US Gulf coast have residents started mopping up in the wake of Hurricane Dennis, which left five dead in two US southern states and another 23 in the Caribbean.

Thousands of people who had evacuated the area returned to gas shortages, rotting food, sweltering heat and badly damaged buildings.

Trees, fallen branches and chunks of roofing and signage littered the streets and authorities said it would be days -- or even weeks -- until power was fully restored.

Caravans of police and national guardsmen escorted utility trucks through the most damaged areas while otherwise quiet suburbs buzzed with the sounds of chainsaws and gas-powered generators.

Hurricane Dennis is estimated to have caused one billion to five billion dollars in insured losses, according to Risk Management Solutions.

Following the track of devastation wrought by Hurricane Ivan last year, Dennis slammed ashore Sunday afternoon near Pensacola as a powerful category-three hurricane and made its way inland, where it fizzled out into a tropical depression.

But because it was a fairly compact and swift-moving storm, Dennis caused far less damage than feared in the United States.

The death toll was significantly lower than that brought by Hurricane Ivan, which killed 30 in the coastal United States.

A married couple and the mother of one of the two died near Punta Gorda in southwest Florida late Sunday when their car overturned and fell into a ditch filled with water, police said. The bodies were found inside the car.

A man died in Fort Lauderdale, in southeast Florida, when he was electrocuted by a fallen cable. Another man died in Georgia when a tree fell on his home in Decatur near Atlanta, authorities said.

Before the hurricane struck, authorities had ordered 1.5 million people to evacuate coastal areas ranging from western Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana.

Oilrigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico had been evacuated ahead of the storm, and several airports were closed.

In Cuba, President Fidel Castro said the death toll had risen to 11. Earlier, he said the hurricane temporarily displaced another 1.5 million as it crossed the island.

In Haiti, which is still recovering from devastation wrought last year by Hurricane Jeanne, Dennis left at least 11 people dead.

In Jamaica, a man died when he was washed away in flood waters.

The Caribbean braced for more stormy weather as a tropical depression that could eventually strengthen into a full hurricane moved over the Atlantic toward Martinique.

NASA also has been keeping a close eye on the weather, but said it would go ahead with Wednesday's planned liftoff of Discovery, the first US space shuttle launch since flights were grounded after the February 2003 Columbia disaster.

PHOTO CAPTION

An overturned truck lies in a shallow pool of water amid the white sand of Navarre Beach, near Pensacola, Florida. (AFP)