US President George W. Bush on Saturday declared Florida a major disaster area as massive Hurricane Frances slowly bore down the southern US state.

The presidential declaration will make local governments and residents eligible to federal aid in hazard mitigation and recovery measures, according to a statement issued by White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

The outer edges of Frances slammed into south Florda earlier Saturday with heavy rain and strong winds that uprooted trees and downed power lines, leaving about two million people without power,local officials said.

According to meteorologists, Frances had maximum sustained winds of 145 kph.

The storm is now moving very slow westwards, with its center expected to make landfall early Sunday.

In advance of the storm, Florida has ordered the largest evacuation in its history, covering nearly 2.5 million people and Governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of emergency.

Frances's arrival came just three weeks after Hurricane Charley swept across the Florida Peninsula, killing 27 people and destroying or damaging more than 30,000 homes.

"This is going to be a tough ride for us over the next few days," Jeb Bush said. "It is hard for people who've already gone through Charley to also have to go through Frances."

The slow movement and large eye of the new hurricane means that it could bring more harm to much larger areas in Florida compared with Hurricane Charley, local officials said.

The American Red Cross said it is mounting its largest response effort ever to a natural disaster and the US Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is bringing in three times as many relief workers as it did for Charley.

Source: Xinhua