Reply #4: This gives more details

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1371045,00.html

Frances, which ripped roofs off thousands of houses and flattened mobile homes further up the coast on September 5, appears to have been more selective in Miami-Dade, showing a particular knack for seeking out people’s electrical goods while leaving the structures that protected them largely unscathed.

Government aid has paid for 5,260 new televisions, 1,440 air conditioning units, 1,131 washing machines or tumble driers, 1,360 beds and 831 dining tables and chairs, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency records. One family claimed costs for a relative’s funeral, even though no storm-related deaths were recorded in the county, and 604 claimants got new cars.

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The agency paid to replace 195,909 items allegedly whisked away by tornados: the weather service did not record a single twister in the area. Frances, the third of the four hurricanes, caused 13 deaths in Florida, recording top gusts of 145mph. In Miami-Dade the top recorded wind speed was a gust of 59mph that lasted less than a minute.

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The prompt disbursement by the federal government of billions of dollars in aid following the hurricanes, and a visit by George W. Bush to storm-ravaged communities, is believed to have contributed to the Republicans’ victory in the State in the US elections.