Ferocious winds and sheets of rain pounded coastal Alabama, Misssissippi, Florida and Louisiana, with the storm's full fury yet to come when its powerful eyewall crashes onto land later in the night.

Strong storm surge and heavy rain flooded roads in several areas as the wind rattled homes, shook trees and threatened anyone or anything in Ivan's path.

The hurricane was rated at category four -- the second highest -- which would place it among the 16 most powerful storms to hit the United States since 1900.

It already killed more than 70 people as it made its way across the Caribbean before entering the Gulf of Mexico.

Ivan claimed two more lives Wednesday when tornados it spawned ripped across northeastern Florida, as the state was still mopping up from the havoc wrought by two major hurricanes over the past month.

Local television showed footage of torn off roofs, and said about 80 homes were damaged by the tornados.

At the same time, Puerto Rico reported two deaths as tropical storm Jeanne crashed into the island and threatened to intensify into a hurricane, while a Pacific hurricane was moving along the Mexican coast.

Ivan's killer winds, blowing at 215 kilometers (135 miles) per hour, and torrential rains were the main concern along the US Gulf Coast, where hundreds of thousands of people evacuated their homes over the past days.

Already before the storm made landfall, water seeped onto the shore and in some cases into houses across a wide swath of land threatened by Ivan's fury.

"It's been 25 years since we had such a huge hurricane. It was long overdue. I'm afraid this is going to be the one," said retiree Rhonda Preston, as she left Mobile with her husband, dog, six cats and their valuables.

Preston said she expected her mobile home and furniture to be destroyed in the storm.

"You don't want to be here when it hits the shores," said Alabama Governor Bob Riley.

The storm knocked out power lines leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity in Alabama.

In the Louisiana city of New Orleans, which lies below sea level and is bordered by water on three sides, police drove door to door imploring those still at home to flee to higher ground.

Though the city was expected to be spared a direct hit, Mayor Ray Nagin told reporters that the city was still expecting some hurricane-force winds.

Ivan's powerful winds spread some 465 kilometers (290 miles) from its eye.

At 0100 GMT, the eye of the hurricane was about 105 kilometers (65 miles) south of the Alabama coast, moving north at more than 19 kilometers (12 miles) per hour, the Miami-based US National Hurricane Center said.

Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi were under a state of emergency. Houses and businesses near the coast were boarded up and military bases sent personnel, ships and planes to safety.

Before heading into the Gulf of Mexico, Ivan rampaged across the Caribbean, from Grenada to Cuba.

Grenada was the worst hit by Ivan, with at least 37 people killed last week and up to 90 percent of all buildings damaged or destroyed, officials said.

In Jamaica, police put the death toll at 21 after the powerful winds from Ivan tore down houses, felled trees and destroyed roads in the nation of 2.7 million.

Seven ports closed in four states, including New Orleans, the hub of the third-largest US port complex.

Puerto Rico also suffered heavy rains and flooding as Jeanne crashed ashore.

One woman was killed when the zinc roof of her home fell on her, emergency services said, while the El Nuevo Dia daily reported that an elderly man died when he fell from his roof as he tried to install storm shutters,

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