After Wilma's punch, the pinch

Now comes the hard part.

After enduring several harrowing hours hunkered down in their homes in the midst of 100-plus-mile-per-hour winds, Floridians are finding that the aftermath of hurricane Wilma may be more difficult than the storm itself.

The frustration resonates all the way from the governor to residents who have entered their fourth day without power.

"Going through the storm was a little scary, but it is a bigger challenge to figure out how you are going to survive day to day without all the creature comforts we've come to expect," sums up Jason Swann, as he cradles his 2-week-old daughter, Lily, in his arms. "The notion of standing in line for an hour for a bag of ice is absurd. But when it comes down to 'What do I need to help my family survive,' I will do it."

Mr. Swann is among more than 2 million Floridians who remained without power in the wake of hurricane Wilma. Cool temperatures and pleasant, clear weather have softened the impact of the loss of electricity and those all-important air-conditioning systems in balmy south Florida.

But the blackout is taking a toll in other ways as frustration over the relief effort has mounted.

"We did not perform to where we want to be," Gov. Jeb Bush said at a news conference Wednesday, adding that criticism of the federal response was misdirected. "This is our responsibility."

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez called the relief distribution system "flawed." Nine of the 11 sites in his county ran out of supplies, according to its website.

Although adequate supplies of gasoline were pre-positioned in Florida ports, without electric power wholesalers had been unable to load tanker trucks at the ports. By Thursday, Port Everglades had power back for most of its fuel depot, which supplies stations across South Florida.

Even with fuel, however, most retailers are unable to pump it from their underground storage tanks.

State and federal officials are scrambling to locate portable generators to solve the problem. The few gas stations that have opened have triggered instant mile-long lines of cars, all presumably with their gas gauges near "E."

At one Fort Lauderdale station, two women were forced to push their car forward as the line inched toward the gas station three blocks away.

Just getting to a gas station can be a challenge. Only six of Broward County's 1,350 traffic lights are working, county officials say. Many were blown from their supports and those that are still in place have no power.

A lack of generators has also set the stage for a potential health emergency. Sewers are beginning to back up and overflow into the streets. Backups are caused when sewer lift stations are shut down from lack of power for too long. Without a generator or some other power source, the sewer pipes fill up and eventually overflow through manhole covers.

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