It may be almost hurricane season but termites cause more damage to homes every year than storms, fires and floods combined. The pests cost Florida consumers more than 700 million dollars each year yet only half the state’s homes have any kind of termite protection. Now two new species of super-termites have invaded the state and one expert has made it his mission to snuff them out. WGCU’s Amy Tardif reports.

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The deadline for Florida residents made homeless by hurricanes in 2004 to move out of FEMA housing has been extended. The new deadline is September giving the approximately 26 hundred family six more months to find a place to live. But where will they go? In Charlotte County that’s problematic. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

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Rising real estate prices are making it difficult for some municipalities to recruit and retain employees. Wendy Humphrey reports from Sanibel Island where real estate prices have skyrocketed and island workers are out of luck. (AUDIO)

Bob Vila has made a career of explaining the process of home building and renovation. This week he’s putting his experience to work in Punta Gorda Isles where a new home is being built to replace on destroyed by Hurricane Charley. Valerie Alker caught up with Vila at the construction site and prepared this report. (AUDIO)

On a drive on through Charlotte County on I-75, the scenery is primarily pastoral – the interstate is located east of most development. But for the past 6 months there’s been a glaring exception. On the south side of the Peace River – 551 mobile homes – each about 15 feet apart – sit in the shadow of the interstate, on land that until a less than a year ago was cow pasture. The Federal Emergency Management Agency built the Airport Mobile Home Park to house people made homeless by Hurricane Charley. It’s the largest community of its kind to date. Valerie Alker has more. (AUDIO)

The lack of affordable housing is the major factor behind the region’s growing homeless population. The Southwest Florida Coalition for the Homeless held its annual conference Friday at Florida Gulf Coast University. Representatives from many agencies attended – the general consensus was – until the housing issue is addressed the number of people living in shelters, in cars and on park benches will only increase. Valerie Alker has more. (AUDIO)