(by G.Andersen)

U.S. fourth-largest state Florida with its more than 17 million people now sees the reopening of a business of the majority of retailers and services as tropical storm Frances has already eased.

The largest U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores expects crowds of customers to rush into its stores after it finishes cleaning up.

Home Depot’s stores are almost totally reopened, they say. As a home improvement chain, it expects demand for clean-up materials, bottled water and barbecue grills, as well as generators, tarps and other post-storm supplies.

Airlines also started to resume flights. JetBlue and AirTran Holdings Inc. are going to operate at their full schedules to Florida by Monday afternoon, they said.

Despite of negative impact of Frances on all services, the damage it caused still remains to be minimal.