With Hurricane Ivan's threat lessened for southern Florida at least, officials say their main concern now is helping already flooded areas.By ABBIE VANSICKLEPublished September 15, 2004

LECANTO - Signs of relief showed on county officials' faces Tuesday morning at the Emergency Operations Center. For days now, top officials gathered at the bunker-like building to pool information from the state and each other about storms threatening the area and emergency preparations.
But, at least for now, things are getting back to normal.
Forecasts show Hurricane Ivan will make landfall near the Alabama-Mississippi border late today or early Thursday. Citrus County could be hit with a 2- to 4-foot storm surge from the hurricane, but officials said that's nowhere near the damage they feared last week when Ivan's path pointed toward Citrus.
Officials said their primary concern now is flooding in areas already saturated with water. Even mild winds could cause severe damage in these areas, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Gail Tierney.
"Even no wind at all is causing trees to topple," Tierney said.
The Withlacoochee River is expected to crest over the weekend near its flood stage level of 8 feet. Three sandbag sites will remain open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the weekend in the eastern part of the county.
Officials contacted churches and aid agencies near the Arrowhead subdivision in northeast Citrus on Tuesday to determine relief plans if homes flood this weekend.
Hernando County officials opened a shelter for those concerned about coastal flooding. Citrus officials said they don't see a need for a shelter now, but County Commission Chairman Josh Wooten said it would only take a couple of hours to open shelters if the forecast worsens.
"We are monitoring this thing," Wooten said.
County departments are back to normal schedules. The public service hotline that officials opened to handle calls about storm damage closed at midnight. Residents with questions about storm damage should call county departments during business hours, Wooten said.
There's still a lot to be done before all of the damage is fixed, and residents should feel free to contact their local government, he said.
The latest numbers showed damage to 429 residential structures in Citrus County from Frances and damage to 102 commercial structures in the county. Of this damage, 147 of the residential and 35 of the commercial damage was major.
"We still have quite a mess on our hands," Wooten said.
Although several employees will remain at the emergency center and officials will stay in close contact with each other, the county won't hold daily briefings with department heads at the center. The next session planned is a debriefing where they'll discuss how the county reacted to Frances, said sheriff's Capt. Joseph Eckstein.
"Crazy, crazy storm season so far," he said.
Eckstein said he's not about to relax yet. He will stay in close contact with the National Weather Service, watching out for the next storm. He ended Tuesday's briefing by mentioning Tropical Storm Jeanne, which is spinning toward Florida's east coast.
"I'm going to go back and overlay this storm's path with Frances," he said.[Last modified September 15, 2004, 01:08:22]