Frances Weakens, but Drenches Fla.

Winds from Hurricane Frances toppled the steeple of Cocoa Beach First Baptist Church. Frances made its landfall south of Cocoa Beach late Saturday night. (Charles W. Luzier -- Reuters)

"I never heard wind like that in my life," Montgomery recalled. "I ended up going back inside, because it was so windy and dark -- and I was scared."

Frances also contributed to the deaths of two central Florida residents, who were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes from their generators. A woman was killed when a tree fell on her mobile home, and there was at least one fatal car accident during the storm. But throughout the state, officials expressed relief that Frances was no Charley, which caused $7 billion in losses and 27 fatalities in Punta Gorda and other southwest Florida towns three weeks ago. Even along the Treasure Coast, where Frances made its first and most powerful appearance, communities such as Stuart, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach were damaged but by no means demolished.

For example, in the center of Vero Beach's seaside shopping area, the 60-year-old Ocean Grill and the 75-year-old Driftwood Inn survived the pounding surf virtually unscathed. The wind pulled the plywood off the front windows of Gusto's Italian Cuisine in downtown Stuart but otherwise left the restaurant alone.

"I expected to come back here and find all my windows broken, the big tree down and my awning on the next street," said Vincent Amato, the restaurant's manager. "I never imagined we would get off like this."

Officials had warned that Frances would be more about water than wind, and it did cause significant flooding -- mostly in coastal areas overtopped by storm surges and subdivisions with inadequate storm drains. The heavy rains also created a massive sinkhole in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95, the East Coast's major highway, and overwhelmed many central Florida cattle pastures that were already saturated by Charlie. Lake Okeechobee, the largest water body in the South, was so buffeted by Frances as the eye passed nearby that its south end rose 12 feet higher than its north end; later in the day, after the winds shifted, its north end was 12 feet higher than its south end.

But the lake did not come close to overtopping or overwhelming its dike, as it did during a 1928 hurricane that killed more than 2,000 people. And even though a few coastal roads turned into rivers, and some central Florida cattle pastures that were already saturated by Charley turned into giant puddles, the rains did not overwhelm the South Florida Water Management District's elaborate system of drainage canals, as many officials had expected. Spokeswoman Kathy Copeland credited that success to the district's efforts to release millions of gallons before the storm to make room for Frances.

"This could have been a very damaging event, but we were really prepared," Copeland said. "The system functioned very, very well."

Here in Osceola County, where Charley caused more than $300 million in damage after crashing into downtown Kissimmee from the southwest, officials had feared a similar disaster once Frances arrived from the southeast. But public safety director Tad Stone said the initial damage appeared to be minimal, and the expected flooding had not materialized.

The county was still littered with branches and other debris from Charley, but fears that Frances would turn them into missiles did not come true. Even Sherwood Forest, a low-lying mobile home community, escaped relatively unscathed.

"I thought this would be much, much worse," Stone said.

Shelters were so crowded Sunday that the Red Cross began asking residents with inhabitable homes to leave. But officials emphasized that they were glad so many Floridians had heeded their warnings. Jeb Bush praised his constituents for their storm preparations, and for staying inside and off the roads during the storm.

"You just can't be too prepared for something like this," said St. Cloud Mayor Glenn Sangiovanni, who is also an official at the local utility.

Red Cross spokeswoman Kelly Donaghy said that "we are not seeing many people returning to their homes yet" because of power outages, flying debris and other obstacles. But, she said, "our concern is educating people on all the dangers when they go back to their homes," ranging from polluted water to weakened buildings.

"From what folks on the ground are telling us, movement is not easy because there is still a lot of wind and rain," Donaghy said. "We hope that people will be cautious about returning too soon."

It did seem that Florida was better prepared for Frances -- and better behaved during Frances. But there were several reports of looters -- including a gang that stole about $10,000 worth of clothing from an Orlando store, two men arrested trying to steal an ATM machine with a chain saw, and other would-be opportunists that Palm Beach County Sheriff Edwin W. Bieluch described as "evil, pernicious jackals." Miscreants even ripped the hurricane shutters off a police substation in Fort Pierce.

Relief workers have a daunting task ahead as they try to clean up behind Charley and Frances -- and soon they may have to deal with yet another meteorological menace. Ivan intensified into a 135-mph Category Four storm Sunday, and was forecast to crash into Puerto Rico on Thursday. One Kissimmee resident Sunday scrawled a message for Ivan on his plywood: "Two Down, One to Go."

"Hopefully, Ivan will be someone else's problem," said Osceola County Manager Edwin J. Hunzeker. "I think we've already had our share."

Roig-Franzia contributed from Delray Beach. Staff writers Marc Kaufman in Stuart and Dan Eggen in Washington and special correspondents Catharine Skipp in Miami and Milton Benjamin in Vero Beach contributed to this report.