Some Florida residents where allowed to return on Tuesday to areas hammered by Hurricane Irma’s high winds and storm surge, while the death toll rose in the second major hurricane to hit the United States this year.
Irma, which had rampaged through the Caribbean as one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, was downgraded to a tropical depression on Monday. It will likely dissipate from Tuesday evening, the National Hurricane Centre said.
At its peak the storm prompted evacuation orders for 6.5 million people in Florida, the largest evacuation in modern US history.
Irma killed nearly 40 people in the Caribbean and at least six in Florida and Georgia.
A local Florida official said there had been more deaths yet to be reported, particularly on the Florida Keys, where Irma arrived as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 130 miles per hour (215 km per hour) on Sunday morning.
Local authorities told around 90,000 residents of Miami Beach and from some parts of the Keys they could go home but warned it might not be prudent to remain there.
“This is going to be a frustrating event. It’s going to take some time to let people back into their homes particularly in the Florida Keys,” Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told a news conference.
Several major airports in Florida that halted passenger operations due to Irma began limited service on Tuesday, including Miami International, one of the busiest US airports.
Miami Beach will allow residents to return home from 8am (1200 GMT), its mayor said. More evacuation orders were likely to be lifted on Tuesday.
The remnants of Irma moved into Alabama on Tuesday and were forecast to head into western Tennessee by Tuesday evening with maximum sustained winds of 25 mph (40 kph).
In South Carolina, the Charleston Harbor area saw major flooding on Monday with water about 3 feet (1 meter) above flood stage and minor flooding was forecast for Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.
The National Hurricane Center was monitoring another hurricane, Jose, which was spinning in the Atlantic about 700 miles (1,130 km) west of Florida. About 2-1/2 months remain in the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts in June.
