the first time since records began in 1851 that Florida has been walloped by four hurricanes in a single Atlantic storm season. The season lasts from June to the end of November. Hurricane Charley kicked off a season likely to dent the state's reputation as a tourist destination when it slammed ashore on the southwest Gulf Coast on Aug. 13 as a Category 4 storm -- the second most powerful. It had winds of 145 mph (233 kph), killed 33 people and caused $7.4 billion in insured damages. Frances, a weaker but much larger storm with 105 mph (169 kph) winds, spread destruction along the Atlantic coast on Sept. 5, killing 30 and causing $4.4 billion in damages. Ivan, at one point the sixth most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, ripped into the Gulf Coast between Florida and Alabama with 130 mph (209 kph) winds on Sept. 16, killing at least 45 people across the United States and causing up to $6 billion in damages. "It's all part of living in Florida. You live in California, you deal with earthquakes. You live in Texas, you deal with drought and fire. You live in Kansas, you deal with tornadoes. I'd rather live somewhere it's warm," said Broward county emergency management spokeswoman Alinda Montfort. In the Bahamas, residents of Grand Bahama and Great Abaco islands, both still recovering from the ravages of Frances, packed into shelters. Silbert Mills, chairman of Abaco's disaster preparedness committee, said there was a feeling of "ubiquitous melancholy" on the island in the face of the approaching storm.
