A friend sent this photo
of a unique cloud formation in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. I
think it is awesome and needed to be passed on.
The Hands of GOD...
8-13-04
8-11-04 - DREAM - I was in a city somewhere, standing in
a jewelry store, waiting to get waited on to buy a fit for a female
friend who was in the hospital.
They had a television on in the store with the local news. The
reporter was talking about some kind of accident that had happened high
up on a bridge. A car was dangling off the railing with a full tank of
gasoline. They were really concerned that the car might fall into a
crowded parking lot below because a crane could be brought in there to
lower the car to ground level safely.
Meanwhile, there were two other women in the store that were quite
distraught about their children who were ranging in age from about 8 to
12 because it was so hard to raise kids these days.
I knew the kids of the one woman and I assured her that her kids were
fine and I gave her a big hug.
The newscast was continuing on the TV about the danger of the car
dangling off the bridge.
I still hadn't figured out what kind of gift to get for my friend,
but then it dawned on me that she had purchased a mirrored compact there
some time ago that was worn out. It was pink with gold decorations on
it. So, I asked the clerk when my turn came, if he could duplicate the
compact.
The clerk picked up the phone to call his supplier to see if it could
be done.
While he was doing that, I turned my attention to the TV once more
and the weatherman was standing in front of a United States map. An
announcer was talking to the weatherman. It was the same one who had
been reporting on the car situation. The car situation hadn't been
handled yet either.
The weatherman started hitting himself in the forehead in terror and
saying, "The wind ... the wind .... "
The announcer looked at him and said, "How strong is the wind
going to get?" concerned that the car was going to blow off that
railing and explode into the cars below it.
The weatherman, in stark terror, said, "6,000 miles per
hour".
I looked at him in utter disbelief, yet I knew that the man was
genuinely terrorized.
Then I looked out the window of the store. A storm had come up
looking like a hurricane. I thought about running home to get my kids
and take them down into the basement where it was concrete to keep
them safe and then realized that with winds of 6,000 miles per hour,
even in a concrete building like we were in, we couldn't even save
ourselves.
I looked out the window again and saw that the wind was driving the
rain sideways already and it looked like the wind was already around 200
miles an hour.
It was too late to save anyone!
IS THIS THE REAL HURRICANE WE ARE NOT PREPARED FOR?
If Venus did indeed orbit planet Earth temporarily, its mass
would have induced a major tidal wave in the earth’s crust,
creating new mountain ranges and causing the oceans to surge over
continents, expunging most life forms. During its temporary
orbits around our planet, the close approach of the luminous
comet Venus with its writhing tail, undoubtedly struck such
terror among the global populace, that archetypal images of Venus
in its role of Lucifer the light bringer, remain until the
present era.
Thus Illuminist Albert Pike, in his tutorial for 33rd Degree
freemasons, known as 'Morals and Dogma,' states that Christianity should only be applied
in the Masonic instruction given to Masons of the lower degrees, but that the
Masonic
hierarchy worships Lucifer.
Mexican myths suggest that the comet possessed a
serpent-like tail and was adorned with appendages similar in
appearance to feathers. Such appendages are referred to by
astronomers as a comets “beard”; this cataclysmic event
probably gave rise to the legend of the plumed serpent
Quetzalcoatl. On its approach to earth, the comet’s luminous
coma apparently created the illusion of possessing two appendages
like the horns of a bull, to the terrified viewers on Earth.
Sanchuniathon, a contemporary of the Assyrian Queen Semiramis,
wrote that Astarte (another appellation of Venus) had the head of
a bull, while the oral tradition of the Samoans held that: “The
planet Venus became wild and horns grew out of her head.”
In describing the resultant cataclysm, the Mayans claimed that
oceans inundated continents, volcanoes erupted, mountains rose
and fell and a ferocious wind roared across the face of the
earth, sweeping away all forests and towns. The Mayans named this
terrible wind Hurrakan, from which the word “hurricane” is
derived.
Federal
Emergency Management Agency ... Register for Disaster Assistance by calling
1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585
for the speech and hearing impaired. STORM WATCH & CURRENT WEATHER.
...
www.fema.gov/
8-11-04
Governor declares state of emergency
Tallahassee, Florida - Governor Jeb Bush has declared a state of
emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley bearing
down on Florida.
Tropical Storm Bonnie could be at hurricane strength by early tomorrow
morning, just off the Panhandle coast. Tropical Storm Charley
strengthened into a hurricane today. Forecasters say it could hit the
Florida Keys Friday, but the eye's landfall is expected between Tampa
and Naples.
The declaration of emergency allows the state to move resources around
to meet local disaster preparedness and management needs. It also
allows Bush to seek help from the federal government if required.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
CHARLEY
DEATH TOLL = 20 ACCORDING TO NEWS REPORTS
As for the media death toll, don't believe a word of what
you have heard, just as we even heard on the radio here today.Two of us went to deliver generator gas to relatives on Burnt
Store Road in Punta Gorda (where the mobile home parks used to
be that I wrote about earlier today here on RMN). We were
stopped by FEMA, National Guard, and STATE POLICE who asked me
to prove I had a reason to be there. I told them the exact name
and address of my relative down the street, showed them our gas
cans, showed them my military (retired) ID, and they eventually
let me through after checking the name and address I had given
them. There were MANY MANY body bags lined up on both sides of
the road, far more than we could count as I drove slowly through
that one block. There were search dogs and many teams going
through the rubble not far from the main road. They hadn't even
passed through 50 feet of rubble yet. But even worse was what I
was unable to see on Friday night... body PARTS that were being
collected. Our estimate is that there were at least 20-30 body
bags already on BOTH sides, waiting to be put into trucks.
I really don't care what CNN or ANY biased and controlled
media group wants to "estimate" or purportedly
"report" about this disaster. The world is NOT being
told the truth of what happened here and how many died. Why
would they want to cover up a body count or death toll that we
have already seen for ourselves? Why are we hearing JEB and his
older brother GW on the Ft. Myers radio station tell us today
that what we have seen with our own eyes didn't happen and
doesn't exist?
At least 20 dead;
experts worry toll of deaths, injuries may
rise
08/30/04
Downed
trees cause fish kill
Hurricane Charley blew
down so many trees
throughout the Peace River
Valley that rotting
vegetation is fueling a
major bacterial bloom, a
state water quality
scientist said.
The bloom has depleted
dissolved oxygen levels in
the river, and that is
causing a significant fish
kill, according to Dr. Dave
Tomasko, an environmental
section manager for the Southwest
Florida Water Management
District.
As a result, the
river, and eventually most
of Charlotte Harbor, will be
plagued with dead fish and
an odor of sewer gas for
weeks, he said.
"For the next
couple of months, it's
probably not going to be a
whole lot of fun" to be
out on Charlotte Harbor,
Tomasko said.
Natural fish kills
have occurred periodically
in the past when oxygen rich
freshwater floating on the
surface of the estuary flips
with oxygen-depleted saltier
water near the bottom.
But this kill is being
driven by another phenomena,
Tomasko said. It's caused by
the process in which
anaerobic microbes break
down organic material. The
process uses up the oxygen
in the water.
The microbes, which
work to putrefy organic
material, generate both
methane and hydrogen sulfide
gases. Methane is also
produced by the breakdown of
sewage and the odor of
hydrogen sulfide is
associated with rotten eggs.
Tomasko, who sampled
water quality in several
upriver towns after the
hurricane, also pointed out
the river is above flood
stage. Rotting vegetation is
submerged in standing water
that will be draining into
the river for some time.
With all the organic
material washing into the
creeks, "the bacteria
are going crazy," said
Tomasko.
"It's probably a
good idea for no one to go
in the water for a
while," he added.
"When the oxygen levels
are low, the bacteria that
exist in it can be a little
more dangerous."
Last week, a team of
Department of Environmental
Protection wastewater plant
regulators also toured Peace
River towns in DeSoto and
Hardee counties damaged by
the storm. Their mission was
to sample river water and
check for sewage plant
spills. They tested for
bacteria, turbidity and
dissolved oxygen.
They found that the
lack of dissolved oxygen in
the Peace River and many of
its major tributaries was
widespread and significant.
Normally, the state
considers 5 parts of oxygen
per million acceptable for
rivers and streams. But the
Peace River and most parts
of Joshua, Charlie and Horse
creeks had less than 1
percent.
For example, the Peace
River sampled at Arcadia had
only .44 parts per million
oxygen, "which means
there really isn't even
oxygen for fish to
live," said Tomasko.
"Most sport fish
can't survive on that,"
he added. "When that
water moves down into the
harbor, we think that's
going to create a
significant fish kill."
Horse Creek, normally
a near-pristine tributary of
the Peace, had only .35
parts per million oxygen --
except for its uppermost
wetlands, an area known as
the Myakka Head. There, the
oxygen level was a
near-normal 4 parts per
million.
There was little storm
damage in the Myakka Head.
The investigation
found that none of the
sewage treatment plants
upriver was illegally
discharging pollution.
That's despite the fact most
of them lost electrical
power as a result of the
storm, said Jeff Greenwell,
a DEP environmental services
section supervisor.
There was no
indication any of treatment
plant ponds overflowed,
Greenwell said. One factor
that helped avert such a
spill was the fact many of
the residents of areas
served by sewage plants had
either vacated or haven't
returned home since the
storm, so flow to the plants
was minimal, he said.
Greenwell said the
river and creeks smelled
foul even in areas where
there were no people or
sewer plants upstream.
"During our drive
around, you could smell the
river pretty strongly,"
Greenwell said. "What
we did see was lots of trees
down. It looked like the
hurricane had gone right up
the river."
There are 21
wastewater treatment plants
in DeSoto County; Hardee
County has 15.
Some of the utility
companies that had regained
electrical power last week
were offering their
generators to the ones
without, Greenwell said.
Greenwell said he is
unaware of any phosphate
slime or wastewater spill
that occurred as a result of
the storm.
Fecal coliform
bacteria, which is an
indicator of sewage
pollution, was found at very
high levels at the Port
Charlotte Beach Complex in
Port Charlotte, said Bob
Vincent, environmental
administrator for the state
health department.
Samples taken at the
complex last week had a
fecal bacteria count of
1,500 per 100 milliliters.
The state prohibits swimming
in water with more fecal
bacteria than 400. Raw
sewage has 300,000 to 1
million parts.
"There is no
question that swimming
contact with the river water
may have health
effects," Vincent said.
"Stormwater has a
tendency to cleanse the land
and carry the waste to the
river, and Florida's land is
not sewage-free."
All of the samples
along Gulf beaches tested
safe for swimming, he added.
"You go up U.S.
17 and there's nothing but
devastation all the way up
to Wauchula," he said.
"All the leaves are
blown off the trees, trees
are toppled over and all
this stuff is rotting in
standing water."
In the long term, the
fish kill may benefit
certain bottom-feeding
species, Tomasko said.
"All the fish
that are going to die are
going to sink to the bottom
and are going to get eaten
by something," he said.
The Peace River
drinking water plant stopped
withdrawing water from the
river last week. It began
pumping from its
600-million-gallon reservoir
instead, said Pat Lehman,
executive director of the
Peace River Manasota
Regional Water Supply
Authority.
The pumping was
switched due to pumps
getting back online at the
reservoir, he said. However,
by then, the quality of the
river water had also
declined.
For the water plant,
the color of the water is a
bigger problem than the lack
of oxygen.
"It's jet
black," Lehman said.
"It's got to come way
up before we can use
it."
The authority has
enough water stored in
aquifer wells and the
reservoir to last until
spring, Lehman said.
You can e-mail Greg
Martin at gmartin@sun-herald.com.By GREG MARTIN
Staff Writer
Posted on Tue,
Aug. 24, 2004
Charley exposes gaps in
state windstorm law OUR
OPINION: TOUGHER BUILDING
CODE NEEDED TO WITHSTAND
HURRICANES
One
of the many lessons to be
learned from Hurricane
Charley's assault on Florida
is that the state's
three-year-old building code
may not be tough enough. For
state lawmakers, this
possibility raises concern
that, in writing the law,
they cared more about saving
the building industry a few
dollars than protecting
their constituents' property
and lives. That's completely
unacceptable. What is needed
is a careful review of the
message embedded in
Charley's destructive wrath,
leading to a strengthening
of the codes.
Florida has no excuse not
to have the toughest
possible building codes that
protect against killer
hurricanes. It isn't a
question of whether the
storms will come, it is only
a question of when. Yet
surprisingly, amazingly, the
new codes are based on the
premise that a major storm
will affect some areas close
to the coast only once in a
century. The trouble with
that is that the very next
hurricane could be that
once-in-a-lifetime killer.
Shelters damaged
Hurricane Charley may
well be merely a prelude.
Yet early damage reports
show that while many newer
homes that were built to
code suffered little damage,
some essential facilities
such as hospitals, fire
stations and schools that
were being used as shelters
inexplicably lost their
roofs and walls. This is
intolerable. Residents who
evacuate their homes for the
safety of shelter must be
assured that these refuges
are safe. Hospitals, police
offices and fire stations
must be safe in any storm so
that their staffs can carry
out their life-saving
missions.
We can't compromise
Surely, Florida
legislators can understand
that there must be no
compromise whatsoever when
the question is whether to
spend a few more dollars on
thicker plywood, extra nails
or a better design versus
putting people's lives at
risk.
The early lessons of
Hurricane Charley speak to
this unendurable reality:
Collapsed roofs at the
Charlotte County Medical
Center, the Sheriff's Office
and the Turner Agri-Civic
Center in Arcadia, which was
being used as a hurricane
shelter, created
unacceptable risks.
After Hurricane Andrew in
1992, Miami-Dade and Broward
counties adopted the
nation's toughest windstorm
standards calling for
protection against 150 mph
winds in coastal areas. The
2001 statewide standard is
less stringent, requiring
that buildings withstand 130
mph winds in those zones.
Charley teaches that the
tougher the standard, the
safer the building.
From e-mails - people who really
live there:
At
2200 hours on 8-21-04 the
following information was conveyed
by phone to Charlotte County
Emergency Management (Joseph
Goggin--head of the Charlotte
County Health Dept)
941-505-4620--- NBC news--Sherka---239-939-6223---the
Red Cross --Mona--941-379-9300 and
an E was sent to Patrick Comer at
WINK-TV in Fort Myers--
"
Reliable anonymous sources report
the failure of the gypsum mine
slurry retention ponds in the
Bartow area resulting in the release
of massive amounts of contaminated
radioactive water into the
headwaters of the Peace River
--drinking water source for much
of Charlotte and Sarasota County
creating a potential
large
scale public health
problem"
Crossing
the Peace River bridge on numerous
occasions yesterday the smell was
enough to make a maggot gag --
the
river surface is coated with a
slime --massive fish kills have
been reported from Bartow south to
Arcadia
boiling
the water well not remove the
smell nor the radioactivity
Thank
you for your time
I really don't care what CNN
or ANY biased and controlled media
group wants to "estimate"
or purportedly "report"
about this disaster. The world is
NOT being told the truth of what
happened here and how many died. Why
would they want to cover up a body
count or death toll that we have
already seen for ourselves? Why are
we hearing JEB and his older brother
GW on the Ft. Myers radio station
tell us today that what we have seen
with our own eyes didn't happen and
doesn't exist?
as a first responder I must say
what is being suggested here is not
accurate--there may have been many
more deaths but remember the
majority of the people fled--after
wandering around in this mess over
the last week opening roads and
delivering food I saw few if any
injured people--and in conversations
with many--not once did the subject
of fatilities arise--of couse a lot
of people have not returned yet--the
devestaion in many areas was total
-- yet the people in the Burnt Store
trailer park areas were in good
spirits and optomistic--was in these
areas all day yesterday and today
--just wreakage--not fatilities or
injuries--the clean up and renewal
has been phenomenal --crews from as
far away as Texas and WV have been
working 24 -7 --also National Guard
--most of main roads already cleared
and most of power and phones now
working--convoys of food and water
trucks everywhere--there have been a
number of incidents but on the whole
everyone has handled this well --
news crews everywhere so a cover up
would be really hard--although
barrier island events were not
handled well-- compared with
Andrew I think this was handled in a
professional manner in view of the
circumstances--what happens next is
the cause of my concern for it
appears our water supplies have
beeen compromised--caused by the
dyke failures around the gypsum mine
slurry ponds which appear to have
killed everything in the Peace
River--this we reported to the
proper authorities a few hours
ago--the next week or two will be
the proof in the pudding -- will
keep you informed
Click
here: The News-Press: Local &
Statemore
info--three hospitals in Port
Charlotte lost their roofs--only one
has reopened--Sun Newspapers have
been offline since storm --Sarasota
Herald Trib not accessible on web
this am--see next link--this Fort
Myers paper--60 miles to south of
me--more follows (-:
In a message dated 8/22/04
2:26:09 PM Eastern Daylight
Time, jley@scgov.net writes:
Received
e-mail from DEP rep to Peace
River Water Supply Auth.
He had done on the ground
evaluation and overflew the area
Thrusday and reported likely
source was river bottom
sediments placed into
suspension.
Wonderful--assuming
they are right and we are not--the
Quest-ion is??????--What are we
going to do about our now
contaminated drinking water???
In a message dated 8/22/04
2:26:09 PM Eastern Daylight
Time, jley@scgov.net writes:
Received
e-mail from DEP rep to Peace
River Water Supply Auth.
He had done on the ground
evaluation and overflew the area
Thrusday and reported likely
source was river bottom
sediments placed into
suspension.
Wonderful--assuming
they are right and we are not--the
Quest-ion is??????--What are we
going to do about our now
contaminated drinking water???
COVERT
TESTING IN PUNTA GORDA BEGAN IN
57, COINCIDENCE?
One of the points of interest
in this post dealt with the
plasma which has taken over the
atmosphere.
While reading the article I
was horrified. I discovered
testing that was done using
weaponized Pathogenic Mycoplasma
in Punta Gorda! Moreover the
HIDDEN EXCUSE FOR THE OUTBREAK
OF DELIVERY - MOSQUITOES WAS
BLAMED ON A FOREST FIRE! Does
this sound like deja vu?
For those that are unaware as
to what weaponized mycoplasma
are, here are a few examples:
strains of neuro/systemic
degenerative diseases that are
mutated bacterium combined with
a visna virus, from which the
mycoplasma is extracted to
created AIDS, chronic fatigue
syndrome, Alzheimer's, Crohn's
colitis multiple sclerosis and
Parkinson's disease. Now
remember, these are diseases
that our government is loading
onto mosquitoes to deliver to
us, the unsuspecting public as
human guinea pigs.
I hope and pray that this is
not being done in Punta Gorda or
anywhere in Florida today. Like
many I do not believe in
coincidences. How many people in
Punta Gorda knew that this
experimentation actually took
place in 57? And this was only
when they were officially
caught!
Testing via Mosquito Vector
in Punta Gorda, Florida
A report from The New England
Journal of Medicine reveals that
one of the first outbreaks of
chronic fatigue syndrome was in
Punta Gorda, Florida, back in
1957. It was a strange
coincidence that a week before
these people came down with
chronic fatigue syndrome, there
was a huge influx of
mosquitoes.
The National Institutes of
Health claimed that the
mosquitoes came from a forest
fire 30 miles away. The truth is
that those mosquitoes were
infected in Canada by Dr
Guilford B. Reed at Queen's
University. They were bred in
Belleville, Ontario, and taken
down to Punta Gorda and released
there.
Within a week, the first five
cases ever of chronic fatigue
syndrome were reported to the
local clinic in Punta Gorda. The
cases kept coming until finally
450 people were ill with the
disease.
Testing via Mosquito Vector
in Ontario
The Government of Canada had
established the Dominion
Parasite Laboratory in
Belleville, Ontario, where it
raised 100 million mosquitoes a
month. These were shipped to
Queen's University and certain
other facilities to be infected
with this crystalline disease
agent. The mosquitoes were then
let
loose in certain communities in
the middle of the night, so that
the researchers could determine
how many people would become ill
with chronic fatigue syndrome or
fibromyalgia, which was the
first disease to show.
Quotation taken from an
article published by Donald W.
Scott, MA, MSc, extracted from
Nexus Magazine, Volume 8, Number
5 (August-September 2001)
Urgent Message:
"If you have any relatives or
friends living in Florida, please
make contact with them
immediately. Do not, and I repeat,
DO NOT rely on what the American
news media is broadcasting about
the catastrophic devastation left
in the wake of Hurricane Charley.
Although I do not know the exact
numbers of those who perished,
they are enormously higher than
what the American news media is
broadcasting.
The number of injured survivors is
overwhelming.
Survivors who are trapped in the
massive devastation need ALL your
help and the help must be given
NOW! Do not hesitate to drop what
you are doing, and regardless of
how far or distant you have to
travel, get to them IMMEDIATELY!
Survivors urgently need to be
taken OUT of the devastation and
they only do this with the help of
those who care about them.
What the American news media is
not telling you is that the 'eye'
of Hurricane Charley was loaded
with fierce, huge, deadly
tornadoes as it barreled up
through central Florida. There is
a 'second' hurricane building in
strength named Hurricane Earl,
which is predicted to take the
same path as Hurricane Charley.
Hurricane Earl is expected to be
an immediate threat to the state
of Florida by this coming Thursday
or Friday."
-k.t. Frankovich
Mario Tama / Getty Images
Sheri Lafferty, center, is
seen with family
members waiting for handouts
of humanitarian aid, in Punta
Gorda, Florida, on Tuesday.
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 11:52 a.m. ET Aug. 18, 2004
PUNTA GORDA,
Fla. - Until the electricity hums again
and the debris is cleared, health
officials are worried that there could be
more deaths and injuries in the aftermath
of Hurricane Charley than during the storm
itself.
“We’re
seeing lacerations, injuries
post-hurricane,” said Karen Mulvaney, a
critical care nurse. “A lot of people
are coming here now because people are now
returning to their homes.”
In addition to
injuries sustained during repairs to
damaged property, residents are being
sickened by eating rotting food and
contaminated water. They are skipping
their prescription drugs and, with no air
conditioning and with window screens blown
away, exposing themselves to mosquitoes
carrying diseases such as West Nile virus.
“It really
gets back to getting electricity as soon
as possible because that’s going to
solve a lot of problems,” said Tommy
Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services. “Right now
there are a lot of heart attacks in people
who are going out and cleaning out their
property.”
Still smarting
over the loss of their homes, Charley’s
victims turned out by the hundreds in
90-degree heat Tuesday to cope with the
storm’s latest blow to their lives —
the mass shutdown of businesses that has
left them without jobs.
“Charley
laid me off,” said Rose Vito, a
57-year-old telemarketing assistant in
red-plaid pajamas, who lined up outside
the Employ Florida mobile benefits station
in Port Charlotte’s Harold Avenue
Recreational Center parking lot. “Without
phones and computers, they can’t
function.”
None of the
choices on the unemployment form —
suspension, temporary layoff,
discharge/performance — seemed to fit
her situation. So in the space that
demanded a “reason for separation,”
she wrote: “Hurricane Charlie.”
For thousands
of Floridians, Tuesday was a day when
services cut off by the rampage of Charley’s
145-mph winds last week were being
gradually — and sporadically —
restored. Federal disaster assistance
money began flowing, state officials
cracked down on price gouging and postal
workers handed out mail.
Death
toll inches higher Meantime, the death toll rose
from 19 to 20. An 86-year-old man who had
evacuated his home fell and died while he
was in a motel.
Officials in Charlotte County said
three new deaths may have been linked to
the aftermath of Charley. The three people
died Monday night in a crash at an
intersection where the traffic lights were
not working.
Before lashing
Florida on Friday, Charley killed four
people in Cuba and one in Jamaica.
As bill
delivery began Tuesday, many storm victims
— most without power, water or phone
service — worried about what Charley and
its aftermath would do to their savings.
In Punta Gorda,
one of the hardest-hit areas, Federal
Emergency Management Agency director Mike
Brown said $2 million had been issued to
victims and more was on the way. More than
23,500 applications for aid had already
been received.
Health and
Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
toured the damaged areas in a helicopter.
Thompson announced more than $11 million
in help, with the majority of the money
going to support early childhood education
centers.
Amid
progress, desperation persists Hundreds of thousands of
Floridians still had no telephones, no
water, no diapers and no gasoline, leaving
them short-tempered and vulnerable to
crooks.
State Attorney
General Charlie Crist filed price gouging
and unfair trade practices complaints
Tuesday against two motels, accusing them
of jacking up room rates. One advertised
$39.99 on a billboard but asked for $109
and $119 a room, Crist said.
“It is
unthinkable that anyone would try to take
advantage of neighbors at a time like
this,” Crist said. More than 100 state
investigators were in the field, and most
of the initial complaints were about
lodging rates.
Law
enforcement officials in DeSoto County
said Monday that six people had been
arrested in Arcadia on burglary charges
for alleged looting. Sgt. Jim Troiano, a
spokesman for the sheriff’s department,
said some homeowners had posted signs
warning looters to stay away.
Post
office ‘back in business’ There were small signs of progress
Tuesday.
At 7:45 a.m.,
the U.S. flag was raised at the heavily
damaged main Post Office in Punta Gorda as
60 employees said the Pledge of
Allegiance, cheered and applauded. Then,
they went to work for the first time since
Charley struck Friday.
“We’re
back in business,” Postmaster Doug Burns
declared.
The building’s
front windows and sliding glass doors were
blown out, sections of the roof were
missing, and insulation from a nearby
business was plastered across rental
mailboxes. Since people could not get to
the boxes, Postal Service employees handed
out mail in a drive-through operation.
Elsewhere in
Punta Gorda, municipal employees went to
work Tuesday putting stop signs and street
signs back up.
“Most of
them are bent, so we dig them out,
straighten them up and dig them back in
again,” worker Trevor Day said.
About 493,000
people remained without power Tuesday,
state officials said, holding to
predictions it could take weeks to fully
restore electricity. At least 100,000 were
without local phone service.
“I haven’t
had a hot meal in days, but I’m doing
all right,” said Norma Chapman, 82, who
drove to a half-demolished strip mall in
Punta Gorda to pick up six bags of ice
Tuesday. She was still without any
electricity or running water.
Twenty-five of
Florida’s 67 counties were designated
federal disaster areas. Officials estimate
Charley caused as much as $11 billion in
damage to insured homes alone.
Charley also
swiped at agriculture, including the $9.1
billion citrus industry. Florida Citrus
Mutual, representing 11,000 members, has
said 280,000 of the 800,000 acres planted
for citrus crops in the state were
hammered.
“We don’t
have any hard numbers yet, but certainly
we’re expecting damage in the hundreds
of millions of dollars,” Terry McElroy,
a spokesman for Florida Agriculture and
Consumer Services, said of overall crop
damage.
The Associated Press and Reuters
contributed to this report.
Hurricane
Charley's sharp turn baffles
scientists
15:48 16 August 04
NewScientist.com
news service
A last-minute swerve to the
right by Hurricane Charley which
devastated the coastal Florida town
of Punta Gorda over the weekend, has
baffled experts.
The 258 km/hour hurricane that
flattened the US town on Friday
afternoon, killing at least 20
people and injuring many others, was
predicted to hit land 70 miles
further north, but changed direction
within minutes of the coast.
“There was a sudden
intensification and a veering to the
right of track, and we’re all
trying to work out why,” said Mark
Saunders, a tropical storm expert
from Benfield Hazard Centre at
University College London, UK.
Climatologists use a range of
physical parameters, including sea
surface-temperature, wind speed and
direction to predict the path and
force of hurricanes up to five days
in advance of land strike, but with
so many factors involved hurricanes
remain fairly unpredictable.
“Seasonal forecasts, based
on the temperature of the sea and
the strength of the east/west trade
winds between Africa and the
Caribbean – which give the amount
of vorticity [stirring-up] – can
tell scientists whether hurricane
activity will be greater or lower
than average. This season is above
average, with eight hurricanes
predicted to strike the US in total,”
Saunders told New Scientist.
And further devastation may
come from hurricane Earl – the
fourth of the eight. “We expect
Earl to strike Central America, just
north of Belize City, on Thursday
morning, from where it should travel
in a weakened state across the
Yucatan peninsula to the Gulf of
Mexico,” says Saunders.
Global
warming
“Depending on the sea
temperature and the wind speeds, it
is then expected to gather force
before hitting the US,” he warns.
Charley was classified as a
Category 4 hurricane, the worst to
hit the States since hurricane
Andrew, which also hit Florida in
1992. Despite its power, Charley was
small in diameter – less than 160
kilometres across – although it
reached at least 3000 metres from
the ground to the top of the
troposphere.
However, despite this season’s
rise, the trend has been for a drop
in hurricanes over the last century,
Saunders says, who believes there is
no evidence to link global warming
to hurricane trends. ”The average
is 1.6 per year, but there have only
been three to hit the US over the
last four years.”
The hurricane season is June
to November, peaking in August to
October. Most hurricanes form over
tropical waters of at least 27°C,
between the west coast of Africa and
the Caribbean, in the Caribbean Sea
or in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hundreds of Thousands Lack Electricity;
Phone, Water Outages Also Widespread
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON, AP
PUNTA GORDA, Fla.
(Aug. 17) -- About 790,000 people remained
without power in Florida in the aftermath of
Hurricane Charley, and officials estimated
it could take weeks to get electricity fully
restored. At least 150,000 were without
local phone service. Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge was to study the damage
in the Ft. Myers area Tuesday.
Some 2,300 people
stayed in shelters, and Federal Emergency
Management Agency director Michael Brown
said 11,000 have already applied for
disaster aid. Federal officials received
20,000 catastrophic housing requests -
10,000 on Monday alone.
But amid the
misery, there were small signs of progress
back toward normality Tuesday.
At 7:45 a.m., the
U.S. flag was raised at the main Post Office
in Punta Gorda as 60 employees said the
Pledge of Allegiance, cheered and applauded.
Then, they went to work for the first time
since Charley struck on Friday.
''We're back in
business,'' declared Postmaster Doug Burns.
Elsewhere in Punta
Gorda, municipal employees Norm Broussard
and Trevor Day went to work putting back up
stop signs and street signs. The city is
concerned the lack of signs could contribute
to traffic accidents, Broussard said.
''Most of them are
bent so we dig them out, straighten them up
and dig them back in again,'' Day said.
Others, Broussard said, ''we're going to
have to replace.''
Punta Gorda and
Port Charlotte were among the hardest-hit
areas Friday, and 25 of Florida's 67
counties were designated federal disaster
areas. Officials estimate Charley caused as
much as $11 billion in damage to insured
homes alone.
Early Tuesday,
state emergency management spokeswoman
Tameeka Forbes said the death toll had been
raised from 18 to 19, but no further details
on the new reported death were immediately
released. Earlier, Charley killed four
people in Cuba and one in Jamaica.
No phone. No
running water. No ice to fight the heat. No
diapers for the baby and no gas to fill the
tank. For thousands who've lost their homes
and creature comforts to Hurricane Charley,
this is reality.
''The hard part is
not being able to bathe and not having food
and water unless I go out and look for it,''
said Tami Wilson, 48, while waiting in line
at a ''comfort station'' for ice and water
while her blind husband, Dewaine, waited
alone at home.
''I just want
something to eat,'' house cleaner Willie Mae
Robinson said as she waited for canned goods
and ice with several dozen others at an old
train depot in Bowling Green, where
temperatures soared into the high 80s. ''I
have something for today but I don't have
anything for tomorrow.''
''After you live
through it, you can't imagine how desperate
you get,'' said Barbara Winslow, who was
waiting in line for diapers, food, water and
ice at National Guard comfort station. ''You
don't have anything. If the end of the world
came tomorrow, this is what it would look
like.''
Brown said it
could take several weeks to find all the
victims, and officials still had no count
Monday of how many people remained
unaccounted for, a mission complicated by
toppled power lines, spotty phone
communication and roads littered with
debris. However, early estimates of hundreds
of people missing are probably inflated.
In Fort Myers,
trucks carted away palm fronds and the
twisted remnants of metal gutters. Near the
city's beach, bulldozers plowed down streets
covered with an inch-thick layer of sand
that looked like snow.
In other areas,
overturned RVs were the only thing that
remained in some parking lots. People
returned to what was left of their homes to
find what looked more like a junkyard.
Gasoline was
precious, with lines of 40 cars at some
stations. Lines also snaked through parking
lots at food distribution sites. Bottles of
water and bags of ice took on vital
importance.
Frustrations began
to emerge on a typically muggy day as people
complained about the lack of power and
access to their neighborhoods. Tempers
flared at a bridge crossing to Fort Myers
Beach when officers used a stun gun to
subdue a man in a minivan who wanted to
enter the area still closed to residents,
WINK-TV said.
Law enforcement
officials in DeSoto County said Monday six
people had been arrested in Arcadia on
burglary charges for alleged looting. County
spokesman Sgt. Jim Troiano said some
homeowners had posted signs warning looters
to stay away.
Nearly 4,400
National Guard troops have been activated
and nearly 2,000 insurance adjusters were
handling claims. The American Red Cross
established eight mobile kitchens and five
feeding centers capable of serving 9,000
meals a day.
The owners of a
convenience store in Port Charlotte opened
without power, despite damage to the
building. Owner Imran Siddiqi was using his
cell phone calculator to tally purchases for
a steady stream of customers.
Jeff Fields, 42,
of Port Charlotte, was smiling as he picked
up a six-pack of beer and four packs of
cigarettes.
''It helps with
the cleanup,'' he said.
08-17-04 09:15 EDT
Copyright
2004 The Associated Press.
Florida Assesses Damage in Wake of
Deadly Storm
By SHAILA K. DEWAN August 16, 2004
HAINES CITY, Fla., Aug. 15 - Two
days after Hurricane Charley tore across
the state, the death toll was inching up,
but far slower than officials had feared
and tens of thousands of people who were
left homeless by one of the worst storms
ever to hit Florida were pondering their
next step.
Close to a million people were still
without power, many were without water,
too, and utility officials said it could
be up to three weeks before service to
some could be restored. Around the state,
people emerged from their battered homes
in search of the basics: gasoline,
automated teller machines, cigarettes.
In Haines City, a Howard Johnson
hotel that had been crammed with people
fleeing the hurricane was nearly empty and
without power, and the few remaining
guests used water from the debris-filled
swimming pool to flush their toilets.
Those among the lucky packed up and
went to relatives' houses, but more than
2,000 people were still in shelters.
"We don't have a place to go,"
said Del Jenkins, 23, who was staying at
the DeSoto Middle School in Arcadia.
"The family we've got here had their
home tore up, too.''
President Bush made a brief visit to
Florida on Sunday morning to survey the
storm destruction by helicopter. He also
took a walking tour of Punta Gorda, one of
the hardest hit coastal towns. In response
to questions by reporters, Mr. Bush
defended the speed at which federal aid
was flowing into the state, saying that
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
was on the ground by Saturday morning.
"What I'm telling you is that
there's a lot of help moving into this
part of the world - it's going to take a
while to rebuild it," he said.
"But the government's job is to help
people help rebuild their lives, and
that's what's happening."
Throughout the day, truckloads of
food, ice, water and other necessities
poured into Lakeland, where the Florida
National Guard set up a staging area,
dispatching supplies almost as quickly as
they arrived.
"In talking with many of the
experts, they believe we're 10 to 14 days
ahead of where we were in 1992," said
Col. Jeff Hetherington, speaking of the
year Hurricane Andrew hit.
By 3 p.m., 41 trucks of water, 36
generators and 97,000 ready-to-eat
military meals were on their way to
distribution sites, according to the
Florida State Emergency Response Team.
Trying to smooth over complaints
that inland areas like Haines City and
Arcadia were receiving short shrift, Gov.
Jeb Bush visited disaster areas away from
the coast Sunday, listening to frustrated
residents who believed they were not
getting as much aid as needed or as
quickly.
"We're here to help, and we're
serious about it," Governor Bush said
at a news conference in Arcadia. "It
isn't just going to happen on the coast of
Florida, it's going to happen in the
heartland as well."
Governor Bush also went to Wauchula,
where residents worked all day dismantling
the trees that had crashed down all over
the city, piling them in 10-foot-high
piles at the curbs. City workers worked to
fix a broken water main that was
preventing water from refilling its
storage tower.
The governor did not get as far
inland as Haines City, which is in Polk
County, the area that so far has suffered
the highest death toll in the storm. The
authorities have confirmed five deaths in
Polk County from Hurricane Charley. On
Sunday, the death toll in Florida was
raised to 16 from 13.
As the search continued for other
possible fatalities, some officials
worried aloud about possible post-storm
casualties because of accidents with chain
saws or people falling off roofs during
the cleanup.
Despite the pounding that Polk
County took, on Sunday a Walgreen's
drugstore had opened in Haines City,
powering cash registers and a few lights
with generators. The store was out of
batteries, and running out of food, the
clerks said. They could not take debit
cards, because the lines were down.
Gwendolyn Fisher, 45, said she had been
going from store to store in search of
bread, canned food and formula for her
infant grandchild.
Charley death toll at 13
President Bush inspecting
Florida damage; storm downgraded
Sunday, August 15, 2004 Posted:
10:28 AM EDT
TROPICAL
STORM CHARLEY
At 8
a.m. ET Sunday
8-15-04
Position
of center:
In general
vacinity of
Boston,
Massachusetts
Latitude:
42.0
north
Longitude:
71.0
west
Moving:
Northeast at
nearly 30
mph (48.2
kph)
Top
sustained
winds:
Near 40 mph
(64.3 kph)
VICTIM
AID
Those wishing
to assist
hurricane
victims are
encouraged to
give cash
donations.
These
organizations
are
recommended by
the Federal
Emergency
Management
Agency: American
Red Cross
Disaster
Relief Fund
- (800)
HELP-NOW;
victims and
family can
call (866)
GET-INFO Catholic
Charities, USA
- (800)
919-9338 Salvation
Army
- (800)
SAL-ARMY United
Methodist
Committee on
Relief
- (800)
554-8583 Online:www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm
PUNTA
GORDA, Florida (CNN) -- President
Bush arrived Sunday in southwest
Florida to inspect the devastation
left by Hurricane Charley, which
caused a least 13 deaths.
He joined his brother, Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush, for a flyover tour.
Charley made landfall Friday in
western Florida, pounding Punta
Gorda, a town north of Fort Myers.
At its worst, Charley's wind
gusts topped 180 mph (289 kph) in
Punta Gorda.
"It is hard to describe
seeing an entire community
flattened," Gov. Bush said
Saturday. Damage, he said, is
clearly in the billions of
dollars.
The storm continued across
central Florida, hitting Orlando
before heading into the Atlantic
Ocean at Daytona Beach.
After making landfall Saturday
in South Carolina, Charley was
downgraded to a tropical storm,
National Weather Service officials
said. (Full
story)
At 8 a.m. ET Sunday, the
storm's intensity was nearly
diminished below tropical storm
status. It was in the vicinity of
Boston, Massachusetts, and was
moving northeast about 30 mph
(48.2 kph).
Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth
named storms of the Atlantic
hurricane season were out at sea
Sunday, The Associated Press
reported. Tropical Storm Danielle
formed Friday and developed into a
hurricane Saturday but was several
days from land.
Tropical Storm Earl had
sustained winds of 45 mph Sunday
and was centered about 105 miles
south-southeast of Barbados, the
AP reported. It prompted warnings
on islands in the southeastern
Caribbean Sea.
Deaths and injuries
According to Guy Tunnel,
commissioner of the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement, the
bodies of four storm victims were
found in Charlotte County; two
people were killed in Orange, Polk
and Volusia counties; and single
deaths were recorded in Desoto,
Lee and Sarasota counties.
"All of these can be
attributed to the hurricane,"
Tunnel said. Not all were killed
by wind or rain; some were victims
of traffic problems or stress,
Tunnel said.
In Orange County, high winds
blew a moving van into oncoming
traffic on a freeway, killing a
young girl and seriously injuring
seven others, according to Kim
Miller, a spokeswoman for the
Florida Highway Patrol.
Tunnel said there were more
than 30 mobile home parks housing
hundreds of people in Charlotte
County, and it was a tedious
process to check them all in
addition to other homes. Rescue
teams were going door to door, in
some cases smashing doors down, to
check on occupants.
"The problem is we really
don't know who evacuated and who
did not," said Punta Gorda
Police Chief Charles Rinehart.
"It was a voluntary
evacuation, and then it turned to
mandatory. So there's no real head
count on who may have left and
where they might be."
Dozens were treated for serious
injuries, including crushed bones
and cut arteries, according to
Josh Putter, CEO of the Charlotte
Regional Medical Center in Punta
Gorda.
He said 50 or 60 injured people
drove to "or dragged
themselves into" his hospital
in the hours after the storm
passed Friday evening.
20 counties eligible for aid
Convoys of trucks were rolling
down I-75 Saturday, loaded with
crews and supplies needed in the
massive recovery effort. Florida
officials said the convoys would
keep coming Sunday.
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency designated 16
counties eligible for federal
disaster assistance, in addition
to the four given such designation
yesterday. The move allows a
quicker rush of funds and
resources to the worst hit areas.
Mike Bolch with FEMA said
federal officials were going house
to house searching for possible
victims and providing assistance.
Food and medical supplies were
being brought to the state. And
FEMA was conducting aerial
surveillance, looking for
survivors who may need quick
assistance.
The Red Cross set up shelters
in affected areas, including Punta
Gorda. Spokesman Chris Paladeno
said the Red Cross mobile food
kitchen in Punta Gorda will
produce 20,000 meals a day.
The agency has already
distributed tens of thousands of
meals and snacks across the state,
he said.
More than 2 million people were
reported to be without power, and
widespread building damage and
uprooted trees were said to have
been sighted from the Fort Myers
area in the southwest -- where the
hurricane slammed ashore Friday
afternoon -- to Daytona Beach on
Florida's Atlantic coast. From
there, the storm moved off the
eastern coastline before midnight.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights
reserved.
.
Hurricane Survivors Haunted by Bodies
Sun Aug 15, 6:26 AM ET
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated
Press Writer
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - When
Cindy Vallier returned home Saturday after
Hurricane Charley, the bodies of the old couple
across the road were lying in her front yard,
covered in blankets.
Staring at the old man's black wheelchair and
twisted walker wedged under her husband's upturned
truck, Vallier wonders how she can bear to move
back to Crystal Lake mobile home park.
"Every time I walk down here, there's two
dead people in my driveway," she said,
envisioning the memory that will haunt her. She
surveyed the twisted wreckage engulfing her home.
It's what is left of her dead neighbors'
doublewide trailer.
Crystal Lake, like much of Punta Gorda, is a
scene of utter devastation. But like so many in
this blessed and cursed part of Florida, Vallier
knows she has no choice but to start again where
she was.
"That was our home, that was our rental,
that was our work truck," the 53-year-old
disabled cleaning woman said, ticking off her list
of ruined possessions. "That's all we got. I
gotta move back here."
Vallier's neighbors were among four known
deaths in this Charlotte County town nestled along
the Gulf of Mexico. The victims' names were not
immediately being released.
Vallier said the dead couple's grown son was
thrown from the wreckage and was injured. He was
found inside a closet of the trailer next door.
Charley's eye came right through Charlotte
Harbor Friday afternoon, packing winds up to 145
mph.
Dane Gomez, 28, was renting his parents' old
trailer in the Baileyville neighborhood of Punta
Gorda. This little uninsured mobile home was his
first taste of real independence.
"I called it home sweet home," Gomez
said as he combed the rubble in vain for his
3-year-old cat, Oscar. "I don't know why God
intended for this to happen. It's not right. It's
not fair. How do you get back what you lost?
Many of those left homeless by Charley were
retirees who came to Florida after a lifetime of
sweat and toil. They awoke Saturday to find that
their toil had only just begun.
Barbara Seaman stood in the wreckage of the
clubhouse at the Windmill Village trailer park and
gaped.
"This was so pretty," she said,
standing by a marina choked with pontoons and
pleasure boats.
The 69-year-old retired florist and her
companion, Rudy Ricci, 78, returned Saturday to
find most of their roof gone and their trailer
twisted so badly the doors would not open. As they
arrived, a great blue heron landed in the back
yard — waiting for his usual snack of turkey hot
dogs.
"Where do we go now?" Seaman asked.
"What do we do?"
Off Florida Street, Karen Hull walked through a
home littered with decapitated plaster figurines.
She and her husband, Ed, had added a living room,
a screen porch and a carport to their singlewide
trailer in the three years they had lived there.
Now, they are back to square one.
"You know, what's here is the old
home," Hull, 50, said with a rueful grin.
"It was a nice place."
Her husband, Ed, stood nearby wearing a
sweat-soaked T-shirt with the inscription:
"Life is full of important choices."
It may be weeks before people in Punta Gorda
get their power and water back. It will be much
longer before they feel at home again.
Back at Crystal Lake, Vallier recalled the
neighbors she lost.
She had cleaned home for the old woman many
years ago, and she remembered the lady always
tipped her. Vallier's husband, Clint Comstock,
would sometimes help the old man, who was crippled
with diabetes.
Vallier said the elderly couple had moved away
from Punta Gorda to be closer to family. But they
moved back about four months ago, because this was
where the old man wanted to die.
"He got his wish," she said darkly.
Vallier's husband, who owns a tree-removal
company, was too busy for sorrow.
He worked in the blistering sun to move what
he could salvage into the only room of his house
that survived — the bedroom. Scattered across
the floor were programs from his father's memorial
service in 1996.
The verse inside was oddly appropriate:
"God hath not promised
"Skies always blue ....
"God hath not promised
"Sun without rain,
"Joy without sorrow,
"Peace without pain."
He plans to rebuild on the same spot. And,
unlike his wife, he doesn't think he'll be
haunted.
"Life goes on," he said. "You've
just got to get on with it, that's all."
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Allen G. Breed is the AP's
Southeast regional writer, based in Raleigh, N.C.
Hurricane
Charley kills at least 15 in Florida
A
man walks past a destroyed mobile home in
Port Charlotte, Florida.
August 14, 2004
Florida, Gulf Coast (AP) -- Hurricane
Charley has left a wake of death and destruction
in Florida.
At least 15 people are reported dead. Ten of
the deaths are in Charlotte County. The other five
are scattered across the state.
Thousands of people are homeless.
The storm and its 145-mph winds knocked out
power to some 2 million homes and businesses as it
crossed from the southwest coast at Punta Gorda to
the Atlantic at Daytona Beach. Some 1.3 million
remained without power Saturday afternoon,
emergency officials said.
Emergency officials in Florida pronounced it
the worst to wallop the state since Hurricane
Andrew tore through in 1992.
"Our worst fears have come true,"
said Gov. Jeb Bush, who surveyed the devastation
by helicopter. Florida officials predicted damage
from the Category 4 storm could top $15 billion
— as much as the earthquake in Northridge,
California, in 1994.
One woman in Punta Gorda, Florida, says she
could hear the nails coming out of the roof as
Hurricane Charley battered her apartment building.
An administrator at a nursing center says
winds were so strong that the center's doors were
being sucked open.
Charley has weakened into a tropical storm
Saturday as it cuts a path across North Carolina.
The storm is still threatening floods and
tornadoes in the state. One man who abandoned his
mobile home says he could hear trees cracking
outside.
Copyright 2004 by The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Hurricane Charley Strikes South Carolina
By MARK LONG
The Associated Press
Saturday, August 14, 2004; 10:49 AM
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Hurricane Charley flattened
oceanfront homes and caused a "significant
loss of life" at a mobile home park in
Florida, leaving thousands homeless across the
state before it roared north and struck the
coast of South Carolina early Saturday.
Charley made landfall for a second time as South
Carolina's Grand Strand resort region stood
nearly empty after a mandatory evacuation of
some of the area's 180,000 tourists and
residents.
The storm had weakened since Friday, when it was
the worst hurricane to hit Florida in a dozen
years, causing widespread damage to coastal
areas and mobile home parks and knocked out
power to an estimated 1.3 million homes and
businesses as it crossed from southwest Florida
to the Atlantic Coast at Daytona Beach.
"I could hear the nails coming out of
the roof. The walls were shaking violently, back
and forth, back and forth. It was just the most
amazing and terrifying thing," said Anne
Correia, who spent two hours in a closet in her
Punta Gorda apartment.
In addition to the hard-hit mobile home park,
Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's director of
emergency management, said there were confirmed
deaths in at least three other areas in the
county, but an exact number was unavailable, and
might not be for days.
There were five confirmed storm-related deaths
elsewhere in the state. Earlier, Charley killed
three people in Cuba and one in Jamaica, and
tornados spun off by Tropical Storm Bonnie
killed three people in North Carolina.
The federal government was sending a 25-member
mortuary team to help process bodies.
Hundreds of people were unaccounted for in
Charlotte County, which includes Punta Gorda and
Port Charlotte, and thousands were homeless,
Sallade said. He compared the devastation with
1992's Hurricane Andrew, which was directly
blamed for the deaths of 26 people, most in
South Florida. Extensive damage was also
reported on exclusive Captiva Island, a narrow
strip of sand west of Fort Myers.
"It's Andrew all over again," he said.
"We believe there's significant loss of
life."
There are 31 mobile home parks in the county
that suffered major damage, some with more than
1,000 units, said Bob Carpenter, a Charlotte
County Sheriff's Office spokesman. He said teams
were sent to each park to search for bodies and
survivors, but getting into them was difficult.
"We just couldn't get the vehicles in -
there is so much debris," he said.
Rescuing people who may be trapped is the top
priority, said state emergency management
director Craig Fugate.
"If we're going to change the outcome for
anybody that's been injured or trapped, we know
time is of the essence," he said.
After crossing Florida and moving back over open
water east of Georgia, the slightly weakened
Charley headed for the coast of the Carolinas on
Saturday. South Carolina's Grand Strand -
beaches and high-dollar homes and hotels - was
nearly empty after a mandatory evacuation order
of the area's 180,000 visitors and residents.
National Guard troops were on duty in North
Carolina, where a mandatory evacuation order was
in effect for vulnerable coastal areas hit less
than two weeks ago by Hurricane Alex.
More tornadoes were possible, warned Renee
Hoffman, spokeswoman for North Carolina's Department
of Crime Control and Public Safety. Don't go out,
don't drive in these heavy winds and rain," she
said.
At 8 a.m. EDT, the center of the storm was in the
Atlantic Ocean about 35 miles south-southwest of
Charleston, S.C., and moving north-northeast at 28
mph. Forecasters expected Charley to increase in
speed. Its maximum sustained wind speed was near 85
mph with higher gusts.
Hurricane warnings were posted from Altamaha
Sound, Ga., north to the North Carolina-Virginia
state line. From there, a tropical storm warning
extended north to Sandy Hook, N.J., and a tropical
storm watch covered New York Harbor and Long Island
Sound.
President Bush declared a major disaster area in
Florida, making federal money available to
Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties. One
million customers were reported without power
statewide, including all of Hardee County and Punta
Gorda.
The Category 4 storm was stronger than expected when
the eye reached the mainland at Charlotte Harbor,
pummeling the coast with wind reaching 145 mph and a
surge of sea water of 13 to 15 feet.
Charley was forecast to spread sustained wind of
about 40 mph to 60 mph across inland portions of
eastern North Carolina and to dump 3 to 6 inches of
rain beginning Saturday morning, forecasters said.
Gov. Mike Easley declared a state of emergency.
Three hospitals in Charlotte County sustained
significant damage, Sallade said, and officials at
Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda
said they were evacuating all patients Saturday.
More than 200 ambulances - many from southeast
Florida - were organized to transfer patients to
other hospitals in Orlando, Sarasota, Tampa and Lee
County.
"We really have to get the patients out of
here. This place just isn't safe," said Peggy
Greene, chief nursing officer. She said windows were
blown out, part of the roof was blown off, and there
was no power or phone service.
Among those seeking treatment was Marty Rietveld,
showered with broken glass when the sliding glass
door at his home was smashed by a neighbor's roof
that blew off. Rietveld broke his leg, and his
future son-in-law suffered a punctured leg artery.
"We are moving," said Rietveld's daughter,
Stephanie Rioux. "We are going out of
state."
At least 20 patients with storm injuries were
reported at a hospital in Fort Myers.
The hurricane rapidly gained strength in the Gulf of
Mexico after crossing Cuba and swinging around the
Florida Keys as a more moderate Category 2 storm
Friday morning. An estimated 1.4 million people
evacuated in anticipation of the strongest hurricane
to strike Florida since Andrew in 1992.
Charley reached landfall at 3:45 p.m. EDT, when the
eye passed over barrier islands off Fort Myers and
Punta Gorda, some 110 miles southeast of the Tampa
Bay area.
Charley hit the mainland 30 minutes later,
with storm surge flooding of 10 to 15 feet, the
hurricane center said. Nearly 1 million people live
within 30 miles of the landfall.
The state put 5,000 National Guard soldiers and
airmen on alert to help deal with the storm, but
only 1,300 had been deployed by Friday night, a
state emergency management spokeswoman said.
At a nursing center in Port Charlotte, Charley broke
windows and ripped off portions of the roof, but
none of the more than 100 residents or staff was
injured, administrator Joyce Cuffe said.
"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."
The fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane
season, Danielle, formed Friday but posed no
immediate concern to land. The fifth may form as
early as Saturday and threaten islands in the
southeastern Caribbean Sea.
Associated Press writers Mark Long in Fort Myers,
Ken Thomas in Key West, Mitch Stacy and Brendan
Farrington in Tampa, Vickie Chachere in Sarasota,
Mike Branom and Mike Schneider in Orlando and Bruce
Smith in Charleston, S.C., contributed to this
report.
Charley Causes 'Significant Loss of Life'
By MARK LONG, Associated Press
Writer
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Hurricane
Charley flattened oceanfront homes and caused a
"significant loss of life" at a mobile
home park in Florida, leaving thousands homeless
before it roared north and struck the coast of
South Carolina early Saturday.
Charley made landfall for a second time as
South Carolina's Grand Strand resort region stood
nearly empty after a mandatory evacuation of some
of the area's 180,000 tourists and residents.
The storm had weakened since Friday, when it
was the worst hurricane to hit Florida in a dozen
years, causing widespread damage to coastal areas
and mobile home parks and knocked out power to an
estimated 1.3 million homes and businesses as it
crossed from southwest Florida to the Atlantic
Coast at Daytona Beach.
"I could hear the nails coming out of the
roof. The walls were shaking violently, back and
forth, back and forth. It was just the most
amazing and terrifying thing," said Anne
Correia, who spent two hours in a closet in her
Punta Gorda apartment.
In addition to the hard-hit mobile home park,
Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's director of
emergency management, said there were confirmed
deaths in at least three other areas in the
county, but an exact number was unavailable, and
might not be for days.
Gov. Jeb Bush, speaking from Charlotte County,
said, "The good news is we're trained for
this and we're well coordinated ... we're going to
do everything we can to provide support."
There were five confirmed storm-related deaths
elsewhere in the state. Earlier, Charley killed
three people in Cuba and one in Jamaica, and
tornados spun off by Tropical Storm Bonnie killed
three people in North Carolina.
The federal government was sending a
25-member mortuary team to help process bodies.
By the time Charley hit South Carolina, it
had wind of 85 mph, down from as much as 145 mph
when it struck the coast of Florida.
Hundreds of people were unaccounted for in
Florida's Charlotte County, which includes Punta
Gorda and Port Charlotte, and thousands were
homeless, Sallade said. He compared the
devastation with 1992's Hurricane Andrew, which
was directly blamed for the deaths of 26 people,
most in South Florida. Extensive damage was also
reported on exclusive Captiva Island, a narrow
strip of sand west of Fort Myers.
"It's Andrew all over again," he
said. "We believe there's significant loss of
life."
There are 31 mobile home parks in the county
that suffered major damage, some with more than
1,000 units, said Bob Carpenter, a Charlotte
County Sheriff's Office spokesman. He said teams
were sent to each park to search for bodies and
survivors, but getting into them was difficult.
"We just couldn't get the vehicles in
— there is so much debris," he said.
Rescuing people who may be trapped is the
top priority, said state emergency management
director Craig Fugate.
"If we're going to change the outcome
for anybody that's been injured or trapped, we
know time is of the essence," he said.
After crossing Florida and moving back over
open water east of Georgia, the slightly weakened
Charley hit for the coast of the Carolinas on
Saturday. National Guard troops were on duty in
North Carolina, where a mandatory evacuation order
was in effect for vulnerable coastal areas hit
less than two weeks ago by Hurricane Alex.
More tornadoes were possible, warned Renee
Hoffman, spokeswoman for North Carolina's
Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
"Don't go out, don't drive in these heavy
winds and rain," she said.
Hurricane warnings were posted from Altamaha
Sound, Ga., north to the North Carolina-Virginia
state line. From there, a tropical storm warning
extended north to Sandy Hook, N.J., and a tropical
storm watch covered New York Harbor and Long
Island Sound.
President Bush declared a major disaster area in
Florida, making federal money available to
Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Sarasota counties. One
million customers were reported without power
statewide, including all of Hardee County and
Punta Gorda.
The Category 4 storm was stronger than expected
when the eye reached the mainland at Charlotte
Harbor, pummeling the coast with a surge of sea
water of 13 to 15 feet.
Charley was forecast to spread sustained wind
of about 40 mph to 60 mph across inland portions
of eastern North Carolina and to dump 3 to 6
inches of rain beginning Saturday morning,
forecasters said. Gov. Mike Easley declared a
state of emergency.
Three hospitals in Charlotte County sustained
significant damage, Sallade said, and officials at
Charlotte Regional Medical Center in Punta Gorda
said they were evacuating all patients Saturday.
More than 200 ambulances — many from
southeast Florida — were organized to transfer
patients to other hospitals in Orlando, Sarasota,
Tampa and Lee County.
"We really have to get the patients out of
here. This place just isn't safe," said Peggy
Greene, chief nursing officer. She said windows
were blown out, part of the roof was blown off,
and there was no power or phone service.
Among those seeking treatment was Marty
Rietveld, showered with broken glass when the
sliding glass door at his home was smashed by a
neighbor's roof that blew off. Rietveld broke his
leg, and his future son-in-law suffered a
punctured leg artery.
"We are moving," said Rietveld's
daughter, Stephanie Rioux. "We are going out
of state."
At least 20 patients with storm injuries were
reported at a hospital in Fort Myers.
An estimated 1.4 million people evacuated in
anticipation of the hurricane, which reached
landfall at 3:45 p.m. EDT, when the eye passed
over barrier islands off Fort Myers and Punta
Gorda, some 110 miles southeast of the Tampa Bay
area.
Charley hit the mainland 30 minutes later, with
storm surge flooding of 10 to 15 feet, the
hurricane center said. Nearly 1 million people
live within 30 miles of the landfall.
At a nursing center in Port Charlotte, Charley
broke windows and ripped off portions of the roof,
but none of the more than 100 residents or staff
was injured, administrator Joyce Cuffe said.
"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."
The fourth named storm of the Atlantic
hurricane season, Danielle, formed Friday but
posed no immediate concern to land. The fifth may
form as early as Saturday and threaten islands in
the southeastern Caribbean Sea.
Associated Press writers Mark Long in Fort
Myers, Ken Thomas in Key West, Mitch Stacy and
Brendan Farrington in Tampa, Vickie Chachere in
Sarasota, Mike Branom and Mike Schneider in
Orlando and Bruce Smith in Charleston, S.C.,
contributed to this report.
2
million told to flee as hurricane hits Florida at
145mph
Duncan
Campbell in Orlando
Saturday August 14, 2004 The Guardian
Hurricane Charley roared into the west coast of
Florida yesterday, bringing winds of 145 miles an
hour as the state braced for what was predicted to
be its worst storm for nearly 50 years.
Two men were killed when an 18-wheel lorry
was blown off a highway, and 2 million people were
urged by the governor, Jeb Bush, to evacuate their
homes in the face of the category four hurricane.
Tens of thousands of people were believed to
be on the move as the weather system moved across
the western Caribbean, killing one person in
Jamaica and three in Cuba.
Governor Bush said the storm had already had
a "devastating impact" and asked his
brother, the president, for disaster aid in
anticipation of widespread damage.
Charley reached the coast in the Fort
Myers/Port Charlotte area south of Tampa Bay which
had been predicted as the eye of the storm. The
hurricane's flight path then shifted towards
Orlando, the home of Walt Disney World, in Orange
county.
"We are the bull's eye," Rich
Crotty, the chairman of Orange county, told a
press conference. "Hold your loved ones close
and pray for your safety. We are in this together.
Earlier we had asked for your prayers for the
people of Tampa, now we ask for their
prayers."
In Orange county trees were blown across
roads and heavy rains fell as locals headed off
the roads. Everyone living in mobile homes was
advised to find a shelter before Charley arrived.
Governor Bush, speaking from the state's
capital in Tallahassee, explained the change in
the hurricane's direction, telling a press
conference: "Hurricanes aren't linear
thinkers, they don't go where a computer model
thinks they will go."
Since the middle of the week, Florida has
been anticipating the hurricane's arrival. At
first it was with the characteristic nonchalance
born of years of regular visits from tropical
storms, but later trepidation began to set in.
Resort hotels on the seafront in St
Petersburg told guests to get out of town fast,
handing them letters which urged them:
"Please stay calm, please stay safe!"
The highways were clogged with traffic and
stores were selling out of plywood as people
boarded up windows and doors. Mr Bush accepted
that some people were refusing to leave, despite
the official advice that the water could rise by
up to four metres (13ft) and parts of Tampa could
be submerged.
"There's a small number of people who
are staying put," said Mr Bush. "They
love their property, as they should. Floridians
are an independent lot, they do what they think
they should."
The emergency services warned people who
were planning to stay on their boats on the coast
that they could be "condemning themselves to
loss of life".
In 1950, Hurricane Donna claimed 50 lives
when it hit the Gulf coast and forecasters warned
that Charley had the potential to do the same.
Emergency crews from Kentucky, Mississippi
and Alabama arrived yesterday as backup. Residents
at McDill air force base in Tampa Bay, the home of
US central command, were among those evacuated.
Schools, colleges and all government offices in
the area were closed.
Local radio stations were brimming with
cheerful advice to people with health problems to
collect a week's supply of medication from the
chemists.
Local papers ran pages of handy tips
instructing evacuees to take essentials such as
"deodorant, quiet games, favourite toys and
insurance policies".
They were also reminded to turn off the
electricity and gas when they left.
Much was also made of the fact that Charley
had chosen to arrive on Friday 13.
Fri, Aug. 13, 2004
Tampa Bay area dodges bullet as hurricane
hits southwest Florida
BRENDAN
FARRINGTON Associated
Press
TAMPA, Fla.
- Hurricane Charley spared the Tampa Bay
area after tens of thousands of people fled the
most heavily populated area of Florida's Gulf
Coast.
Power wasn't lost, little if any damage was
reported and streets didn't flood. A mandatory
evacuation was lifted on the outer beaches as
inland counties south and east of Tampa were being
battered by the storm.
Instead, the devastation that the Tampa and
St. Petersburg areas were bracing for hit about 80
miles south in Charlotte County, ripping roofs off
buildings, tearing down trees and leaving hundreds
of thousands without power.
"That could have been on the shores of
Pinellas County, that could have been downtown
Tampa," said Tom Iovino, a spokesman for the
Pinellas County emergency management center.
"If that was in the bay area, we could have
been in a lot of hurt."
About a million people in the Tampa Bay area
were told to leave their homes. Some people drove
east toward Lakeland and Orlando, only to find
themselves in the path of the storm.
"I feel like the biggest fool,"
said Robert Angel of Tarpon Springs, who sought
safety in a Lakeland motel. "I spent hundreds
of dollars to be in the center of a hurricane. Our
home is safe, but now I'm in danger."
Officials were hoping that residents would
not see their effort to flee as wasted, saying
Tampa Bay could have just as easily been hit.
"If it were in the Tampa-St. Petersburg
area it would have been humongous. You're talking
2 million people," said Mike Trimpert, a
spokesman for the Hillsborough County emergency
management center. "All they have to do is
look at the videos of what happened. Hopefully
that will make them say 'Hmm. Boy, we just
escaped.' Those pictures are going to be quite
persuasive as to what one of these things can
do."
Early in the day, resident filled sandbags,
crowded shelters and boarded up windows. Many gas
stations ran out of fuel. Few businesses remained
open.
But shelters that filled in Pinellas, which
is home to St. Petersburg, were already emptying
before sunset. Winds along the beaches never
reached the minimum 40 mph to be considered
tropical storm strength.
"There are going to be the naysayers
who say 'You acted too soon. You should have
waited longer,' but that storm was going right at
Tampa Bay. We made the right decision,"
Iovino said. "I'm actually very proud of the
residents of Pinellas County because when the
order came down, everybody took it
seriously."
Powerless Havana Clears Charley's Debris, 4 Dead
Fri Aug 13, 2004 09:22 PM ET
By Anthony Boadle
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cubans used machetes to hack away
thousands of uprooted trees blocking Havana streets on
Friday after a night of roaring winds from Hurricane
Charley brought chaos to the blacked-out city.
Four people died during the hurricane, two of them
crushed under collapsed houses, one hit by a palm tree and
one man who drowned in the port of Mariel, Civil Defense
official Lt. Col. Domingo Carretero said on a television
newscast.
Charley's 105-mph winds destroyed 1,129 houses and
caused the partial collapse of another 1,200 in the Cuban
capital and the surrounding countryside of Havana
province, Carretero said.
The storm knocked down high voltage power lines,
flattened banana plantations and uprooted or snapped trees
in its path, blocking the streets of Havana with fallen
trunks and branches. Its main thoroughfares were strewn
with royal palm trees yanked out by the hurricane.
"It got to a point where I said, 'Forget the
house; forget the car; I just want to get out
alive,"' said Mercedes, a housewife in Baracoa, a
coastal village 16 miles west of downtown Havana, where
clapboard homes were smashed to pieces.
On Cuba's south coast, where Charley made landfall
just after midnight, storm surges caused flooding, and
hurricane winds left standing only 12 of the 300 houses of
the fishing village El Cajio, government-run television
said.
It reported 46 partial collapses of houses in
colonial-era Old Havana from the three-hour pounding as
Charley crossed the narrowest point of the island before
heading north to Florida.
President Fidel Castro, facing a disaster on his
78th birthday, appeared for one hour on a live television
broadcast from Cuba's weather center after midnight at the
height of the storm and declared "victory" over
the hurricane.
"We turn our setbacks into victories," the
bearded leader, dressed in trademark green uniform, said.
But on the western outskirts of the city, which bore
the brunt of Charley's beating, homeless Cubans sitting
outside their destroyed houses complained that the
government had abandoned them.
"The government is working badly. Nobody has
been to see us all day to find us new housing," said
50-year-old Xiomara Santamaria, who escaped through a hole
in the roof when her wooden house collapsed.
Most of Havana, a city of 2 million people, remained
without power a day after authorities cut off supplies to
avoid electrical accidents.
"It was three hours of terrible howling winds.
We had no electricity and no television or radio to know
what was happening," said Orlando Duque, whose
clapboard home in the suburb of La Lisa lost part of its
roof.
Power supplies, vital to cool homes and preserve
food in Cuba's hot summer, are expected to remain down
until fallen trees are cleared and downed lines repaired.
The state electricity company said the storm knocked
down two high-voltage transmission towers feeding Havana
from Mariel, adding to power shortages caused by the
breakdown in May of a major power plant in Matanzas, east
of the capital.
Havana residents endured five days without
electricity after the last major hurricane to hit the
area, Michelle in 2001.
Cubans said the hurricane could have caused far more
damage, given the precarious state of many buildings in
Havana.
Castro, in power since a 1959 revolution, was
pleased the full force of the storm did not hit Havana
directly, calling it a special "birthday present from
nature."
The Cuban leader put the minimum damage toll down to
his Communist-run government's good organization in
handing natural disasters. More than 215,000 people were
evacuated from dangerous housing in Western Cuba before
the storm.
"We know how to do things. It's not practice;
it's the revolution's work," said Jose Antonio
Toledo, director of a school used as a shelter.
The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service
Hurricane Charley has passed Cuba, where it brought coastal flooding, torrential rain and tornadoes. It remains on track for the US state of Florida, where tropical storm Bonnie dumped more than 15 centimetres of rain in parts of the state on Thursday. Bonnie was later downgraded to a tropical depression.
Thousands of people in Cuba were evacuated to prepare for rising coastal waters - storm surges - that were expected to reach four metres early on Friday. At 1000 BST on Friday, winds had reached 177 kilometres per hour and Charley was just 135 km from the Florida island of Key West.
Early on Friday, tropical storm-force winds stretched over 200 km from the tempest and the hurricane seemed to be gradually building strength. It was travelling at 22 km per hour and was expected to hit land on Florida's central west coast around 2000 local time on Friday (0100 BST Saturday), bringing with it four-metre storm surges and 20 cm of rain.
On Thursday, more than 600,000 western Florida residents were ordered to evacuate low-lying areas and mobile homes and all of Florida was put under a state of emergency.
Worst-case scenario
"Storm surge is probably the biggest threat," says hurricane expert Derrick Herndon at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "The west coast of Florida is very vulnerable to surges because of the shape of the bay." The hurricane's projected path takes it eastward into the curve of the bay - a geometry that Herndon calls "a worst-case-scenario".
"Another threat is tornadoes, which typically form on the eastern side of the storm," he told New Scientist. On Thursday, tropical storm Bonnie whipped up several tornadoes in the north-eastern city of Jacksonville.
Bonnie hit northern Florida on Thursday morning but was downgraded to a tropical depression on Thursday night and at 2300 local time (0400 BST Friday) was producing winds of 56 km per hour centred near Charleston, South Carolina.
Early news reports suggested the Bonnie and Charley would hit land within 12 hours of each other, an event that has not happened since 1906.
But that record will not in fact be matched, as the storms will be spaced more than 24 hours apart. The "double whammy" is a product of the hurricane season, which generates the huge storms between June to November.
During that period, water in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea is warm enough (at least 26°C) to sustain the evaporation needed to power hurricanes, which begin as atmospheric disturbances over Africa.
Maggie McKee
EVACUATIONS NOW UP
TO 800,000
TAMPA, Fla. Aug. 12, 2004
— Hurricane Charley grew in force Thursday as it churned
through the Caribbean toward Florida's Gulf Coast, and an
estimated 800,000 people from the Florida Keys to Tampa Bay
were urged to evacuate their homes.
Charley was expected to pass west of the Keys early
Friday before hitting Florida's western mainland with 95-110
mph winds, heavy rain, swirling tornadoes and a dangerous
storm surge, said Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National
Hurricane Center in Miami.
Some 680,000 Tampa Bay area residents were asked to
evacuate from coastal or low-lying areas, many of which
feature high-rise hotels and condominiums. The bulk of the
evacuations were in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, which
include Tampa and St. Petersburg. Evacuations of residents and
tourists along coastal areas from Key West to St. Petersburg
also were ordered.
This is the biggest evacuation ordered since 1999, when
Hurricane Floyd brushed Florida's east coast and prompted
officials to urge about 1.3 million to evacuate, a record for
the state.
380,000 Tampa residents urged to fleeHurricane Charley threatens area; Bonnie weakens quickly
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 2:57 p.m. ET Aug. 12, 2004
TAMPA, Fla. - While Tropical Storm Bonnie was petering out
Thursday as it made landfall along Florida's Panhandle,
380,000 Tampa Bay-area residents were urged to evacuate from
coastal or low-lying areas because of Hurricane Charley.
Charley, whose sustained winds
grew to nearly 105 mph Thursday afternoon, was predicted to
make landfall early Friday, possibly bringing heavy rain,
swirling tornadoes and a storm surge of up to 12 feet to the
Tampa Bay and Fort Myers areas.
It was expected to reach speeds
of 100 to 115 mph. That would make it a Category Three
hurricane, where major damage is possible.
Florida's southwest coast has
not faced a hurricane that powerful in half a century, Ed
Rappaport of the National Hurricane Center told MSNBC.
The evacuation warning was the
largest in the history of Pinellas County, which includes
Tampa as well as St. Petersburg.
Pinellas County commissioners
unanimously approved the evacuation order, which was
recommended by county emergency management officials. It was
to take effect at 6 p.m. ET Thursday. A similar order was
issued for low-lying areas of neighboring Manatee County.
“I’m pretty comfortable that
this is the prudent way to go,” Gary Vickers of Pinellas
County Emergency Management said. Residents who refuse to
evacuate would not be arrested or forcibly removed, he said.
National Guard mobilized
A state of emergency was declared for all of Florida on
Wednesday as the one-two punch raged closer, the first time
the state has faced such a potentially messy plight in
almost 100 years. Schools and government offices were closed
and Gov. Jeb Bush activated 8,000 National Guardsmen to
prepare for the worst.
The storms caused airlines and
cruise companies to alter flights and cruises, while oil
companies in the Gulf of Mexico evacuated 2,500 workers from
offshore platforms.
A steady line of traffic drove
north off the Keys as visitors followed orders to evacuate
the entire 100-mile-long island chain.
Hurricane and tropical storm
warnings stretched from the Panhandle to northwest Florida.
Isolated tornadoes were also possible. Flood watches
extended north to Pennsylvania and New York.
Flooding fears along Panhandle
Bonnie was making landfall in areas already soaked from days
of rain. As a result, some low-lying areas may have to be
evacuated if there’s flooding, said Craig Fugate, the
state’s emergency management director.
“Residents should make sure
they’re getting prepared,” said Daniel Brown, a
forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
“They’re both something people should be watching.”
According to Hurricane Center
projections, both storms could spread rain along the East
Coast after hitting Florida. Heavy rain from the storms was
forecast for North Carolina, just a week after Hurricane
Alex damaged parts of that state’s Outer Banks.
Charley coming up
Ahead of Charley, a hurricane warning was issued in the Keys
from the Dry Tortugas to the Seven Mile Bridge and in
southwest Florida from East Cape Sable to Bonita Beach.
Three to six inches of rain were
expected, with higher amounts possible.
In Key West, the electronic sign
at the Waffle House scrolled a message to the storm, “Stay
Away Charley.” Plywood and metal storm shutters graced
only a few homes and businesses and most streets were quiet.
Key West Mayor Jimmy Weekley
asked bars, shops and restaurants to shut down at 10 p.m.
Wednesday, but many remained open past midnight. Raymond
Moffitan, who wore a velvet hot dog bun hat, barked out
offers of hot dogs and chili dogs for a “Hurricane Special
— $2.”
Mudslides in Jamaica
In the Caribbean, Charley traveled over Jamaica and the
Cayman Islands and was projected to touch western Cuba on
its track toward Florida.
In Jamaica, rainfall of up to 6
inches caused flooding and mudslides in some eastern
villages, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Businesses were shuttered, universities suspended exams and
hospitals sent patients home as people rushed to shops and
gas stations to stock up on emergency supplies.
Skies darkened and rain pounded
down Thursday morning in the Cayman Islands, a small British
colony and important offshore financial center of about
45,000 people.
In Cuba, authorities planned to
evacuate 200,000 from flood-prone coastal villages and took
2,000 tourists and workers off a resort island near the
south coast.
The storms forced ships to
change their routes in Florida, which has the world’s
busiest cruise ship ports. Carnival Cruise Lines reshuffled
the ports of call for several ships to avoid the storms, and
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was doing the same, officials
said.
In Islamorada, one of the Keys
islands, Lou Anne Settle and Jordan Davis shrugged off the
hurricane, sipping wine and gazing at the sunset along the
marina where they live in a houseboat. They had no plans to
leave.
“It’s a little early to be
worried,” Davis said, before raising her glass and
toasting, “to the hurricane — to Charley.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this
report
Charley
sends Jamaicans rushing to food stores
Posted August 11 2004, 1:50 PM EDT
KINGSTON,
Jamaica -- A heavy drizzle fell over Jamaica and residents
rushed to supermarkets Wednesday as Tropical Storm Charley
inched closer to the Caribbean island and a hurricane warning
was issued for the nearby Cayman Islands.
Charley's maximum sustained winds increased to 70 mph, just
below the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane. A hurricane watch is
in effect for Jamaica.
We're forecasting the storm to brush Jamaica's southern coast,''
said Daniel Brown, a meteorologist at the U.S. National
Hurricane Center in Miami. ``It could become a hurricane as it
passes Jamaica, but hurricane force winds will most likely
remain offshore.''
Charley is moving toward the west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph)
with a gradual turn to the northwest expected over the next day,
the National Hurricane Center said. At 11 a.m. (1500 GMT),
Charley was located about 110 miles south-southeast of Kingston,
Jamaica. Tropical storm force winds extend up to 115 miles from
the center.
UPDATE 2-Tropical Storm Charley heads for Florida Keys
Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:36 PM ET
NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Charley
approached Jamaica on its way toward Cuba and the Florida Keys
on Wednesday, but the storm was expected to veer away from U.S.
oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico as it built to
hurricane strength, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), the storm, which was expected
to become a hurricane later in the day, was centered about 110
miles (175 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.
Maximum sustained winds were near 70 mph (110 kph), with higher
gusts.
The hurricane center kept a tropical storm warning and a
hurricane watch in effect for Jamaica, with a hurricane warning
for the Cayman Islands and a hurricane watch for western Cuba
and the Florida Keys. A hurricane watch means hurricane
conditions are possible within about 36 hours.
The center recommended discontinuing the tropical storm
warning for Haiti.
The storm was moving toward the west-northwest near 18
miles per hour (30 kph), with a gradual turn to the northwest
expected over the next day or so, putting the center of the
storm near the south coast of Jamaica later Wednesday, the
center said.
After crossing Jamaica and Cuba Wednesday and Thursday,
the storm was expected to turn to the north-northeast toward the
Florida Keys on Friday.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles
(185 km) from the center.
The hurricane center was to issue an intermediate advisory
at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT), followed by the next complete advisory at
5 p.m. (2100 GMT).
(NOTES -- Second column shows date and GMT time. To
convert GMT time to EDT, subtract 4 hours. Third and fourth
column show coordinates. Fifth column shows maximum sustained
speed in knots. 1 knot = 1.15 mph. 34 knots or greater is
tropical storm strength. 64 knots or greater is hurricane
strength. U.S. offshore oil and natural gas production in the
Gulf of Mexico is concentrated north of 27 degrees north and
west of 88 degrees west.)
Florida Keys Evacuated in
Advance of Tropical Storms
Tourists were ordered to
evacuate part of the Florida Keys today as two tropical
storms took aim at the US state as they strengthened,
Bonnie was heading across the Gulf of Mexico toward the
already-wet Florida Panhandle and a stronger Charley was
destined for the Keys.
The National Hurricane Centre issued a hurricane watch
for the middle and lower Keys – meaning hurricane
conditions are possible within 36 hours.
Hurricane watches were posted for western Cuba and
Jamaica, and a hurricane warning was issued for the
Cayman Islands.
Most of north-west Florida, from the Alabama line to the
Suwanee River, was under a tropical storm warning.
The storms also threatened to produce rain along wide
sections of the East Coast.
In the Keys, emergency officials recommended that
visitors leave the part of the 100-mile-long island
chain .
At a Days Inn in Key West, manager Lisa Kaminski already
had started telling the hotel’s approximately 200
guests that they had to leave and warning people who had
reservations.
“We’re telling people that the hurricane will
probably be here Friday and it’s in their best
interest not to come,” she said.
The Key West native said she and her employees weren’t
too worried about Charley, though. “We’re staying.
This isn’t a big one,” Kaminski said.
Posted on Wed, Aug. 11, 2004
Hurricane Charley, Tropical Storms Bonnie take aim at
Florida
JOHN PAIN Associated Press
MIAMI
- Tropical Storm Charley strengthened into a hurricane
Wednesday, prompting emergency officials to order visitors to
evacuate part of the Florida Keys. Tropical Storm Bonnie was
also chugging across the Gulf of Mexico toward the already wet
Florida Panhandle, almost at hurricane strength.
Bonnie was forecast to hit the state early Thursday, at
least 12 hours earlier than Charley.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami placed most of
northwest Florida, from the Alabama border to the Suwanee River,
under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch Wednesday
because of Bonnie.
Charley prompted a hurricane watch for the middle and
lower Keys from Dry Tortugas to Craig Key, an area that includes
Key West. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible
within 36 hours. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when
maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph.
Monroe County emergency officials were recommending that
visitors evacuate the part of the 100-mile-long island chain
under the watch. Residents were not being told to leave.
Gov. Jeb Bush activated the Florida National Guard on
Wednesday and declared a state of emergency statewide. He said
more areas may need to be evacuated.
Heartland heartbreak
Rural DeSoto residents slow to receive
Charley relief
BY SELINA ROMÁN
ARCADIA -- Three months after Hurricane Charley, bright blue tarps
still cover homes where mossy oaks once provided a canopy. Grocery
stores that used to bustle with migrant farmworkers are boarded up.
Downtown dinettes that fed lunch to locals now serve out-of-town
emergency workers, volunteers and contractors.
Hurricane Charley hit this rural, landlocked county hard and by surprise
when it took an unexpected turn Aug. 13. It left a mark of devastation
on an already poor county of working class families and farmworkers who
have faced an uphill battle to recovery.
For various reasons, relief has been slow to reach DeSoto residents.
Charley caused so much damage to buildings that it took weeks for the
Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up services there. Many
residents are elderly or poor or both. Many live in isolated rural
areas.
Such residents don't have the strength, the money or the neighborhood
support to help themselves. And the county's farmworkers, many of whom
live here illegally, don't speak English and don't trust the government
enough to seek help. If they did, most wouldn't qualify for it.
DeSoto, once known for its manicured orange groves, Arcadia's historic
antique district and a popular annual rodeo, now looks like a war zone.
Yards are strewn with broken toys, stained clothes and sun-faded
insulation. In some areas, trailers still stand, one side intact, the
other splintered and exposed. Homes collapsed in on themselves, leaving
heaps of sagging brick and plaster. Piles of twisted aluminum siding and
shards of trees cling to nearly every roadside, and that's just the
storm debris. There's also secondary debris from cleanup: rotted
cupboards, ruined clothes and armchairs in yards and driveways and along
curbs.
Unlike neighboring Charlotte County, whose tax base is heavy with
high-value real estate, DeSoto collects relatively little tax from its
mostly agricultural land.
As the county struggles to meet the usual expenditures, there is little
left over to aid its residents. DeSoto is working to put itself back
together as federal officials rush to play catch-up and get financial
and housing assistance to its people.
Trailer parks and disaster recovery centers sprouted in Charlotte County
faster than in DeSoto. "There wasn't any decision as to who was
first -- DeSoto or Charlotte," said Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA
spokesman.
FEMA didn't set up in DeSoto because it was so badly
so badly damaged, Bahamonde said. Charlotte had structures with less
damage, so setting up there happened sooner.
Charley wiped out so much of the county's citrus groves that thousands
of farmworkers won't have jobs, let alone a place to live.
DeSoto's rural character and the depth of the destruction there have led
to unique hurricane-related problems. But the same characteristics that
slowed the relief efforts in DeSoto have also inspired innovative
recovery efforts. DeSoto residents are getting help from the DeSoto
Unmet Needs Committee, a rotating group of out-of-town volunteers who
have come to their aid with a rare, yet effective method of documenting
problems and doling out relief.
Frank Peterson, 93, has been sleeping on a bed made of two dining-room
chairs and a hunk of plywood since the storm. "What can I do?"
Peterson said. "All I can do is be patient."
Until federal help reaches them, residents and volunteers aren't just
waiting around -- they're trying to create a sense of normalcy. Members
of the Unmet Needs Committee knock on doors and fill out lengthy
questionnaires about the damage and residents' needs. The committee
works in tandem with another out-of- town group, the Mennonites, who are
repairing homes around the county.
On a recent day, resident Richard Jordan climbed a back-yard tree and
sawed off branches that dangled over his home. "I'm in terrible
pain," Jordan, a 50-year-old military veteran with back problems,
told a volunteer. "I shouldn't be out there working, but I have
to."
Jordan and his wife and two small children stayed in their Pine Level
trailer as Charley passed. As the trailer shook and broke apart, they
ran from closet to closet seeking shelter.
A large crack now runs down the center of their living room wall. The
home dips in places and doors don't close because it shifted from its
foundation. The FEMA money Jordan received isn't enough to cover the
labor for repairs. Volunteers Sena and Ken Vander Heide told him the
Mennonites can do the work for free. Jordan was relieved, but said his
goal is to get his family into a regular home. "I don't ever want
to see my kids and wife and me that scared again," Jordan said.
Charley damaged more than half of the county's housing stock, leaving
many people homeless. People like Benito Corona, a truck driver, won't
be working this citrus season. There aren't enough oranges to haul from
the groves.
For many of DeSoto's farmworkers, government aid will never come or
won't be enough to pay for their repairs. So they are taking matters
into their own hands -- literally.
Father Luis Pacheco of St. Paul Catholic Church on Oak Street created a
free roofing class so residents can learn to repair each others' roofs.
A professional roofer taught the group roofing basics in an eight-hour
class. The church will give participants supplies after they get
building permits.
"We're not giving them the fish," Pacheco said. "We're
teaching them how to fish and giving them the rod."
Isabel Garcia's family camped in a tent in their driveway for two
months, swatting mosquitoes, sweating and fumbling around in the dark
while they waited for help from the federal government.
Garcia, 32, her husband and their two sons lost their mobile home to
Charley on Aug. 13 and got their FEMA-issued travel trailer on Oct. 10.
Despite the wait, Garcia said the trailer has been a lot of help.
Now, there may be help on the way for more DeSoto families. FEMA has
almost finished work on the first phase of a 150-unit mobile home park
in DeSoto near Turner Road and U.S. 17. Families should be moving in by
Thanksgiving.
OTHER 2004 HURRICANES
HURRICANE/TROPICAL
STORM JEANNE - 2004 ... Pensacola Beach residents frustrated by wait
to get home after Ivan Sep 21, 2004. Hurricane Jeanne Updated: 5 pm EDT Location: 26.1 N, 69.0 W
Moving: WSW at 4 ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather/hurricane-jeanne.htm
HURRICANE
FRANCIS ... Posted on Mon, Aug. 30, 2004. HURRICANE
SEASON Planes gather data as Frances
nears. ... AP, Hurricane Frances Wednesday, September 1, 2004,
...
www.greatdreams.com/weather/hurricane-frances.htm
HURRICANE
IVAN ... Posted on Sun, Sep. 05, 2004. Hurricane
Ivan Forms in Central Atlantic. ... Troops patrol
streets in hurricane-ravaged Grenada Fri 10 September, 2004
17:37 ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather/hurricane_ivan.htm
THE
COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM ... ANCHORAGE...EAGLE RIVER...INDIAN...EKLUTNA...UPDATED
1115 AM AST TUE FEB 10 2004
...CONTINUE HIGH ... The Great Hurricane of 1938 - The
Long Island Express ... ...
www.greatdreams.com/superstorm.htm
LATEST
EARTHCHANGES NEWS - ... 9-10-2001 - HURRICANE/TYPHOON SEASON
2001. 9-9-2001 - EARTHQUAKE IN HOLLYWOOD,
CA. ... WARM MINERAL SPRINGS - SAVE OUR SPRING http://www.greatdreams.com/wms1.htm.
...
www.greatdreams.com/chgnews.htm
YEAR
2000 - HURRICANE SEASON
This is Google's cache of http://www.greatdreams.com/hurr2000.htm.
... YEAR 2000
- HURRICANE SEASON. Hurricane Season. WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE
COMES? ...
www.greatdreams.com/hurr2000.htm -
WEATHER
DEATHS - 2004 ... .. www.greatdreams.com/ny/hurricane-storm-new-york.htm.
... .. third ... www.greatdreams.com/weather.htm.
THE HURRICANE / TYPHOON SEASON OF 2001/2002 ... .. ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather-deaths.htm
1999
HURRICANE SEASON BEGINS
GREATDREAMS NEWS. 1999 HURRICANE SEASON. WHAT YOU
SHOULD DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING
COMES. ... 10-18-99 - HURRICANE JOSE. HURRICANE
FLOYD RESPONSE AND RECOVERY SITE. ...
www.greatdreams.com/hurr1.htm
FLORIDA
BLACK DREAMS ... NOTE: On 8-24-92 thru 8-26-92, Hurricane
Andrew came from the Atlantic ocean,a cross
the top of Florida, through the Golf of Mexico, and came ashore just
East ...
www.greatdreams.com/flblkdrm.htm -
HURRICANE
KENNA - EAST PACIFIC HURRICANE KENNA. 2002. CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE.
compiled by Dee Finney. Fri,
Oct. 25, 2002 11:17 AM ET Betsy Abrams, Senior Meteorologist. ...
www.greatdreams.com/kenna.htm -
Florida's
Hurricane History: September 1935 ... I couldn't believe my eyes. The number one
page was about the hurricane of 1935
in Florida. That made perfect sense. ...Hurricane. Year,
Category, $ Damages. ...
www.greatdreams.com/1935.html -
1999
HURRICANE SEASON - BRET
8-22-99. Hurricane Bret Blowing at Up to 140 MPH.
... Read story. Click for updated hurricane report from the National Weather Service: Evacuation
map; ...
www.greatdreams.com/bret99.htm
HURRICANE
ISABEL - SEPTEMBER 2003 HURRICANE ISABEL. ... By the time it
reached the frontier, it had shriveled
from a 100 mph hurricane into a 30 mph tropical depression. ...
www.greatdreams.com/isabel-2003.htm
THE
COMING GLOBAL SUPERSTORM ... YEAR 2000 - HURRICANE SEASON National Hurricane
Center: Tropical Prediction Center
- includes forecasts and storm names. ... www.greatdreams.com/hurr2000.htm.
...
www.greatdreams.com/superstorm.htm
SIGNS
IN THE SKY - ASTRONOMY ... EarthWatch ( many images, some 3-D );
Enviroment Canada - new site (
Canada ); Enviroment Canada Hurricane Center - Atlantic Region
NEW! ...
www.greatdreams.com/signs.htm -
HURRICANE
GERT - 1999
9-22-99. Hurricane Heads to Newfoundland. .c The
Associated Press. ST. ... ~~~~~. Hurricane Gert Takes Aim at Bermuda. By RAYMOND HAINEY. ...
www.greatdreams.com/gert99.htm
HURRICANE
LENNY - NOVEMBER, 1999
updated. 11-18-99. HURRICAN LENNY. November 13, 1999. Hurricane
Lenny Batters St.
Croix. ... ~~~~~. Hurricane Lenny Strengthens. .c The
Associated Press. ...
www.greatdreams.com/lenny.htm -
HURRICANE
IRENE - 10-14-99 ... ~~~~~. Hurricane Floods Streets of
Miami. By STEVEN WINE. ... ~~~~~. Hurricane Irene Takes Aim at Florida. By MILDRADE CHERFILS. ...
www.greatdreams.com/irene99.htm
HARVEY
- THE HURRICANE THAT TRIED - 1999 ... Now, said Todd Kimberlain, a meteorologist at
the National Hurricane Center,
''in the end it may not have much impact at all'' on the Carolinas. ...
www.greatdreams.com/harvey.htm
THE
HURRICANE / TYPHOON SEASON OF 2001/2002
THE HURRICANE / TYPHOON SEASON OF 2001/2002.
compiled by Dee Finney. A Prophecy? ... Strengthening Hurricane Erin bears down on Bermuda. September 8, 2001. ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather/hurricane_2001.htm
New
York Airport Disaster ... Montauk Highway (RT. 27A) is completely
covered by flood waters during
a Category 3 hurricane. ... The Great Hurricane of
New York of 1938. ...
www.greatdreams.com/ny/hurricane-storm-new-york.htm
EARTH
DISASTERS DREAMS AND VISIONS - 1989 - 2003 ... http://www.greatdreams.com/alignment.htm.
... NOTE: On 8-24-92 thru 8-26-92, Hurricane
Andrew came from the Atlantic ocean, a cross the top of Florida, through
the ...
www.greatdreams.com/disaster-dreams.htm
THE
BUTTERFLY EFFECT ... The Butterfly Effect : A butterfly flaps his
wings in MARIPOSA, California
and some time later a hurricane begins to form over the Atlantic.
...
www.greatdreams.com/buterfly.htm -
HURRICANES ...HURRICANE / TYPHOON SEASON OF 2001. HURRICANE
ISIDORE AND OTHER HISTORICAL HURRICANES.
9-20-03 - HURRICANE ISABEL - 2003 KILLS 35. Hurricane
Isadore - 2002. ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather/hurricanes.htm
BLACK
AND WHITE - THE PROBLEMS IN GUATEMALA ... the truth, and especially not ... http://www.greatdreams.com/wheels/maywhl.htm. HURRICANE ISIDORE. ... Very heavy rains continue to ...
www.greatdreams.com/guatemala.htm -
WHY
ARE WE SO AFRAID OF THE SUN? ... www.greatdreams.com/haarp-sun.htm.
... $3 billion to $6 billion range,6 which is comparable
to the damage caused by a major natural disaster such as Hurricane
Hugo. ...
www.greatdreams.com/solar/sun.htm
THE
WINTER OF 2002/2003 ... FLOODS 2002. HURRICAN ISADORE AND OTHER
HURRICANES IN HISTORY. HURRICANE/TYPHOON
SEASON OF 2001/2002. THE ARKANSAS ICE STORM - DECEMBER 2000. ...
www.greatdreams.com/winter-2003.htm -
WATER ... severe weather alerts. These include tornado,
hurricane, flash flood,
thunderstorm, and winter storm warnings. National alerts, advisories ...
www.greatdreams.com/winter2.htm -
POLAR
AXIS SPIN - The Current Location Of The Spin Axis ... http://www.greatdreams.com/motion.htm
POLAR MOTION - A PROPHECY - THE SCIENCE. ... It
is the still eye like the eye of a hurricane or tornado, around
which the ...
www.greatdreams.com/spinaxis.htm -
EXTREME
WEATHER - SUMMER 2000 - A New Prophecy by Edgar Cayce - A ... ... Global Warming - Early Warning Signs.
National Hurricane Center. Radar and Sattelite
Images. ... Space Weather - Current. Tropical Weather Maps for Hurricane
Season. ...
www.greatdreams.com/weather.htm -
PORTENTS
IN THE SKY ... Consumer fears and purchases varied by
region: * At Central Ace Hardware in Miami
Beach, long a prime source for hurricane supplies, calls came
early. ...
www.greatdreams.com/portents.htm -
MISSING
AND LOST SHIPS OF THE WORLD ... Explore the museum’s four ships, the
Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the
Santa Margarita, both of which sank in a hurricane in 1622; The
St. ...
www.greatdreams.com/ships.htm
DREAMS
AND VISIONS OF EARTHCHANGES ... NOTE: On 8-24-92 thru 8-26-92, Hurricane
Andrew came from the Atlantic ocean,a cross
the top of Florida ... http://www.greatdreams.com/whenwhipporwillscall.mid".
...
www.greatdreams.com/erthdrms.htm
HAARP
VS THE SUN ... There is ample evidence of steered storms
hitting special targets - eg the case
a few years ago of a hurricane that hit southern Florida and
appeared to ...
www.greatdreams.com/haarp-sun.htm
FUTURE
PLANETARY ALIGNMENT ... The oceans will flood the coastlines, and hurricane
winds will flatten ground objects. ... ..
with two seeds within. http://www.greatdreams.com/treedrms.htm.
...
www.greatdreams.com/alignment.htm
DREAMS
AND VISIONS OF THE CAROLINAS ... NOTE: We had the worst hurricane
season ever. See Hurricanes 1999. *****.
Subj: Tidal Wave Dream. Date: 08/02/1999. To Dee;. ...
www.greatdreams.com/carolina.htm -
WHY
ARE WE SO AFRAID OF THE SUN? ... put total economic costs in the $3 billion to
$6 billion range,6 which is comparable
to the damage caused by a major natural disaster such as Hurricane
Hugo. ...
www.greatdreams.com/sun.htm -
WATER,
WATER, EVERYWHERE - WINTER OF 2001-2002
WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE. WINTER OF 2001-2002. TED
DANSON'S AMERICAN OCEANS. by
Dee Finney. 11:11:01 - VISION - I saw myself stepping into deep, clear
water. ...
www.greatdreams.com/winter_2001.htm
SURVIVAL
AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY LINKS ... Natural Disaster, Brief - People that live in
tornado, hurricane, flood, wildfire,
earthquake or heavy snowfall areas and want to be prepared for the
inevitable ...
www.greatdreams.com/survival.htm
UNARMED ... they were facing severe manpower shortages in
guarding prisoners, fighting wildfires,
preparing for hurricane season and ... www.greatdreams.com/mexican-death.htm.
...
www.greatdreams.com/political/unarmed.htm
