HURRICANE SEASON 2008

MINIMAL DAMAGE

Authorities in the archipelago had ordered visitors to evacuate on Sunday, creating bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway out of the islands on the state's tip.

Fay knocked down some trees, signs and awnings but did not cause any significant damage and authorities expected to give the all-clear for tourists to return on Wednesday. Several hundred utility customers were without power.

As Keys residents breathed a sigh of relief, shelters began to open on Florida's southern Gulf Coast. Tourists were urged to leave some resort islands and ordered off others, while mobile home dwellers and residents of flood-prone areas were urged to seek shelter as night fell. Overnight curfews were in effect in some areas.

Across Florida at least 22 school districts, a handful of community colleges and one university canceled Tuesday's classes and Gov. Charlie Crist warned residents not to develop "hurricane amnesia."

"Floridians should continue to monitor their local news," Crist said. "They should continue to stay calm and be smart and make sure they exercise common sense."

More than 10.8 million people could feel the storm's effects on its projected path, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

By 11 p.m. EDT on Monday, Fay was about 60 miles

south of Naples, and its top sustained winds were at 60 mph (97 kph), the National Hurricane Center said.

It was moving north at 9 mph (15 kph) and was expected to continue on that path over Florida's southwest coast on Tuesday. The densely populated Miami-Fort Lauderdale area in the southeast of the state was buffeted by bands of heavy rains and gusty winds.

Fay crossed Cuba without apparently causing serious damage.

In Haiti, witnesses said about 50 people died when a bus tried to cross a river swollen by rain. Eight others were killed in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and two died in Jamaica when their car was caught in a flooded crossing.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Franks and Marc Frank in Havana, Michael Christie and Tom Brown in Miami, and Rene Pastor in New York; editing by Alan Elsner)