Cleanup begins in central Florida

LADY LAKE, Fla. — Pulling blue tarps over the houses that still had walls, neighbors, inmates and National Guard troops worked in the rain Saturday to help residents begin recovering from tornadoes that chewed through central Florida, killing at least 20 people.

The victims from the second-deadliest tornado in state history ranged from a 92-year-old man to 17-year-old Brittany May, killed by a falling tree that crushed her bedroom.

President Bush designated four counties as disaster areas, releasing millions of dollars in aid for recovery and individual assistance.

"It makes you sick to your stomach for what we saw," David Paulison, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said after touring the area Saturday morning with Gov. Charlie Crist.

Forecasters said Saturday that at least three tornadoes, with winds possibly as high as 165 mph, hit between 3 and 4 a.m. Friday, when few people were awake to hear tornado warnings on radio and TV.

The storms also killed all 18 endangered young whooping cranes led south from Wisconsin last fall as part of a project to create a second migratory flock of the birds, a spokesman said.

The cranes were being kept in an enclosure at the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge near Crystal River, Fla., said Joe Duff, co-founder of Operation Migration, the organization coordinating the project.

He speculated that a strong storm surge drew the tide in and overwhelmed the birds, or that they were electrocuted from lightning strikes.

For the past six years, whooping cranes hatched in captivity have been raised at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin by workers who wear cranelike costumes to keep the birds wary of humans.

Ultralight aircraft are used to teach new groups of young cranes the migration route to Florida.

The birds migrate north in the spring and south in the fall on their own.

The governor, handling the first natural disaster since he took office, said some stricken areas looked like "the surface of the moon."

Crist canceled plans to attend today's Super Bowl in Miami to stay in the stricken region.

He praised the residents and charitable groups who pitched in to help clean up.

Marion County sent a group of low-risk inmates, dressed in green-and-white striped jail clothes.

Paulison said his agency, criticized for inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters, had housing trailers, water trucks and other aid on the way.

Bush's disaster declaration for Lake, Sumter, Seminole and Volusia counties also frees up loans and other assistance to individuals.

Lake County Sheriff Gary Borders said Saturday he did not expect to find any more fatalities.

"We think that everyone is accounted for," Borders said.