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The storm made landfall in Florida early Monday as a strong Category 3 hurricane. (Photo: Xinhua)

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Wilma pounded the southeastern US state of Florida on Monday, flooding the low-lying Florida Keys and stranding residents on rooftops, after wreaking havoc in Mexico's main tourist destination and coastal Cuba.

    Risk assessment companies said the storm caused up to 10 billion US dollars in insured damages after smashing into lower Florida.

    The storm howled ashore around daybreak from Florida's southwestern corner as a Category 3 hurricane in the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale, but weakened within hours into Category 2 before backing up again to Category 3 early in the afternoon.

    It flooded the Florida Keys island, then hit the mainland southof the retirement city of Naples and sped across the Everglades to the populous Miami-Fort Lauderdale area on the Atlantic Coast.

    At least three people were killed and as many as 6 million people were left without power in Florida.

    A man was crushed by a falling tree north of Miami, another died when house roof collapsed on him and a third man was killed by wind-borne debris when he was trying to move his van, news reports said.

::::::	Hurricane Wilma slams Florida, at least 3 killed
::::::	Stronger Wilma speeds towards Florida after lashing Mexico
::::::	Florida braces for Hurricane Wilma
::::::	Wilma kills 13 on way possibly to Mexico or US

    Wilma's power shocked thousands who ignored orders to evacuate the Florida Keys. A storm surge left much of the tourist town under thigh-high water. Residents were stranded on rooftops.

    More than 33,000 people went to shelters across the state. Over 3,000 National Guardsmen were mobilized for relief operations after the storm.

    After a seven-hour rampage, Wilma, the eighth hurricane to hit Florida in 15 months, swirled out of the coastal state in the afternoon.

    State and federal officials had trucks of ice and food ready to deploy, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency poised to send in dozens of military helicopters and 13.2 million ready-to-eat meals if needed.

    US President George W. Bush signed a disaster declaration for hurricane-damaged areas in the state, and promised prompt action to help victims.

    Hurricane Wilma began accelerating toward Florida on Monday after lashing the Caribbean region for several days.

    It had hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, devastating tourist resorts before moving northeast toward Cuba and Florida.

    The Mexican government on Monday blamed 12 deaths on Wilma, an increase from previous estimates of seven deaths.

    The deaths occurred in Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, where the storm also forced nearly 42,000 people to flee their homes and damaged 95 percent of the hotels.

    A four-year old child and an adult were killed in an explosion Sunday in Playa del Carmen when the hurricane threw a gas container into their family home. Other members of the family were badly burned.

    Four people died in Cancun. One was killed while looking through a window to observe the storm. Heart attacks and flying debris killed three more people there.

    Four bodies were found floating in the waters off Cozumel.

    The local government of Quintana Roo said two people were shot dead while attempting to loot a supermarket.

    President Vincente Fox toured the ravaged area on Sunday and ordered that Cancun serve as the center of rescue and support operations.

    Mexico said it will begin on Tuesday an airlift of some of the 35,000 tourists stranded in Cancun.

    In Cuba, torrential rains triggered by Wilma caused flooding along the coast and knocked out electricity in much of the capital Havana.

    The worst-affected areas were en Guanimar, Surgidero de Batabano, Vedado and Miramar, south of Havana.

    Although the island country was not directly hit by the hurricane, it has been affected by the hurricane since the beginning of last week.

    Some areas were flooded and nearly 700,000 people were evacuated across the island's west in recent days as Wilma approached.

    Cuban meteorologists said Monday the sea levels around the island will remain high until Tuesday.

    The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends on Nov. 30, was the most active one since records began 150 years ago, with Alpha, the 22nd named tropical storm of this season, tapping into the Greek alphabet for its name. Enditem

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