Toll hits 20 in Florida's deadliest storm in nearly 10 years

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

LADY LAKE, United States (AFP) — The toll from Florida's deadliest storm in almost a decade rose to 20, reports said, as homeowners returned to pick through the rubble of hundreds of tornado-shredded homes.

US President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in four counties in the central part of the southern state in the wake of pre-dawn storms Friday that carved a trail of destruction and death, wrapping metal around trees and launching some victims into neighboring homes.

"Whatever federal response is needed, we will make it quick and sure," Bush said during a speech in Williamsburg, Virginia.

CNN television network reported that 20 people had died, one more than the officially reported toll of 19 on Friday, as rescue crews ended their search for...