Hurricane Katrina Kills At Least 4

Hurricane Katrina felled trees, peeled off roofs and left more than 1.3 million customers without power as it slammed into Florida's densely populated southeastern coast with driving rains and sustained winds of 80 mph. Four people were killed, three by falling trees.

Rain fell in horizontal sheets, seas were estimated at 15 feet and winds gusted to 92 mph, toppling trees and street signs. Florida Power & Light said the vast majority of people without electricity were in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

The storm made landfall along the Miami-Dade and Broward line between Hallandale Beach and North Miami Beach. Weather officials said flooding was the main concern as the storm dropped up to 15 inches in parts of Miami-Dade County.

CBS News Correspondent Jennifer Donelan reports Katrina is moving west and out into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico - but could turn around and target Florida for a second time.

"We really are concerned now that it will become a fairly good hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico," says National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield, "We're sort of shifting our focus up into the Panhandle area."

The Panhandle is already quite hurricane-weary, with the back to back impacts of Hurricanes Dennis, which hit last month, and Ivan, which left a trail of destruction last year.

CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports flash flooding is a major concern. As Katrina rolled in, officials began lowering water levels in canals as a precaution against the storm's expected heavy rains.

Despite the danger, many Floridians chose to ride out the storm.

"You know we're kind of used to this, this is maybe the 8th hurricane we've lived through," said one Floridian on Singer Island, as Katrina moved through the area.

Katrina, said another hurricane veteran, "is a wimp - compared to [Hurricanes] Frances and Jean."

The storm proved fatal for three people who ignored warnings to stay inside until the worst was over. A man in his 20s in Fort Lauderdale was crushed by a falling tree as he sat alone in his car, while a 54-year-old man was killed by a falling tree in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Plantation. A woman who was struck by a tree died at a hospital in Hollywood, hospital officals said.

A 79-year-old man in Cooper City also died when his car struck a tree, Broward County officials said. No other details were immediately available.

Three storm-related trauma victims were taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, including a driver in critical condition after a tree fell on a car.

An overpass under construction in Miami-Dade County collapsed onto a highway. No injuries were immediately reported, but the freeway - a main east-west thoroughfare - was closed for 20 blocks.

The usually bustling streets of Miami Beach, a tourist haven, were largely deserted as the storm pounded the area. The city is hosting celebrities and partygoers in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. MTV called off its pre-awards festivities Thursday and Friday.

"It's like a ghost town out here," said Mark Darress, concierge at The Astor Hotel in Miami Beach. "I see the random, not so smart people, riding scooters every now and then."

Tourists and others hoping to get out of town before the storm were stranded as airlines canceled flights at Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports, which both closed Thursday night.

Three mobile home parks in Davie sustained considerable damage, according to the Broward Emergency Management Agency. "A lot of roofs are off," said Dennis Myers, a spokesman for the agency.

When the eye of the hurricane passed over the National Hurricane Center in west Miami-Dade County, forecasters ran outside to experience the calm at the center of the storm.

In an oceanfront condominium in Hallandale, Carolyne and Carter McHyman said heavy downpours once again pelted their windows after the eye passed.

"It's been horrible," Carolyne McHyman said. "Basically all our windows are leaking. We just keep mopping up and taping the windows, mopping up and taping again."

Before the hurricane struck, Floridians wary of Katrina prepared by putting up shutters, stacking sandbags in doorways and stocking up on supplies.

At a supermarket in Hollywood, Cassandra Butler hefted two five-gallon bottles of water as well as a 24-pack of smaller bottles into her shopping cart Thursday.

"It's not that I'm worried. I've been in south Florida all my life," Butler said. "But this is a feature of life down here, and you are smart to deal with it."

Gov. Jeb Bush urged residents to prepare because Katrina was expected to bring "tremendous rain" to Florida. "In essence, this is a very dangerous storm. It's important to take this seriously," Bush said.

As the storm took aim on the coast, flights were canceled at Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports.

The hurricane forced MTV to cancel or postpone some of the performances leading up to its award show, including festivities celebrating the release of Ricky Martin's new album. The show itself, planned for Sunday in Miami Beach, isn't expected to be affected.

Category 1 storms have maximum sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph, and wind damage to secured structures is usually minimal. Weather officials said Katrina was mostly a rain event, with flooding the main concern.

Katrina is the first hurricane to make a direct hit on Broward County since a destructive Category 4 storm with a recorded gust of 155 mph in September 1947.

Katrina is the second hurricane to hit the state this year - Dennis hit the Panhandle last month - and the sixth since Aug. 13, 2004. Katrina formed Wednesday over the Bahamas and was expected to cross Florida before heading into the Gulf of Mexico.

Katrina is the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. That's seven more than have typically formed by now in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane season officially ends on November 30th.