was flooded after the passing of Hurricane Irma in Immokalee, Florida
A boat is seen on a highway as local residents return to Plantation Key, Florida
Boats, cars and other debris clog waterways in the Florida Keys on Tuesday, two days after Hurricane Irma slammed into the state
Most residents heeded warnings to evacuate before Irma made its first US landfall there, although up to a quarter of the population was estimated to have stayed to brave out the 140mph winds and monstrous waves.
It was estimated emerged that around 25 percent of the Keys’ houses have been destroyed while 65 percent suffered major damage.
Officials say the Keys ‘took the brunt of the hit’ from Irma although residents – many of whom work in tourist resorts on the mainland – have been allowed to return to some islands.
As a US Navy aircraft carrier joined the search-and-rescue operation, Florida governor Rick Scott called the storm ‘devastating’ after flying over the Keys.
Across Florida as a whole, more than 15million are still without electricity, accounting for more than half of the state.
Florida electricity companies estimate that much of the state’s east coast could have power back by Sunday but in other areas it could take 10 days or more.
While Caribbean islands devastated by Irma are pleading for supplies, a huge US government relief effort is under way to help Florida.
Vilano Beach, Florida residents look at a collapsed coastal house on Tuesday
Bill Quinn surveys the damage caused to his trailer home from Hurricane Irma at the Seabreeze Trailer Park in Islamorada, in the Florida Keys
A convoy of 180 emergency supply articulated lorries – carrying food, bottled water, medical supplies and bedding – left Alabama for Florida yesterday [Tues].
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency had a total of 930 of the lorries waiting at Maxwell Air Force Base ready to be driven into the disaster zone.
But as millions of residents who evacuated their houses try to return home, federal officials warned of possible fuel shortages throughout the South East of the US.
Although Irma is rapidly dissipating in strength it continued to bring flooding across southern states including a 10ft tidal surge – four feet higher than normal – in the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina.
Police across Florida are warning of criminal scams in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. In Boynton Beach, near Palm Beach, two men posing as power company workers stole nearly £10,000 in jewellery from a 95-year-old woman.
A boy walks amongst debris on the beach after Hurricane Irma passed the area in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, U.S.
Police said the woman was sitting in her living room with the front door open on Monday afternoon when the men walked in. They told the woman they were checking switches to restore power and one of them escorted her around the house flipping light switches while the other robbed her.
At least 11 deaths in the US, including seven in Florida, have been blamed on Irma since it first hit Florida on Sunday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane.
In one of the latest cases, a 55-year-old man died when the chainsaw he was using to clear downed trees became entangled in a branch, causing it to kick up and cut his carotid artery.
The 420,000 Britons in Florida include expats and holidaymakers. The figure was revealed by Sir Alan Duncan during a statement in the House of Commons.