Hurricane season comes to end

MIAMI (AP) -- Sunday marks 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.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)