Official: Charley's Death Toll to Climb [Stacks Of Bodies at Mobile Home Park]

Yahoo News ^ | 8/14/04 | ALLEN G. BREED,

[GeronL]

OK, could be worse than we thought

[GeronL]

ping

[solzhenitsyn]

... deputies were standing guard over stacks of bodies because the area was inaccessible to ambulances.

Stacks of bodies? I doubt it.

[freepertoo]

My heart and prayers to all those who suffered. However, I cannot help but muse that I must have caused this (sarcastic sniff). I've been planning a trip to Florida THIS weekend for a year now.

All levity aside, this one seems like a horrible disaster. I hope our Florida Freepers are well and safe.

[familyop]

Trailer park residents didn't have the sense to evacuate? I'm shocked, having once sat in a house through Hurricane Celia (160 mph sustained during the worst of it, gusts over 210 mph) and several tropical storms.

[leadpenny]

"I doubt it."

Based on . . . ?

[Dianna]

My heart and prayers to all those who suffered. However, I cannot help but muse that I must have caused this (sarcastic sniff). I've been planning a trip to Florida THIS weekend for a year now.

Don't feel too bad. We ruined the whole summer by installing a pool. I've never seen so many cool days...low 70's in August!

[dandelion]

God, have mercy

[solzhenitsyn]

leadpenny, when the official spoke of "stacks of bodies", it would seem to imply that the number of dead was very great. Why couldn't the person just give a number, or at least an estimate? Was there time to recover and "stack" the bodies, but not enough time to count them, or at least estimate how many there were? Was there not enough time to share the number with the press, but enough time instead to make that very colorful and alarming statement about "standing guard over stacks of bodies", as if they were too numerous to count? That must be comforting to those who have loved ones in the area, that they haven't heard from yet after the hurricane.

The claim just sounds exaggerated. We don't generally stack up corpses like firewood in this country; we have too much respect for the dead. I could surely be wrong, but I'm holding on to hope that the number of dead was smaller than the person's statement implied.

[leadpenny]

Thanks for your thoughts. I've been up for a couple of hours after going to bed early. I was surprised at the lack of updated info overnight which has led me to suspect that there are areas that rescue workers (and reporters) haven't gotten into. I hope you're right, however, Charley took a late last minute turn inland into areas where people may have not been as serious about evacuation orders as they should have been.

[Crazieman]

A description given for some coastal city (maybe Punta Gorda, not sure) on the Weather Channel was "Catastrophic damage"

[BunnySlippers]

"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."

Yikes! Sounds like a horror movie!

[7.62 x 51mm]

Sounds worse than they predicted.

[Crazieman]

160 homes obliterated on Captiva island, 160 more damaged. A shelter with 1200 people inside had its roof ripped off

[walford]

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...

[Crazieman]

FOX NEWS: HUNDREDS missing in Punta Gorda

[Crazieman]

CNN has some incredible damage video

[Jet Jaguar]

Prayers for all involved.

[Dallas59]