OPAL'S QUIRKY FURY

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People all along the so-called Emerald Coast suddenly found themselves either homeless or facing major repairs. In Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where large yachts littered the main street, Rodney Holcombe, 36, tried to be stoic about the loss of his floating home, a 36-ft. trimaran sailboat on which he had no insurance. "I guess this is my $25,000 week," he joked glumly. "Maybe I can get some Federal Emergency Management Agency money." Holcombe notes that he has had trouble finding a hotel vacancy because out-of-town insurance adjusters and Red Cross workers have taken almost all the rooms.

In Gulf Breeze, Florida, Mel Burklow, 53, stares at what remains of his once thriving marina. Where there used to be 41 berths for large boats, there is now just twisted wreckage and sunken ships. In one corner, 15 big boats worth millions of dollars are stacked like toys, each a total loss. "As a small business, we're wiped out," says Burklow, who estimates his loss at $742,000. He points to huge chunks of reinforced concrete that have been ripped from a protective barrier. "That gives you an idea of what kind of force we're talking about," he says.

By week's end the long dig-out had begun. Crews arrived from all over the South to clear the highways of fallen pine and live oak trees, restore power, water and telephone service and remove the wreckage and debris. It will take many months before the outer beaches can be restored to anything close to normal. Many of the dunes may never come back.

This has been a hard year for Florida's panhandle. Two months ago, Hurricane Erin followed nearly the same path. In Fort Walton Beach, which caught both hurricanes, a defiant banner still flies above a popular restaurant called the Sound. It's a relic of the last storm that reads WE'RE OPEN ANYWAY, ERIN. But now the Sound is full of broken glass and water, not to mention two large stranded motor yachts. The restaurant--like much of the Emerald Coast--appears to be closed for the season.