Posted on 08/16/2004 1:12:01 PM PDT by Semper911
CHARLOTTE COUNTY - Two refrigerated trucks sat in the wind-torn parking lot of the Best Western Water Front Inn off the tranquil waters of Charlotte Harbor, serving as a temporary morgue for the casualties of Hurricane Charley.
Four people may have been killed by the storm in Charlotte County, some reports indicate, and Charley led to at least 16 deaths statewide during its forceful push Friday through Florida.
With ongoing search and rescue efforts stretching into the evening hours Sunday, Charlotte County emergency officials declined to confirm the county's fatalities.
"We've never dealt with a mass casualty event, and we're not yet prepared to (verify) or acknowledge the number of fatalities," said Wayne Sallade, director of Charlotte County's emergency management. "Yes, there are fatalities. Yes, there are people in those refrigerated trucks at the temporary morgue, but we're not prepared to say how many. At this point, I'm not sure that I have the accurate number.
"If the toll is what I believe I'm hearing in a storm of the magnitude we went through in this county, it's a miracle," Sallade said. "It's a miracle."
While hundreds of people have been treated for injuries suffered during the hurricane, the number of missing people remains unknown, officials said.
Because Charlotte County is a seasonal community with an average of about 110,000 residents during the summer and about 200,000 residents during the spring, Sallade said many seasonal residents may have been out of town when Charley hit on Friday, making it hard to determine the number of missing people.
The path Charley carved through historic Punta Gorda remained clear two days after the storm. Steel traffic posts bent like rubber straws, trees snapped in half like pencils, and dangerous power lines lay strewn along the streets. Along the city's main thoroughfares Sunday, sirens still wailed and helicopters soared overhead.
Business owner Jerry Presseller said the hurricane winds pushed a 300-pound oven from outside his delicatessen onto a driveway more than 20 feet away. One of the buildings he owned for more than a decade shuddered, then an eerie calm came.
"We went outside," he said, "but we knew it was the eye of the hurricane, so we hurried back inside."
Presseller remained in awe of the devastation.
"It's like a war zone," he said. "We're pretty lucky."
Law enforcement officials and members of the National Guard are enforcing a mandatory curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Lt. Donna Ruguska said.
Two people were arrested and booked at the Sarasota County jail Saturday after authorities say they violated curfew, Ruguska said.
About 400 volunteers and employees from the American Red Cross set up five relief points and manned eight mobile units delivering food and basic essentials to area residents Sunday. The agency plans on serving a total of about 9,000 meals today, according to J.B. Hunt of the American Red Cross.
President Bush visited the region Sunday morning, along with area congressmen Mark Foley and Porter Goss. The president strolled through Punta Gorda and spoke with residents.
"I think he was as shocked as all the rest of us by what he saw," Sallade said.
Work crews from Center Point Energy in Houston formed a convoy to Charlotte County on Interstate 75. The group was one of the hundreds that poured into the region Sunday amid an overwhelming influx of support.
Emergency crews and law enforcement officials also continued to arrive in Charlotte County.
About 100 Manatee County fire, rescue and emergency officials arrived in Charlotte County hours after the storm passed, according to Manatee County emergency operations and public safety officials.
According to Laurie Feagans, chief of the Manatee County Emergency Operations Center, Manatee County emergency teams came to Charlotte on Saturday and are stationed around the area.
"It was devastation," Feagans said, recalling her first impression of Charlotte County in the aftermath of Charley. "I just felt really bad for them."
At a command center in the Winn Dixie parking lot on Kings Highway, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue workers fraternized with Sarasota County emergency services employees. A Dixie County mobile command center sat alongside Palm Beach County sheriff's vehicles.
U.S. Immigration officers waved traffic through intersections on U.S. 41.
"Almost a quarter of our agency is here," said Joseph Schwartz, a lieutenant with the state fire marshal's office in Fort Lauderdale. "We've done Georges, Andrew - it's what we do."
Schwartz said he helped open gas stations to service the support vehicles and helped cover eight square miles of grid searches.
County workers are expected to return to work today. Because many schools suffered significant damage during the storm, Charlotte County schools superintendent Dr. David Gayler said schools will remain closed until Aug. 27.
Manatee County Emergency Medical Services Capt. Greg Thomas stressed the significance of mutual aid in a time of disaster.
"This is a perfect time to show the support among the counties," he said. "As the hurricane moved up the coast, it could have struck Manatee County just as easily as it did here, and we would have needed the same type of assistance we're providing them."
If they disclose how many are dead they'll have to outlaw mobilehome parks in hurricane prone states.
I agree. It may be a while before they have firm numbers. Hard to say, who is missing, who is at a shelter or at a hotel/motel.
With all due respect, they showed the refrigerator trucks on FoxNews as they were pulling in. They were, indeed, 18 wheelers, and there were 2 of them. The reporter compared it to the sickening feeling she had when she saw the same type of trucks pulling into lower Manhattan after 9-11.
Now today's story says that the official admits there are bodies in the truck(s) but won't say how many. I am just saying it is different than in other disasters. Normally the numbers are given, and then the names are given only after family have been properly notified.
It strikes me as curious, that's all. Not some wild conspiracy, just curious.
My guess is the trucks are nearly empty.
How can they know how many are dead yet when many of the missing might be out of town or staying with relatives?
From the article above:
Yes, there are people in those refrigerated trucks at the temporary morgue, but we're not prepared to say how many.
I am only wondering why they haven't told how many bodies they have so far. Usually they say that as they find them. The spokesman in the article called this a "mass casualty event." Fourteen dead or seventeen dead does not seem to me to be a mass casualty event.
I understand your point: it will take a long time to account for everyone, but as I have said, it just seems curious that there is a gag order on what's in the trucks.
It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, although I have been and still am praying for the people there. There is just something odd about what they are not saying.
What I think -- and that was from watching some news on Mexican tv is that many there are more dead but these dead are "undocumented immigrants" --- because they were showing these trailer parks and the trailers that were still standing were very shabby and apparently these trailers were not tied down like Americans would generally do with their trailers. These might be the people least likely to listen to warnings to evacuate and maybe there would be a reason not to tell the numbers missing or dead yet.
I can't put my finger on it either. They have a certain number of bodies in the truck(s), chances are they could say how many. I could understand the hesitation if they had pieces of people. Otherwise, it's poor public service on the part of those involved to act conspirational. After all, it's not some kind of national security issue (although these days everything is turned into a national security/Department of Homeland Security issue).
Of course it could be some two-bit public official who's milking his 15 minutes of fame (And yes I've met people that would do so). "Behind me you see two refrigerated trucks with bodies in them. I won't tell you how many, but I will tell you there are bodies". Easy explanation, and I wouldn't put it past some officials at that level, in Florida.
Interesting (and sad).
Someone upthread said that there were rumors of that after Andrew, but the numbers never came out.
If that is true, we'll never know.
...but which Bush will be blamed? Jeb, George or both?
Quite possible.
It's interesting but I wouldn't know if it's true --- those stations always manage to find only immigrant hispanic communities to interview after some storm or other news stories and they may have some kind of agenda going on.
I don't know anything about Charlotte County or that area to know if there even are dumpy mobile home parks filled with illegals which is how it seemed in that news --- but if it's true, I could see how if they don't take normal precautions like tying down their trailers or evacuating like others might, there could be many more deaths -- just like you see in other countries with third world conditions. I still don't know why they wouldn't publish the real numbers though either way.
Thanks for bringing accuracy to the conversation. God bless you all dealing with the terrible effects of Hurricane Charley. My in-laws lived in a development that used to be called "Independence Village", off Rte. 776. We spent many wonderful vacations visiting them, and your area. Do you have any information about that location, or about Lemon Bay (Sea Star)?
WOW! The Bush Bros. aren't even in the loop when it comes to ground level casualty counts.
It is the 'almighty' local FEMA authorities that are quite prone to abuse of power.
Unfortunately I had to deal with some big-headed FEMA folks during the Houston floods a few years back.(some real horror stories there) That's all.
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