Hurricane Ivan were blamed for the deaths of at least 42 people in the United States since the hurricane began to hit southern states of the country early Thursday toppling trees, destroying homes and leaving hundreds of thousands without power, news reports said Saturday.

In Florida, which was hard hit by Hurricanes Charley and Frances last month and early September, 16 people died in the hurricane. Ivan, the deadliest hurricane since 1999, when Floyd killed 56 people in United States, was also blamed for 70 deaths in the Caribbean.

More than 1.8 million people were made without power in nine states, and basic necessities were in such short supply in the Panhandle of the southeastern state of Florida that National Guard soldiers were marshaled to hand out food and water.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush deployed about 2,000 National Guard troops to the Panhandle, and his brother, President George W. Bush, was expected to visit the area Sunday.

By Saturday morning, more than 1 million people remained without power across eight states. In Florida, over 340,000 homes and businesses were without power, and officials said it would take weeks for power, sewer and water services to be restored in parts of the Panhandle.

In Alabama, about 660,000 homes and businesses remained without power Friday, down from the state record of 1.1 million power outages reported after the hurricane slammed the state Thursday.

Insurance experts estimated Ivan's damage at anywhere from 3 billion to 10 billion US dollars, compared with combined estimated insured damages between about 11 billion and 13 billion dollars caused by Charley and Frances.

On Saturday, heavy rains were reported across eastern states of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, where tens of thousands of customers were blacked out during the hurricane.

Ivan was downgraded to a tropical depression by the time it reached North Carolina late Thursday, before it swept through Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where state of emergencies were declared. In other states, spawning tornados toppled trees, damaged buildings, shut down roads, and prompted widespread evacuations.

Source: Xinhua