Posted on 08/14/2004 1:42:49 AM PDT by kattracks
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - The death toll from Hurricane Charley rose early Saturday, when a county official said there had a been "a number of fatalities" at a mobile home park and deputies were standing guard over stacks of bodies because the area was inaccessible to ambulances.Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's director of emergency management, said early Saturday that there were "a number of fatalities" at the mobile home park, and that there were confirmed deaths in at least three other areas in the county.
The eye of the worst hurricane to hit Florida in a dozen years passed directly over Punta Gorda, a town of 15,000 which took a devastating hit Friday.
Hundreds of people were missing and more were left homeless, said Sallade, who compared the devastation to 1992's Hurricane Andrew, blamed for 43 deaths, most in South Florida.
"It's Andrew all over again," he said. "We believe there's significant loss of life."
Sallade did not have an estimate on a specific number of fatalities. He said it may take days to get a final toll.
Extensive damage was also reported on exclusive Captiva Island, a narrow strip of sand west of Fort Myers.
President Bush (news - web sites) declared a major disaster area in Florida, making federal money available to Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties. One million customers were reported without power statewide, including all of Hardee County and Punta Gorda.
The Category 4 storm was stronger than expected when the eye reached the mainland at Charlotte Harbor, pummeling the coast with winds reaching 145 mph and a surge of sea water of 13 to 15 feet.
Charley was forecast to spread sustained winds of about 40 mph to 60 mph across inland portions of eastern North Carolina and to dump 3 to 6 inches of rain beginning Saturday morning, forecasters said. Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of emergency.
In South Carolina, roads clogged Friday night as tourists and residents of the state's Grand Strand — beaches and high-dollar homes and hotels — heeded a mandatory evacuation order. Gov. Mark Sanford had urged voluntary evacuation earlier Friday.
At Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda, 40 people sought treatment for storm injuries. The hospital was so badly damaged that patients were transferred to other hospitals.
"We can't keep patients here," CEO Josh Putter said. "Every roof is damaged, lots of water damage, half our windows are blown out."
Among those seeking treatment was Marty Rietveld, showered with broken glass when the sliding glass door at his home was smashed by a neighbor's roof that blew off. Rietveld broke his leg, and his future son-in-law suffered a punctured leg artery.
"We are moving," said Rietveld's daughter, Stephanie Rioux. "We are going out of state."
At least 20 patients with storm injuries were reported at a hospital in Fort Myers.
A crash on Interstate 75 in Sarasota County killed one person, and a wind gust caused a truck to collide with a car in Orange County, killing a young girl. A man who stepped outside his house to smoke a cigarette died when a banyan tree fell on him in Fort Myers, authorities said.
At the Charlotte County Airport, wind tore apart small planes, and one flew down the runway as if it were taking off. The storm spun a parked pickup truck 180 degrees, blew the windows out of a sheriff's deputy's car and ripped the roof off an 80-foot-by 100-foot building.
Martin said he saw homes ripped apart at two trailer parks.
"There were four or five overturned semi trucks — 18-wheelers — on the side of the road," he said.
In Desoto County outside Arcadia, several dead cows, wrapped in barbed wire, littered the roadside.
The hurricane rapidly gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico after crossing Cuba and swinging around the Florida Keys as a more moderate Category 2 storm Friday morning. An estimated 1.4 million people evacuated in anticipation of the strongest hurricane to strike Florida since Andrew in 1992.
Charley reached landfall at 3:45 p.m. EDT, when the eye passed over barrier islands off Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, some 110 miles southeast of the Tampa Bay area.
Charley hit the mainland 30 minutes later, with storm surge flooding of 10 to 15 feet, the hurricane center said. Nearly 1 million people live within 30 miles of the landfall.
The state put 5,000 National Guard soldiers and airmen on alert to help deal with the storm, but only 1,300 had been deployed by Friday night, a state emergency management spokeswoman said.
At a nursing center in Port Charlotte, Charley broke windows and ripped off portions of the roof, but none of the more than 100 residents or staff was injured, administrator Joyce Cuffe said.
"The doors were being sucked open," Cuffe said. "A lot of us were holding the doors, trying to keep them shut, using ropes, anything we could to hold the doors shut. There was such a vacuum, our ears and head were hurting."
At 2 a.m. EDT, the center of the storm was in the Atlantic Ocean, about 190 miles south-southwest of Charleston, S.C., and moving north-northeast at 25 mph. Forecasters expected Charley to increase in speed. Maximum sustained winds were near 85 mph with higher gusts.
The center was expected to approach the South Carolina coast Saturday morning. A hurricane warning remained in effect from Cocoa Beach, northward to Oregon Inlet, N.C., and a tropical storm warning was in effect on the North Carolina and Virginia Coasts north of Oregon Inlet to Chincoteague, including the lower Chesapeake Bay south of Smith Point.
Spared the worst of the storm was the Tampa Bay area, where about a million people had been told to leave their homes. Some drove east, only to find themselves in the path of the Charley.
"I feel like the biggest fool," said Robert Angel of Tarpon Springs, who sought safety in a motel. "I spent hundreds of dollars to be in the center of a hurricane. Our home is safe, but now I'm in danger."
The fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Danielle, formed Friday but posed no immediate concern to land. The fifth may form as early as Saturday and threaten islands in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.
___
Associated Press writers Mark Long in Fort Myers, Ken Thomas in Key West, Mitch Stacy and Brendan Farrington in Tampa, Vickie Chachere in Sarasota, Mike Branom and Mike Schneider in Orlando and Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C., contributed to this report.
I did and be advise many of the Gas stations are closed.
My U.S. Congressman Feeney is missing(MIA), and the only way to get information for Ten and ten of thousands is the RADIO, but many stations are playing music !!! Can you believe that
I feel bad for the childrens and older disable people who need HELP ASAP !!!
The eastern side of Orlando,Winter Park,etc.....is a mess !
I encourage everyone in the area to do the same.
Please call them.
Are you taking this truck over yourself?
I just got power (3days out), but it comes and goes at times.
The Public Service Radio(Emergency Broadcast Network) is not activated, why ? The President and Gov.Jeb Bush declared these area(s) a Federal Disaster, and Florida is still on a State of Emergency, so why in God name is the radio still playing music and other BS when Hundred of thousands ++ are in danger and need Information(s) on the Radio ASAP !
Check out the food supply on :
http://www.orlandosentinel.com
I ask the GOP HQ in Central/Southwest Florida to get more involved and be seen by the public. Activate the E.B.S. RADIO , AND GET ICE AND WATER OUT TO THE PEOPLE
My husband drove to Seminole county yesterday, and said it was a complete mess. Telephone poles knocked half over, power lines in the roads, cement barriers knocked over like they were nothing, and no street lights. He said 436 will be a total mess with people trying to get to work Monday.
I saw the Aloma Apartments on Rte 436 , roofs torn-away alot of people live in those apartments. Yes, it's been hit hard and the City Officals of Winter Park are not providing ICE and Water yet ?!!
Seems strange about WP officials not being on the ball. Winter Park is such a lovely town.
I think I caught part of a press conference this morning with Winter Park officials. Didn't pay much attention to what he said, but noted the exasperation in his voice.
Yeppers,
About 5 years ago, the 240 bed, highly skilled (like, no one could walk) nursing home I worked in evacuated with the rest of Savannah out of the way of Floyd.
It took 10 hours to make a 90 minute trip and three residents died in transit.
It was probably one of the most horrific experiences of my life because it was my worst nightmare made real (being trapped in the dark on the highway with 1000's of strangers and helpless people all around that we couldn't help). I learned alot about myself and my limitations at that time. It was the closest I ever came to totally losing it.
Just about anyone else from this town has nothing nice to say about "The Evacuation".
I can honestly say that if a hurricane was heading for bullseye for Savannah, only a handful of people would leave (those who moved here less than 5 years ago). And you guys can mark my words.
I am prepared, my house is hurricane clipped to the 'nth degree. I would rather die than evacuate again. If I do, it was my choice.
You were right!
Thanks.
My DIL was 19 and went thru a hurricane in Norfolk by herself. My son got deployed. I wired her some money and she bought some supplies. She told me the only thing that kept her from going crazy after she lost her cell phone was a battery operated radio. She said the DJ just "talked to them"
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.