Hardest hit

Florida | Hurricane Wilma's most vulnerable victims—thousands of retirement community residents—are still trying to recover. "For the ones who have no family around . . . it can be severely crippling" | Jamie Dean

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- When Rosemary Jurin lost power in her small condo at Kings Point retirement community in Delray Beach, Fla., during Hurricane Wilma's landfall late last month, she immediately thought of one thing: the eight bottles of insulin in her refrigerator that would soon begin to spoil. "Those little bottles are my lifeline," the 78-year-old diabetic told WORLD nine days after Wilma ripped through southeast Florida. Mrs. Jurin is one of some 3.2 million Florida residents who lost power after Hurricane Wilma hit the state Oct. 24, causing billions of dollars of damage and claiming 14 lives. Nearly three weeks later, more than 1,200 people remained in shelters.

The day after the storm's landfall, scores of able-bodied Floridians began spreading blue tarps over crushed roofs and dragging mounds of tree debris to curbs, while waiting for electricity to return. Meanwhile, scores of elderly residents living in retirement communities and assisted living facilities hunkered down in the dark, waiting for someone to help them survive.