Jacobs, 52, lives with friends and is rebuilding his 2,700- square-foot house on the Pensacola Bay waterfront with more than $300,000 in insurance settlements.

``I'm going to make it even nicer,'' Jacobs said.

Baker, 38, a disabled former Marine forced from his subsidized apartment, lives in a makeshift neighborhood of hundreds of federally supplied travel trailers that line an abandoned Builders Square parking lot.

``It's great when you know your tax dollars are working for you,'' Baker said.

Their experiences reflect Northwest Florida's uneven recovery from the storm.

``Thousands are still homeless. We are going to be here as long as it takes,'' Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael D. Brown said in early November when he delivered a $34 million check to reimburse Escambia County for debris cleanup.

Tons of debris still line roadways and neighborhood streets in this military and tourist town. The famous sugar-white sand dusts the landscape, where many trees that weren't knocked down have a dizzying tilt.

``The blue tarps, at least to me, symbolize that progress is being made,'' Brown said of the temporary roof covers spotted in most neighborhoods.

Churches and social agencies offer stress management seminars for battered residents.

State Rep. Holly Benson, R- Pensacola, said Ivan has created a ``wonderful opportunity'' to speed downtown redevelopment, such as moving the city's damaged sewer treatment plant away from the waterfront.

Joe Patti's Seafood, a 73- year-old landmark downtown business, reopened Nov. 15 after two months of cleaning and rebuilding.

``The store was a mixture of sewage and seafood,'' general manager Maria Patti-Walker said. ``The first thing I said was, `We've got to rebuild this stinky place.' It took longer than expected.''

The westbound lane of Interstate 10 across Escambia Bay reopened to two-way traffic in October, but repairs continue where Ivan smashed through the eastbound span, claiming the life of a trucker in what became the storm's signature image.

``Some people just drive by in the parking lot and take pictures,'' said Susan Milstid, assistant manager of the Dairy Queen on the western bluff overlooking the bay. ``Everybody is so fascinated by it.''

Pensacola Beach reopened, but most of the people filling the few available hotel rooms are relief workers and contractors.

``We've been getting a lot of foreign tourists who aren't aware of how bad things are,'' visitor center worker Linda Matthews said. ``They just move on.''

Reporter Mark Holan can be reached at (727) 815-1082.