Mary Burger, of Lake Valley, N.Y., looks at her parents overturned car Monday morning Aug. 16, 2004, in Port Charlotte. Burgers' parents, Gordon and Joanne Hawkins were killed when their mobile home was ripped from its foundation by Hurricane Charley

Jack McAllister salvages items from what was a bathroom in his mobile home in the Windmill Village park in Punta Gorda, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004.

In our prayers,

my wife's family lives in: Fort Myers, Sarasota(did not
get hit), Pine Island, and Orlando. No one hurt! However,
this is going to put a hold on our moving down to Florida
a bit.

Keith/OIL

Punta Gorda Update.

My Inlaws called last night.. .they no longer have a garage or screened in patio. There is a hole in the roof and the structural integrity has been compromised. It appears at this time the remaining structure will have to be demolished.

They are comtemplating moving to Las Vegas.

My inlaws drove to Punta Gorda today to see how much of their house is left

I saw that riding down 41 yesterday I had to do a double take...

The sign to the Shell Factory on Highway 41 leading into Punta Gorda shows a little damage from Hurricane Charley.

Paul J. Milette / The Palm Beach Post

Army National Guard Private First Class Alejandro Rivero (based in Daytona) tosses ice bags to waiting cars at a comfort station distributing water, ice, and portable toiltes in Punta Gorda Monday afternoon, Aug. 16. Guardsmen were given the order to remove their flak jackets after humid temperatures rose into the 90's again.

Richard Graulich/ The Palm Beach Post

August 17, 2004 03:29 PM US Eastern Timezone

Toyota Donates $1,000,000 to Hurricane Charley Relief Efforts

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040817005...

After the Storm: What Business Are We In?

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=34&aid=70073

Hurricane Victims Filing for Unemployment

By ALLEN G. BREED Tuesday, August 17, 2004


http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/08/17/ap/headlines/d84h73go0.txt

NPR~
Audio Archives
-Restoring Power to Florida Could Take Weeks
Utilities begin the process of rebuilding power lines and restoring electricity in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Charley. Hundreds of thousands of residents in the area around Port Charlotte remain without power. Utility officials warn it will take weeks to restore power completely. Hear NPR's Phillip Davis.

-Floridians Brace for Post-Charley Insurance Hikes
Floridians are preparing themselves for big increases in insurance premiums in the wake of Hurricane Charley. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, insurers that didn't go bankrupt hiked their premiums by 100 percent to 200 percent. Nancy Marshall Genzer reports.

http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=16-Aug-2004&prgId=3

An overturned plane in Punta Gorda, Fla



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,129038,00.html

A parked car is surrounded by the ruins of a house north of Port Charlotte, Fla.

Bart O'Toole, general manager of the Pineland Marina, looks at debris and damaged boats in Pineland, Fla.


http://www.foxnews.com/

Cleaning up after Charley


Barbara Kotik examines the remains of the car she left in the parking lot of a Valero gas station on Ridgewood Avenue in Daytona Beach. Kotik parked the car there in an effort to keep it away from the many trees around the home where she was staying during Hurricane Charley.
N-J/Kelly Jordan
http://www.news-journalonline.com/

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/charley_pix/index.html?SITE=FLPET&SECTI...

Bush Vows Rapid Aid to Hurricane Victims

By ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press Writer


"God Saved Us All" is spray painted onto what was once part of the roof of a school, in front of Joe and Kathy Fugaro's Punta Gorda, Fla., home on 308 E. Charlotte Street Sunday, Aug. 15, 2004. The roof, a section of the Baker Head Start School, was blown across the street by Hurricane Charley, slamming into a concrete electricity poll in front of their home. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) -- Residents left homeless by Hurricane Charley's 145 mph winds dug through their ravaged homes on Sunday, sweeping up shattered glass and rescuing what they could as President Bush promised rapid delivery of disaster aid.

With temperatures in the 90s and humidity that made it feel hotter, people waited with carts in long lines to buy ice. Supermarkets gave away water in five cities as just under 1 million people remained without power and 2,300 stayed in emergency shelters.

"It's as close to hell as I can think of," said Khoum Khampapha, a resident of Easy Street in Port Charlotte, as he looked around his neighborhood of gutted homes. "It's just breathtaking."

As the storm weakened off the coast of New England, Bush surveyed the devastation in Florida, where the storm caused billions of dollars in damage and killed at least 16 people.

In and around Punta Gorda, trailer after trailer lay toppled. Others were blown apart entirely, exposing interior walls that had been pushed down flat, with doorways leading to nowhere. Other rooms stood, but without ceilings or roofs to shelter them from the open sky.

Shards of wood and metal lay scattered about the green yards and floated in blue swimming pools that were filled to the brim by rainwater.

Chad Maxwell shoveled up soggy ceiling tiles and shattered glass Sunday from the floor of the real estate office where he works in Punta Gorda. Downtown "looks like a bomb zone," he said, surveying the coffee shop next door, which lost its second floor, and a florist with only one wall standing.

"Everything's gone. Everything's tore up," he said.

Emergency officials pronounced Charley the worst hurricane to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Twenty-six deaths were directly linked to Andrew, which caused $19.9 billion in insured property losses.

The hardest-hit areas appeared to be the retirement community of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte in Charlotte County, though federal officials expanded the disaster aid zone to 25 counties on Sunday.

From his helicopter Marine One, Bush could see debris from trailer park homes strewn across green fields and roofs that had been torn off hangars at Charlotte County Airport. He consoled storm victims in Punta Gorda.

"All the clothes that I've got now is just what I'm wearing," resident George Nickols told Bush during the president's 2 1/2-hour visit.

The president promised rapid assistance for Florida, where officials estimated damages of up to $11 billion to insured homes alone.

When asked about why he made such a quick trip to Florida in this election year, Bush said: "If I didn't come, they would've said we should have been here more rapidly."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was sending teams of medical, urban rescue and communication workers; at least 60 semitrailers containing cots, blankets, meals, portable toilets, wash kits and other necessities; and truckloads of water and ice.

FEMA said the state has requested catastrophic housing for 10,000 people, and more than 4,000 National Guard troops have been activated.

"It's going to be awesome - shock and awe - that's our goal," said Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother.

J.B. Hunt, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross, said the agency had established eight mobile kitchens and five feeding centers that will be capable of serving 9,000 meals a day by Monday.

"This is the largest Red Cross response since Sept. 11," she said.

Officials have said hundreds of people were unaccounted for but still had no official count on Sunday. The search for missing people was slow in some areas because downed power lines and debris was making the search dangerous, law enforcement officials said.

Charlotte County Chief Deputy John Davenport said the search of mobile home parks was complete and crews were proceeding to check houses.

Earlier, Charley killed four people in Cuba and one in Jamaica.

After slamming into Florida with winds reaching 145 mph and a surge of sea water of 13 feet to 15 feet, Charley hit open ocean and made landfall again in South Carolina's Grand Strand resort region. It moved into North Carolina and up the eastern seaboard as a tropical storm before being downgraded to a depression Sunday.

The remnants of Charley dropped rain across the Northeast and whipped up choppy seas on Sunday, but caused little damage as the storm sped toward the North Sea.

Officials were still assessing the total damage caused in Florida. An initial estimate of $5 billion to $11 billion was based on the value of homes and insurance policies in Charley's path, state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said. Uninsured homes, businesses and cars were not included.

Heavy damage was reported on the Gulf Coast barrier islands.

The luxury vacation haven of North Captiva Island, which can be reached only by air and boat, was divided in two by Charley's storm surge, creating a new inlet that appears to be several hundred yards long, Lee County spokesman Pat O'Rourke said.

Access to Sanibel, with about 6,000 residents, and Fort Myers Beach, with about 7,000 residents, remained cut off as officials assessed the damage.

The destruction was also felt inland. In the rural city of Arcadia, Art and Edwyne Partaka considered themselves among the lucky ones in their mobile home park, where most of the more than 100 homes were destroyed. Their enclosed porch and utility rooms were blown away, but most of their home was still intact.

"We didn't expect to see anything when we came back," Art Partaka said. "We just thank God he spared most of our trailer."

In Daytona Beach, Barbara Kotik had tried to protect her car from the trees around her home by parking it at a gas station. She returned after the storm to find the twisted metal framework of the gas station's roof wrapped snuggly around the Chevrolet.

At least five hospitals were damaged. Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda evacuated all patients Saturday, and planned to stay closed for as long as three weeks.

State officials warned of price gouging, and promised to arrest offenders. The state had received about 400 complaints of price-gouging as of Sunday, and officials warned people not to pay cash for repairs.

"People need to watch out for the scam artists," said Florida Agriculture & Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson. "They're out there. They always are."

Already, garishly colored T-shirts proclaiming "I survived Hurricane Charley" had popped up for sale.

Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season were out at sea Sunday. Tropical Storm Danielle formed Friday and developed into a hurricane Saturday but was several days from land.

Tropical Storm Earl had sustained winds of 45 mph and was centered about 90 miles west of Grenada Sunday afternoon.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HURRICANE_CHARLEY?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

Recovering From Charley

Published: Aug 15, 2004

STATEWIDE: The state's Emergency Operations Center was open and extra Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents were available to be sent to counties in need. About 4,187 Florida National Guard troops, 70 National Guard ground vehicles and 10 helicopters have been deployed. About 629 state law enforcement officers have also been deployed.
CURFEWS: Mandatory curfews were in effect in Osceola County from sunset to sunrise, in Hardee County from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. Orange County asked residents to stay off the roads from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

SHELTERS: About 2,590 people stayed in 22 shelters in 13 counties: Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Lafayette, Lee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Sarasota, Seminole, Taylor and Volusia.

HOSP: The following hospitals are closed: Charlotte Regional, Gulf Coast Hospital, Fawcett Memorial Hospital and Bon Secours-St. Joseph. Lake Wales Hospital has emergency room services only.

SCHOOL and GOVERNMENT OFFICES: Lee County closed schools Monday through Wednesday. Hardee schools closed until at least Aug. 27. Polk and DeSoto schools closed through Aug. 20. Osceola and Volusia schools closed Monday and Tuesday. Orange County schools closed Monday. In Sarasota, two schools without power will be closed Monday. The University of Central Florida campus reopens Monday, and Sunday's scheduled check-in for student housing was postponed until Tuesday.

TRANSPORTATION: No airports are closed. Punta Gorda is daylight operations only. Amtrak restored limited service Sunday with trains running from Sanford to New York and Lorton, Va. Bridges to Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island closed.

WATER: Residents were advised to boil water in several communities, including Arcadia, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.

POWER: About 1.1 million people without power Sunday. Outages affect 452,600 Progress Energy customers and 427,000 FPL customers. Power has been restored to 900,000 residents. Progress Energy expects to restore power in Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties by Sunday and Hardee, Highlands and Polk counties by Aug. 25.

SPORTS: Saturday's Tampa Bay Bucs-Cincinnati Bengals preseason game rescheduled to Monday night.

THEME PARKS: All major theme parks open in Orlando and Tampa.

CITRUS INDUSTRY: Charley devastated Florida's citrus growers, especially in DeSoto, Hardee and Polk counties. Less damage in Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties. The counties account for 35 percent of Florida's citrus acreage. Damage assessment is expected Monday.

Sources: The Associated Press, WFLA-TV, state officials.
http://hurricane.weathercenter.com/MGBGQRYLXXD.html

`Paradise Is No More'
By LINDSAY PETERSON and BRAD SMITH The Tampa Tribune
Published: Aug 16, 2004

PUNTA GORDA - Hurricane Charley was a vandal that ravaged southwest Florida while showing only random mercy, residents realized Saturday when they first glimpsed the Category 4 storm's havoc that killed at least 13 people.
``It's Andrew all over again,'' said Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County emergency management director.

Charley demolished thousands of homes, severely damaged hundreds of businesses and left ``thousands upon thousands of people'' homeless, Sallade said.

Hundreds were unaccounted for in the hardest-hit areas of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte. Charley also ripped up Captiva Island, a narrow strip of sand west of Fort Myers.

State officials confirmed 13 deaths based on reports from county medical examiners. The state listed four deaths in Charlotte, two deaths apiece in Orange, Polk and Volusia counties, and one death apiece in DeSoto, Lee and Sarasota counties.

Charley knocked out power to an estimated 2 million people as it crossed from southwest Florida to Daytona Beach. By afternoon, 1.3 million people still were without power.

Tampa Electric Co. spokesman Ross Bannister said power could be down in parts of Polk County until Friday or later because major rebuilding is necessary.

The American Red Cross set up more than 250 disaster relief shelters in Florida, with staff and volunteers providing dry clothing, meals, first aid and counseling.

``This is our largest hurricane disaster operation since Hurricane Andrew,'' said Red Cross President Marty Evans. Andrew was directly blamed for the deaths of 26 people in 1992, most in South Florida.

The wounded and infirm from Charlotte and DeSoto counties streamed into Tampa Bay area hospitals. Some suffered fractures and other injuries. Other patients already were hospitalized and were moved to get them out of harm's way.

Charley downed trees and sent debris flying at Orlando- area amusement parks as it blew through Friday packing 90 mph winds.

Officials were assessing damage to Florida's $1.2 billion citrus crop, concentrated in the central part of the state and extending south to Lee and Charlotte counties, where the storm made landfall.

Meanwhile, residents struggled to fill the gap between the promise of government help and its availability, even as President Bush declared Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties disaster areas, eligible for federal aid.

Bush, Gov. Jeb. Bush's brother, sent a mortuary team to help process bodies. The president planned a visit today to survey damage, and Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry offered ``heartfelt sympathies.''


`Community Totally Flattened'

The Category 4 storm is expected to cost Florida ``at least several billion dollars,'' said Loretta Worters, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute.

Charley slammed Charlotte County's hospitals, fire and law enforcement stations, even the emergency management headquarters.

Wet yellow insulation dripped from collapsed ceilings in several rooms as Gov. Bush arrived with a cadre of state and federal officials who surveyed damage from a Black Hawk helicopter.

``It's just hard to describe seeing an entire community totally flattened,'' Bush said of swaths of homes across Charlotte County crushed, twisted and pulverized by Charley.

``Paradise is no more,'' said Charles Rinehart, police chief in Punta Gorda, a city of 15,000. ``The historic area is destroyed. The business area is destroyed. It's tough to see your entire city go away.''

Among officials with Bush were Federal Emergency Management Agency leaders who said the federal government would help Florida rebuild.

``We're here to help, in all sincerity. We're here to help,'' Bush said.

As Bush was leaving the building, after reassuring the emergency staff, he was confronted by hurricane victim Vanessa Snyder sitting outside, slumped over and crying.

``My babies,'' she said. ``We have no water, no roof, no food. They said they would come to help, but nobody has come.''

A volunteer with a Boys & Girls Club at a nearby public housing complex brought Snyder to see the governor. ``It's bad,'' said Shripaul Jaikaran. ``These kids there have no water, no food. They're in trouble.''

Charley struck a part of Florida that was largely unprepared as forecasts focused on a hit on the Tampa Bay area.

More than 1 million people left their homes in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Manatee counties as Charley churned north.

In less populated Charlotte County, some tried to rush to shelters, but as winds rose to 145 mph, most decided to stay off roads and try to survive the storm in a bathroom or closet.

Jack Beven, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the storm at 11 a.m. Friday was ``like somebody flipped a switch inside the hurricane.'' That's when it went from a Category 3 storm to a Category 4 disaster.

On Saturday, most of Florida's top emergency management officials huddled in Tallahassee coordinating recovery and relief efforts from the Capitol.


`A Day Of Assessment'

Even after recovery teams, 1,500 National Guard troops, state law enforcement and federal officials observed the damage, officials were reluctant to cite many specifics.

``This is a day of assessment,'' the governor said.

Mike McHargue, director of investigations for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said downed power lines and debris made the work ``tedious and dangerous.''

``We are going through a very painstaking and deliberate process of trying to locate and report on any fatalities,'' said McHargue, whose agency is charged with reporting storm- related fatalities.

In all, 31 mobile home parks in Charlotte County, some with more than 1,000 units, suffered major damage, said Bob Carpenter, a sheriff's spokesman. Teams were sent to each park to search for bodies and survivors, but ``we just couldn't get the vehicles in; there is so much debris.''

A year ago, Punta Gorda, which sits between Sarasota and Fort Myers, was ranked the nation's fourth-best place to live by Sperling's Best Places for its job climate, low unemployment rate and cost of living. Only Raleigh-Durham- Chapel Hill, N.C.; Denver; and San Diego ranked ahead.

Charley changed all that.

The clawing, pounding winds hammered 80 percent of all the major buildings along U.S. 41, tearing off roofs and awnings, shattering windows and punching through signs.

Charlotte County emergency officials said thousands of people were frightened and suffering, huddling in homes without roofs, walls and windows.

Roughly 400,000 people in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties had no electricity.

In addition to powerless Charlotte cities, Arcadia was without running water, state environmental officials said.

Even before the storm ended, law enforcement officials from Broward to Sarasota counties were arriving. Also, the state mobilized National Guard troops, many of whom showed up at the emergency operations center in Punta Gorda on Saturday afternoon.

Lt. Jerry Nichols of the Charlotte County Sheriff's office unloaded drinking water, flashlights and supplies.

Communication was spotty. Gesturing with his cell phone, he said, ``My Nextel is intermittent. My AT&T is dead. And my radio sucks.''

He and his colleagues hoped the National Guard would seal off the county Saturday night. ``The `lookie-loos' are driving us nuts, he said.

Many of those on duty also were victims of the storm. ``We have a bunch of guys who lost their houses, and they're still working,'' Nichols said.

Another Charlotte County officer, Sgt. Patty Smrkovsky, described a heart-wrenching first trip over the Punta Gorda bridge from Port Charlotte. ``I've been working here for 20 years, and when I hit the top of that bridge, I started crying,'' she said.

On Saturday morning, Interstate 75 was more than just another Florida highway. It was an artery with relief vehicles flowing toward Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte.

Telephone repair vehicles and flatbeds with forklifts, front- end loaders, power generators, portable toilets and roof- repair supplies made their way to the disaster zone.

By midmorning, 26 Florida Highway Patrol cruisers in single file whipped past. Like the ambulances before them, the procession was fast but silent.

Helpers spent much of the day searching for survivors. At one mobile home park near Interstate 75, they went knocking door to door.

Among the dead were an elderly couple, Gordon and Joanne Hawkins, who lived in a mobile home park on the eastern edge of Punta Gorda. Every home was damaged and some were obliterated.

The Hawkins' lived down the street from Cesar Pares, 59, who survived in his kitchen, watching and listening as his carport tore off.

When the storm ended, Pares and others ventured out to find survivors. At the Hawkins' home, they found nothing but a slab.

They discovered the couple's son, Richard, inside a damaged home 150 feet away. ``He said he couldn't remember how he got there,'' Pares said.

Neighbors tried to get the Hawkins' to leave, said neighbor Celia Carr, who rode out the storm at the Burnt Store Marina where she works. ``They wouldn't go,'' she said. ``He was sick. She was taking care of him. She refused to go. She thought they could make it.''

This December, they would have celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Residents of Park Hill Estates and River Haven mobile home parks along Burnt Store Road in southern Charlotte County said most neighbors fled, but at least 18 stayed, playing cards.

Sara Haussmann, 68, stepped gingerly atop an aluminum scrap that was her mobile home's roof. Haussmann fretted over a waterlogged shag carpet in her porch.

``If I could just dry this rug out, that would make me happy,'' said Haussmann who lives alone in one park.

Haussmann had no insurance. She moved to Park Hill Estates from Naples because of the fishing in Charlotte Harbor.

``Where can you live and have Gulf access for $200 a month?'' she said, shrugging.

Nearby, Bob Worcester, 89, was spared major damage to the mobile home where he has lived part-time for 21 years. Though most of his windows were blown out and rain threatened, Worcester vowed to stay. He was thankful that his wife, who died in February after 65 years of marriage, missed Charley.

``I'm kind of glad she wasn't here to see this,'' he said, his eyes welling up with tears.

Standing by the shell of a demolished building in Punta Gorda's Windmill Village Trailer Park, Barbar Seaman, 69, asked, ``Where do we go now? What do we do?''

Retiree Bob Merrit, 77, one of the minority who evacuated to a shelter, returned to his mobile home to something he barely recognized. Of the 45 mobile homes, at least 15 were demolished.

``It was always my dream to live on Sanibel, but I never had the money,'' said Merrit, holding an American flag he recovered from the roofless community room. ``I'm sure I'll stay, but you work your whole life, you should be able to retire and enjoy yourself.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporters Guy Boulton, Allison North Jones, Baird Helgeson, Richard Lardner, Keith Morelli and Michael Sasso contributed to this report. Reporter Brad Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7365.
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBKVYIPWXD.html

A cyclist passes by a fallen water tank Friday, Aug.13, in Bauta, west of Havana, Cuba after hurricane Charley swepted through the area.

AP Photo

The roof of a garage is blown off onto Charlotte County Sheriff's cruisers from winds of Hurricane Charley Friday in the parking lot of the Charlotte County Airport.

AP Photo

Smaller airplanes at the Charlotte County Airport were left heavily damaged Friday by high winds from Hurricane Charley.

AP Photo

Debris from a rooftop, downed power lines and upended street signs litter Estero Boulevard on Fort Myers Beach after Hurricane Charley waded ashore Friday, packing 145 mph winds.

Gary Coronado / The Palm Beach Post

People use a piece of plywood as a stretcher to drag a manatee to safety on Fort Myers Beach on Friday. The manatee was thrown out of the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Charley's storm surge but was taken to a local waterway, where it safely swam away.

Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/weather/special/storm/2004/atlantic/charley/photos/35.htm...

A fallen house looking west onto the Gulf of Mexico lies damaged by Hurricane Charley after the storm passed through Fort Myers Beach on Friday.

Gary Coronado/The Palm Beach Post

As night falls Friday, Jane Duke stands watch with her pistol in hand as she salvages the remnants of her store, Westchester Gold Fine Jewelry and Antiques in Port Charlotte. 'It's just disgusting around here,' she said.

Chris Matula/The Palm Beach Post

Steve Brooks looks out the window from what's left of his mobile home at the Biehl Slip-Not mobile home park in Punta Gorda on Friday after Hurricane Charley passed by destroying most of the park.

AP Photo

Beverly Alger, of Port Charlotte, removes aluminum debris from her home early Saturday morning. Hurricane Charley ripped through the area Friday afternoon.

AP Photo


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/weather/special/storm/2004/atlantic/charley/photos/29.htm...

An elderly man walks by a destroyed mobile home in the Harborview Park Saturday morning in Port Charlotte, Fla.

AP Photo


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/weather/special/storm/2004/atlantic/charley/photos/28.htm...

Dan Strong removes clothing from his mobile home on Saturday, one day after Hurricane Charley passed through Punta Gorda.

AP Photo


http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/weather/special/storm/2004/atlantic/charley/photos/27.htm...

Mobile homes are torn apart in a trailer park north of Port Charlotte on Saturday after Hurricane Charley moved through the area.

AP Photo

Mobile homes on the north end of Pine Island are left ravaged on Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley.

Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post

People who were staying in Turner Agricultural Civic Center friday return saturday at about 6:45 am. The building suffered a major collapse and was closed up. The people had left belongings in the building and wanted to retrieve them but were unable too.

David Spencer/ Palm Beach Post

Most of the roof of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Fort Myers was ripped off by Hurricane Charley.

Paul J. Milette / The Palm Beach Post

Mobile homes under construction sit inside the Wasau Homes factory, which was hit by Hurricane Charley as it passed through Lake Wales Friday night. The roof of the building was missing and some of the walls blown in.

Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post

A sign warning tresspassers sits at Mark Gibson's GibboGear ultralight hanger at Lake Wales airport after being hit by Hurricane Charley as it passed through Lake Wales Friday night. Gibson, who builds the ultralight planes and teaches how to fly them, says the planes and building were destroyed.

Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post

The roof collapsed at the Florida Skydiving Center hanger at Lake Wales airport after being hit by Hurricane Charley as it passed through Lake Wales Friday night.

Lannis Waters / The Palm Beach Post

Your profile says you're a merchant seaman on the Great Lakes...

One of my favorite songs of all time is the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

"When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind"

What a great tune.

Crystal lake Mobile Home Park residents survey their neighborhood near where two of their neighbors were found dead. One man was found dead next to his wheelchair, with his wife nearby Friday afternoon.

Paul J. Milette / The Palm Beach Post

An apartment building is exposed to nature after its roof was ripped off by Hurricane Charley, Friday, as the storm roared through Port Charlotte, Fla.

AP Photo

President Bush, onboard Marine One, flies over a crumpled airplane hanger at the Port Charlotte Airport during a visual tour of the area Sunday morning Aug. 15, 2004, in Port Charlotte, Fla. President Bush arrived in Florida Sunday to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Charley, two days after declaring the state a major disaster area.

Bush Tours Florida Destruction

Sunday August 15, 2004 9:31 PM

By DEB RIECHMANN

Associated Press Writer

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Marine One flew low over demolished houses, downed power lines and uprooted palm trees here Sunday to give President Bush a bird's eye view of the destruction caused when Hurricane Charley roared through this southwest Florida city.

``A lot of people's lives are turned upside down,'' Bush said, standing next to his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, on a residential street in Punta Gorda, one of the hardest hit areas.

Bush visited the state to assess the damage two days after declaring Florida a major disaster area. Charley killed at least 16 people and left thousands homeless. State officials said early estimates of the hurricane's residential property damage ranged from $5 billion to $11 billion.

``We've got ice and water moving in, trailers for people to live in are moving in,'' Bush said, standing in the steamy, midday heat. ``The state is providing security so that people can have peace of mind that their neighborhoods will be safe.''

Bush said federal assistance was being rushed to the area. After Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, claiming 26 lives and causing nearly $20 billion in insured property losses, there were complaints that federal assistance was deployed too slowly.

``We're moving a lot of aid very quickly,'' Bush said. ``All I can tell you is that FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) was on the ground yesterday morning and there's a lot of supplies surging this way.''

Air Force One landed at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. Bush, his brother, FEMA director Mike Brown, White House chief of staff Andrew Card and press secretary Scott McClellan boarded Marine One, a helicopter, and flew north over the areas devastated by the hurricane.

From the helicopters transporting the presidential entourage, it was clear that the powerful hurricane, packing winds of up to 145 mph, was something to be feared. Debris from homes lay strewn across green, soggy fields. Hospitals were damaged. Tree tops were sheared off. Utility lines were down.

Marine One set down at an airport in Charlotte County where the hurricane flipped small planes upside down, damaged hangars and twisted pieces of metal around trees and power lines. Helicopter rotors blew tiny pieces of yellow insulation around the tarmac.

Bush was greeted at the airport by Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., the president's nominee to replace George Tenet at CIA director, and Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. Emergency management and rescue officials gathered around Bush as he located affected areas on a map spread open on the hood of a van.

Later, Bush's motorcade drove through downtown Punta Gorda, where buildings were missing roofs, fences were flattened and palm trees were already being cut into chunks for removal. The president walked down Trabue Avenue, which was littered with palm leaves, shingles and building parts.

``We did not fare this well,'' said Ron Hill, a contractor from nearby Murdock who was visiting friends in the neighborhood. ``We had the back side of our roof stripped off.''

As Bush toured the street, a few people in this heavily Republican part of the state joined together to chant ``Four more years!''

Asked whether his quick trip to Florida carried political undertones, Bush replied: ``And if I didn't come, they would have said he should have been here more rapidly.''

Bush stopped outside the green cinder block home of Gary Nickols.

``We were going to try to ride it out but the neighbors across the street said, 'You better get out of there,''' Nickols said, adding that he escaped harm by staying inside a local church.

``Nearly everybody here that I've talked to had evacuated, as the state asked them to do and therefore, the loss of life was minimized,'' Bush said. ``Still, too many people lost their lives, but nevertheless, it was not as significant as it could have been.''
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4423920,00.html

Mariner's guide to hurricane awareness
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/marinersguide.pdf

Bush had a great line today, when this picture was taken. I saw it on MSNBC.



Reporters had been asking him questions about the hurricane, when one of them said, "Some people are going to say that there's a political component to your rapid visit to Florida."

Bush shot right back, "If I didn't come they would have said 'he should have been here more rapidly'."

Arcadia Airport manager Bill Minear with a Cessna airplane upended inside a hanger. He was working several weeks on restoring the airplane until Hurrican Charley came through.

Everett Cowan, 91, strolls down the street in Punta Gorda examining the damage Hurricane Charley inflicted on his neighbors in a trailer-park community. Cowan rode out the storm without injury, though his home was damaged.