Posted on 08/14/2004 1:42:49 AM PDT by kattracks
Thanks. You made this a positive thread.
Thank you for all the reports. Still no word from friends/family who live in Port Charlotte.
Exactly right.
This has been an ugly thread, IMO, with a bunch of people who don't know what their talking about and aren't in the path of these storms shooting off their mouths.
"If they wait until they know exactly where these things are going to hit, it's too late to get everyone out."
That's right. Especially anyone who lives in the Keys down below the 7 mile bridge - I've seen pics of that thing when everyone tries to get out. Talk about gridlock.
We had one storm in Ft. Lauderdale when I was still in Jr High school -can't remember the name of it but it went past us without hitting anything, we were all sure it was heading north and the dang thing backed up came right down on us. Luckily it was not a bad one compared to some of the others.
I replied to you because you said on this thread that the people in the Punta Gorda area were not warned and were not told to evacuated.
That IS trying to assign blame, and it absolutely is not true, as you've been shown.
I feel sorrow for the losses involved as well. I was in that area, driving those streets, talking to some of those people not two weeks ago. All the same, they were warned.
That is my hope as well. When disasters such as this one strike, the scariest reports get the most play.
Thanks for the update...Sanibel Island doesn't look too promising.
Listening to the Local tv station down there. Florida Power and Light rep on the phone. Damage assessment has been completed. 650,000 without power across Florida.
No idea yet on when full restoration will occur.
My daughter was chatting online with a friend in Punta Gorda til midnight when the friend's power went out. Then today we see it on the news....
I drove through Homestead a few months after Andrew hit. The place still looked like Beirut. Awful amount of damage.
I have a sister who lives in Brandonton. Just moved there, in fact. I asked her if she was leaving, and she said no, because (1) it didn't seem that bad in the forecasts, and (2) the nearest place for them to move their dogs was Fayetteville, NC!
I obviously can't get a hold of her right now, but I'm hopeful everything is alright there.
CA....
I spent a year or so up in Florence after Hugo working for a remodeling contractor. The damage made quite an impression on me too.
To this day you can asks rescue service and the police in this area about the deaths from Andrew. They will tell you it was much higher, MUCH higher than is reported as the official death toll.
The Homestead area then, and to this day, has migrant work camps, many who are there are illegals. Some of these camps were destroyed with the people in them. It was not reported.
When I first heard about this I thought it was just an urban legend until I was shown pictures of dead bodies that were found after the storm. I've also talked to enough people who claim to have seen the bodies being removed, or who helped remove the bodies, to not question these stories anymore.
Hope everything is alright with y'all.
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.
And I was only repeating what Freepers told me yesterday when I asked if this area had been warned about leaving. I get so frustrated coming on threads like this and reading how stupid people were not to leave, how stupid families were for allowing their loved ones to stay, how stupid people are for living there to begin with.
I came to this thread to find information, not the above. I only mentioned that the media made it seem this storm would take a much different path, and that may be why some people chose to stay.
And there are some God posters on FR that feel no one should post on this thread except those from FL or if they are in total agreement with them. Just because my state says CO, doesn't mean I am not affected by this. Of course, assuming explains a lot.
We live in what locals would call a "hurricane house" (i.e. it's a sturdy older house on stilts) and you can bet your behind that I'd be out of here for anything stronger than a cat 1 storm under normal circumstances. This year, with an infant, I was seriously considering leaving until it appeared clear that we were going to get tropical storm conditions at worst.
The entire west coast was under a hurricane warning. Anyone in a mobile home that stayed was tragically wrong.
Do you have any idea where this thing is going to come on shore today?
You just hit on one of the biggest reasons why people will not evacuate and go to a shelter. Their animals. There are no shelters that will allow a person to take their pets, and many people, especially the elderly, will not leave them behind.
Live news feed from Charlotte County :
http://waterbc.wm.llnwd
Helicopter shots are showing a lot of destruction.
All three hospitals in Charlotte County are inoperable. Two of them had their roofs ripped off. Patients being sent to other counties.
Charlotte County Airport inoperable.
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