South Florida begins picking up after Kristina's sucker punch.

Publication: South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal

Byline: Tim Collie, Madeline Baro Diaz and Bill Hirschman

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Still reeling after Hurricane Katrina's costly sucker punch, South Floridians began picking themselves up Friday from a deceptive, borderline tropical storm whose walloping winds and horizontal rains many underestimated.

In Broward and Miami-Dade counties, residents seemed shocked that a seemingly bush-league Category 1 would topple so many trees, snap so many power lines, and flood so many streets. Coming out of nowhere, in two-day's time, Katrina surprised even the area's storm veterans with its ferocity and stamina.

Seven people are confirmed dead because of Katrina _ four in Broward and three in Miami-Dade.

Late Friday evening, more than a million residents remained without power across the region, according to Florida Power & Light Co. The outages also crippled major industries and hindered fuel ships from docking at Port Everglades in Broward. In Palm Beach County, where destruction was far lighter, the state Division of Emergency Management was setting up a distribution center for relief supplies.

"This was a one, a Category 1," said Hal Gunnison, staring at a huge mass of tangled twisted branches and roots covering the street outside his home in Plantation. "This was worse than Andrew. This is a nightmare."

Damage estimates for the storm hovered around $600 million, a figure likely measured in tens of thousands of claims for individual cars, homes and businesses, authorities said. But Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, visiting South Florida with Gov. Jeb Bush, was relieved that...

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