PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. -- Hector Salazar toiled as a handyman for 17 years to buy a comfortable mobile home for his wife and two children, and then Hurricane Wilma smashed it to pieces.

Now he prays for his family as he spends sleepless nights on a rock-hard cot next to hundreds of strangers in a shelter -- the homeless remnants of one mean hurricane season.

"What's going to come of the future of my kids?" said Salazar, who has requested housing assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We're hardworking people who help others whenever we can. We just need a little help to get back on our feet. That's what I need."

Florida did not experience the devastation Hurricane Katrina brought to Louisiana and Mississippi, but the state was affected by hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, plus two tropical storms during this year's record-breaking Atlantic storm season. Including Charley, Frances, Jeanne and Ivan in 2004, that made eight hurricanes in 15 months.

In the Keys island chain, homes and streets were repeatedly flooded. Hurricane winds blew out windows in high-rise buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and thousands of homes were left uninhabitable in heavily populated South Florida.

Wilma, the last major hurricane, shut down schools for days, shuttered businesses, and left 3.2 million Florida Power & Light customers in the dark. The season caused about $10.5 billion (euro8.9 billion) in insured damage and 63 deaths in Florida, state officials said.

--One month after Wilma, about 700 people remain in hurricane shelters, waiting for county or FEMA housing assistance. The federal agency said it has approved about 39,000 applications for temporary housing.

--Tourism, the state's largest industry to the tune of 76.8 million visitors last year, lost millions of dollars in business. The Florida Keys lost an estimated $40 million (euro34 million) in business because of Wilma alone.

In the days after Wilma, residents stood in hours-long lines for gasoline, water, ice, food stamps and insurance information. It took about a month for FP&L to fully restore power.

In the wake of Wilma, FEMA -- already stretched thin by Katrina and Rita -- found itself on the defensive as it tried to get truckloads of supplies to storm-stricken areas and help individual victims.

FEMA met "an unprecedented challenge this year in Florida," said agency spokeswoman Frances Marine. "No one went without food. No one went without water. Overall, it was a very successful response and it was a huge response."

Gov. Jeb Bush deflected complaints that people had trouble getting ice, water and food, reminding them that officials had urged individuals before the storm to stock up with three days' worth of goods. "People had ample time to prepare," he said.

State emergency management director Craig Fugate said he may call for a higher-profile publicity campaign to encourage storm preparedness. He'd also consider polling residents to find out why they did, or didn't, prepare.

"Until we really understand why people ... don't prepare and what it takes to get that message across, then I think that's going to be our challenge," Fugate said.

In the meantime, Salazar has not been able to work because his wife, a native of Nicaragua, speaks only basic English, and he needs to be home in case they're notified that their housing application has been approved.

"This country has the economic capability to help people with needs like ours. I've spent 17 years paying taxes, and I lost my youth working so hard in this country," said Salazar, 35, a native of El Salvador.

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