After 5 Hurricanes, Fla. Slow to Rebuild

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Following Dennis, Gov. Jeb Bush extended until Sept. 17 a previous executive order that allows state-licensed building contractors to do some roofing work. It does not, however, permit out-of-state contractors to work without a Florida license.

Dan Gilmore, president of the Florida Home Builders Association, said the labor shortage is affecting the entire state but is most acute in the western Panhandle, where "Dennis probably didn't help any."

He also said that although most materials are now in adequate supply, cement remains the big exception. Gilmore said the shortage is delaying some projects by two months or more and blamed a U.S. embargo on Mexican cement.