American Airlines and other air carriers have canceled hundreds of flights after Hurricane Wilma shut airports in Miami and other Florida cities, with full service unlikely to resume before Wednesday.

Wilma, at one time the most intense hurricane on record, left 6 million people and major airports without power and wrought destruction over a wider-than-expected area of the Sunshine State.

American canceled about 500 flights on Monday as a result of the storm and expected to cancel more than 400 more on Tuesday, said Tim Wagner, a spokesman for the carrier.

American, which operates 3,800 daily flights worldwide, is the sole airline with a hub in Miami, which serves as a major destination and connection point for Latin America.

"It is significant, no doubt," Wagner said. "It caught Miami a little harder than what a lot of people expected."

He said the shutdown would likely have some impact on fourth-quarter earnings, but that a lack of expenditure on pricey jet fuel would partially offset lost revenue.

Miami International Airport spokesman Marc Henderson said power had been restored and that workers were trying to repair damaged fences and loading bridges to get the airport ready to reopen, hopefully later on Tuesday.

"We're still not 100 percent sure when we're going to reopen," he said. "That's an attempt and it's not definite.

Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach airports were also closed until further notice, with Fort Myers airport set to open on Tuesday afternoon.

Northwest Airlines said it could look at operating overnight flights from the affected area after power is restored.

Other airlines including Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Delta Air Lines said they also had canceled flights.

Airlines were also watching out for potential delays and cancellations in the northeastern United States due to a severe storm which hit the area on Tuesday.