"When Hurricane Wilma moved across the state, it was followed by a cold front," said Ray Gilmer, director of public affairs for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association in Maitland. "That front turned into what is today [Tuesday, Oct. 25] an absolutely beautiful day. It's 65 degrees and crystal clear."

It is the kind of day that draws thousands of visitors and winter residents to the state in increasing numbers each year. But that is also part of the problem.

"The more people move into coastal areas of the state, the more we build," said Reggie Brown, manager of the Florida Tomato Committee, also in Maitland. "The more we build to accommodate the increased population and number of tourists, the more these hurricanes will have to damage or destroy. We have been keeping records for 100 years or so, and there has never been hurricane seasons as bad as we've seen in the past two years, but we're putting more structures up, and the damage numbers just keep climbing."

In those past 100 years, Florida's agri culture sector has grown along with every other aspect of development in the state. The path that Hurricane Wilma took across the state is, according to Mr. Gilmer, one of the worst paths possible for fruit and vegetable growers.

"It came ashore just south of Naples in the Immokalee area," he said. "The primary southern Florida growing regions have all been affected, some much worse than others. It passed through DeSoto, Hardee and Hendry counties, including through Devil's Garden. It continued its eastern path across Belle Glade and Clewiston. These areas are all big in tomato production. It is most tragic that tomato growers were very close to harvest. Product was likely blown off the vine, and what was not blown away was hammered pretty badly. Tomato crops simply cannot tolerate winds of 100 miles per hour. In fact, they can't tolerate 70-mile-per-hour winds without some serious damage resulting."

Mr. Gilmer admitted that most of what he told The Produce News is based on what he expects to hear from growers, and not on actual reports coming directly from growing regions. As of Tuesday, Oct. 25, most phone lines were still out of service, and calls to cell phones usually went directly to voicemail because signal towers were damaged or destroyed. News bulletins from the state reported that over 6 million people are without power, and it may be as long as four weeks before electric lines are repaired and service is completely restored. Downed power lines also means that water service is cut off, and that has forced communities to issue boil-water orders.

"The storm also cut right through field vegetable production," Mr. Gilmer said. "It ran directly across where the bulk of the state's leafy green vegetables, sugar cane, radishes, corn and other products are grown -- and everything is in the ground this time of year. People as far south as Homestead and as far north as Ft. Pierce have already reported crop damage that ranges from minimal to major. That leaves us to believe that those who a repositioned in the middle of this storm's path could not have fared well."

Mr. Brown agreed that many people in the industry do not yet have communications, leaving much to speculation at this time.

"We are gathering comments and word of mouth," he said. "The amount of damage appears to be very significant and widespread. We don't think it will be a complete loss for the tomato crop, but we do believe we'll see a significant reduction."

Another hurricane hit is also the last thing that those in the Florida citrus industry needed to experience. Early reports are that groves in Hendry and Collier counties, two of the state's larger citrus producing counties, were strongly affected by Wilma's wind and rain.

"Growers in these areas have seen their groves, barns, equipment and homes severely impacted by this storm," said Andy LaVigne, Florida Citrus Mutual's executive vice president and chief executive officer. "This will certainly have an impact on their livelihoods and this season's citrus crop."

Combined, the two counties have about 130,000 acres of citrus groves. Preliminary reports indicate that up to 15 percent of the fruit crop has been blown off trees in some areas, and some trees are leaning over or uprooted. Like Florida vegetables, the citrus crop is also currently in the final process of maturing.

"It is difficult for us to adequately gauge the crop loss at this time due to downed communications lines in that area," said Mr. LaVigne. "We hope to have a better assessment by the end of the week."

In addition to crop and tree damage, Florida citrus growers are very concerned that Hurricane Wilma could have increased the spread of citrus canker, a bacterial disease that is moved by wind-driven rain. State officials have been battling citrus canker since 1995 and were close to eradicating the disease until the hurricanes of 2004 increased the spread of the disease.

"In the past year alone, the state has or is scheduled to remove nearly 70,000 acres of citrus groves due to the spread of citrus canker after last year's storms," said Mr. LaVigne.

News bulletins and reports on Tuesday provided an indication of the damage yet to be reported in south Florida. At airports from Palm Beach south, some airplanes, both commercial and private, were blown into one another, tearing huge holes into fuselages. Others were flipped upside down or torn in half.

In Broward County, where water lines are still down, literally miles of cars were lined up waiting to get into grocery and other stores to buy bottled water and ice. Very early estimates state that damage from Hurricane Wilma could reach as high as $10 billion. The death toll is still relatively low -- six reported at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon -- but as when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast area earlier this season, that may well change once communications are reopened.r