Replies

Trailer park residents didn't have the sense to evacuate?

You beat me to it. I have every bit of hope that everyone will be alright, but it would seem to me that if a category 4 hurricane is heading toward your trailer...well when I lived in one and even a 'tropical depression' was headed my way, my butt was in a brick 'n' block building.

I know that it's more difficult for the elderly. That being said, maybe a place prone to dangerous weather is not an ideal environment for people who are too infirm to get out of the way.

But then, I'm a terrible insensitive person...

Before everyone starts saying they deserved what they got, remember...it was a weak category 1 storm, went over Cuba Friday Morning(which usually breaks up a storm a fair bit) then became a Category 4 storm as fast as I have ever seen a storm. It was also supposed to go further up the state, and fooled a lot of people by going left. Weather folks always seem to cry wolf it seems to some, they pack up for nothing...this was a worst case scenario...same thing happened with Andrew, at first they thought there wasn't much damage, then the truth came out....

When these people went to bed on Thursday, Charlie was barely a Cat 1, and predicted to hit Tampa, 75 miles away from Punta Gorda, at a strong Cat 1 or weak 2. At 9 AM Charlie was barely a Cat 2, still aiming at Tampa.

I have never seen anything like this:

I heard that most of those communities didn’t call for a mandatory evacuation of trailers, unlike where I live in the Keys. Then somewhere around noon Charlie increased speed to a Cat 3. Nothing on this page or the weather underground site mentioned that for hours. It was freaking nuts.

Less than a half hour after noon (much less) various media began reporting Charly as a Cat 4 and veering east. By 2:30 it was probably too late to leave many of those communities. Not a lot of roads running east. Those that exist cross rivers and are potential congestion points. Wind and rain were beginning Those people who chose to risk a Cat 1 or 2 just had a couple of hours to get the word and make a decision. This is a retirement community. Many made the wrong decision.

My wife and I looked all around the Fort Myers and Punta Gorda area before buying our house here in Key Largo I was driving around at 4PM yesterday thinking about the above.. Knowing that many there were not prepared for that and were at that moment fighting for their lives.

It's being reported that a sheriff on site at a trailer park ordered 60 body bags.

"Punta Gorda hit badly. LE is guarding stacks of bodies in a mobile home park there according to FoxNews. 4 counties declared major disaster areas. "

Sorry but I think modular or mobile homes in hurricane prone areas should have a mandatory mobile home community storm bunker equipped with a generator for all of the mobile park residents to stay safe in. It's the most sensible solution so far. There is no way these people could have remained out of harms way inside their mobile homes. The news showed another senior citizen retirement mobile home park that is destroyed. I find it hard to believe home insurers there carry these mobile homes. It isn't practical or safe. Many many Oklahoma residents have tornado bunkers.

Florida needs to start implementing community storm "bunkers" especially for all of the mobile home parks. What is so hard about this concept when tornado ridden Oklahoma inhabitants have them.

I have every bit of hope that everyone will be alright, but it would seem to me that if a category 4 hurricane is heading toward your trailer.

It jumped two categories in the last half hour prior to landfall and then changed direction. I doubt they had enough time at that point to go anywhere. Living in mobile homes they should have evacuated Thursday when the evac orders went out.