Devastating hurricane season may force sweeping changes in Florida.

Byline: Mike Clary

Sep. 29--Hurricanes Charley, Ivan, Frances and Jeanne, the rudest quartet of visitors ever to drop in on Florida in a single season, are now gone. And they left a $25 billion mess.

Beyond the expensive cleanup, however, the most enduring legacy of the four storms' assault on the state may be fundamental changes in the way Florida promotes tourism, markets its agriculture and controls building, especially along the coast.

Also in flux less than 48 hours after Jeanne blew out of the state is the way Floridians view themselves. Some are questioning their decision to live on a peninsula jutting into the subtropics; others are planning how to react the next time natural disaster threatens.

For Florida Keys Community College teacher Bonnie Doerr, there likely won't be a next time. "The stress, the worry, the fear, the evacuations," said Doerr, who is planning to sell her home on Ramrod Key. "This season is the last straw."

A mass exodus of residents seems unlikely, even from Central Florida towns such as Lake Wales, struck three times by hurricanes this…