I was there in Homestead too a few months after, drove past literally miles of stacked up debris that had placed there during the cleanup, I'll never forget that as long as I live.
We went through Homestead a few months after Andrew. I still remember the mountains of debris, seeing I beams twisted like licorce sticks....how anyone managed to survive Andrew was a miracle.
Rescuers Rush to Help Charley Victims in FloridaBy Michael Peltier PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (Reuters) - Rescuers raced into southwest Florida on Saturday to search for victims and help survivors of Hurricane Charley, a devastating storm that leveled buildings and left up to 1 million without power.
As a weakened but still powerful Charley headed toward the South Carolina coast, search teams with heavy equipment set out for Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte, the Gulf Coast towns hit hardest when the storm made an unexpected turn south and struck with 145 mph winds on Friday.
"This type of hurricane only happens once every hundred years, they say," said Harry Thomas, looking over his destroyed Pelican Cove bayside motel in Port Charlotte. "I could have lived and died twice."
Florida's emergency management agency said at least three people were killed as the storm raged from the southwest coast across Orlando to the northeast shore, and there were unconfirmed reports of other deaths near Punta Gorda.
Emergency managers there ordered 60 body bags, two refrigerated trucks and had sheriff's deputies standing guard over bodies, CNN reported.
"We know that there has been quite a bit of damage to Punta Gorda. That appears to be the main area right now," said Erin Geraghty, a spokeswoman for the state's emergency management office. "We have search and rescue teams going into the area with large vehicles and trained searchers.
Charley was blamed for four deaths in Cuba and one in Jamaica after it formed in the Caribbean on Tuesday.
Early Saturday, ambulances streamed out of southwest Florida toward Tampa, taking patients to safety from damaged hospitals as National Guard troops, power company workers and search teams streamed in. In Port Charlotte, a man sat in front of his home with a shotgun, having scrawled the words "looters will be killed" on the wall.
A powerful Category 4 storm when it hit shore, Charley flattened mobile homes, tore roofs off buildings, overturned boats and cars, ripped up trees and signs and shredded power lines.
The storm plowed across central Florida, weakening as it dumped heavy rains on Orlando, home to Disney World, leaving a wide trail of destruction. Mobile homes were reduced to rubble and tractor-trailers were flipped over like toys.
"I guess it could have been worse. I'm just trying to figure out how," said Chris DiMarco of Port Charlotte, who lost part of his roof and pool enclosure.
On exclusive Captiva Island, offshore from Punta Gorda, 160 condominiums were totally destroyed and a similar number seriously damaged, the National Weather Service (news - web sites) said.
Florida Power & Light said 429,000 customers were left without electricity. Progress Energy Florida said 477,000 people were sitting in the dark.
State officials said they would be conducting damage estimates on Saturday.
But a catastrophic risk management group, Risk Management Solutions, estimated Charley could have inflicted up to $5 billion of insured damage. The group initially predicted up to $15 billion in insured losses but lowered the estimate after discovering the area of strongest winds was relatively small.
President Bush (news - web sites) declared Florida a disaster area to speed emergency assistance.
Forecasters had expected Charley to hit the densely populated Tampa area north of Port Charlotte and nearly 2 million people were told to evacuate.
But the storm suddenly gathered intensity as it headed for land and made a last-minute turn that brought it ashore farther south, catching off guard many who had ignored evacuation orders because they thought they were safe.
By 8 a.m., Charley was about 35 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, near latitude 32.3 north and longitude 79.7 west, and its winds had reduced to 85 mph. It was moving north-northeast at 28 mph with winds of up to 85 mph.
As a Category 4 storm -- the second strongest on a scale used to rate hurricanes -- Charley rated as one of the most dangerous storms to hit Florida.
Hurricane Andrew was believed to be a Category 4 storm when it hit Miami in August 1992, causing $25 billion in damage. After ten years of study, experts upgraded it to a Category 5.
But just in case, I live in a concrete block house with a large windowless closet available. And last night I slept next to a WeatherRadio that will automatically turn on during storm alerts.