Hurricane season is over; eight named storms in 2008

    Sunday marked the final official day of
the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season.

    This year’s season saw 16 named storms, eight of which were
hurricanes. Five of those hurricanes reached Category 3 strength or
higher. State officials say the most devastating storm was Tropical
Storm Fay, which resulted in 15 deaths, just in Florida. The storm
caused 41 counties to be declared federal disaster areas.

    Four systems - Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike - threatened Florida
within a single month. The State Emergency Operations Center in
Tallahassee was activated for 27 days to support response and
recovery operations.

    Now that hurricane season is over, state emergency managers are
warning residents that cooler and drier temperatures increase
drought and fire conditions in Florida.