Hurricane Charley upgraded to Category 4!!

[Littledragon]

(Very important information that deserves a thread on its own.)

Mike Anderson walks through Clewiston in central Florida near Belle Glade on Friday as Charley approaches.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Charley strengthened and picked up speed Friday as it neared the southwest coast of Florida -- growing into a powerful Category 4 storm.

The National Weather Service said that Hurricane Charley's winds had increased to 145 mph (233 kph), with higher gusts

At 1 p.m. ET, the storm was centered 70 miles (112 kilometers) south-southwest of Fort Myers, moving to the north-northwest at 20 mph (32 mph) according to the National Hurricane Center.

The National Hurricane Center predicted the center of the storm would make landfall later Friday afternoon near Charlotte Harbor, about 26 miles (41 kilometers) northwest of Fort Myers.

Hurricanes are classified as categories 1-5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. A Category 4 storm has winds of between 131-155 mph (201-249 kph).

Earlier, Florida emergency officials warned southwest Florida residents on Friday that they were running out of time to flee to higher ground ahead of the storm.

"If you are in an area that has been ordered to evacuate on southwest Florida coast -- Pinellas and Hillsborough counties -- you have minutes -- to less than the next hour or so -- to move to high ground," said Florida's emergency management director, Craig Fugate, at a news conference Friday. "You have to move now. You cannot delay. Your options are running out."

Pinellas County includes St. Petersburg and Clearwater; Hillsborough County includes Tampa.

National Hurricane Center forecaster Ed Rappaport told CNN that conditions would begin to deteriorate in the next few hours, ahead of the storm making landfall by Friday evening.

Emergency officials issued evacuation warnings from the Florida Keys up through southwest Florida into the heavily populated Tampa Bay area, which hasn't taken a direct hit from a hurricane in more than 80 years.

About 1.9 million people have been urged to evacuate, Florida state emergency management center spokeswoman Kristy Campbell told The Associated Press.

Governor urges haste
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush Friday said that residents who have not heeded the warnings need to act quickly.

He said that residents in low-lying areas of the Tampa Bay should go to shelters or stay with family or friends in the area.

"When gale force winds start hitting the area, which will happen soon....law enforcement officials ... will be seeking refuge as well," Bush said. "This is not a time to be getting on the interstate."

The Office of Emergency Management said 49 shelters were open statewide.

The airports in Tampa, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Key West were closed. Orlando's last flight departure was 5 p.m. Friday; service was expected to resume at 10 a.m. Saturday. Trains scheduled to leave New York for Miami were canceled.

Almost all of the 6,500 military members and residents stationed at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base have been evacuated. Aircraft have been moved to bases in Kansas, Nevada and Maine, a base spokesman said.

"This is a great threat to the Tampa Bay area," Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said Friday morning. "This is serious for us because of storm surges that could reach 14 feet. We are expecting a significant amount of damage from this storm," and she added, "We're ready."

Forecasters said the storm could get even stronger before it reaches the Florida coast.

Thursday night and early Friday, Charley roared through Cuba, ripping roofs, downing power lines and pulling up huge palm trees. Havana had high winds and heavy rain, but there were no reports of casualties. A hurricane warning for the island was lifted Friday morning.

Throughout the day Thursday, Gulf Coast residents were boarding up windows and stocking up on supplies.

Officials in Pinellas County declared a state of emergency Thursday and urged 400,000 people in the most vulnerable areas to leave by 6 p.m.

Inland in neighboring Hillsborough County, officials also declared a state of emergency and told residents in three evacuation zones to leave by 6 a.m. Friday. Residents living in mobile homes and low-lying areas were also ordered to evacuate in Sarasota County, on the south side of the bay.

In southwest Florida, barrier islands and mobile homes were evacuated in Charlotte County, while Collier County ordered residents of coastal areas to leave. The Florida Department of Transportation lifted tolls eastbound on I-75, known as Alligator Alley, for residents trying to cross to the Miami area.

 

[Littledragon]

 

[Amos Stevens]

Thanks Suziwong & LD!

I have to email & check on someone in South Carolina now!

We got hit with a severe dust storm last night that took off a few shingles

But not as bad as the people in Florida ofcourse!

 

[bigdw132002]

yes it came right through here yesturday but I am alright!!!!!!!

 

[suziwong]

oh !! GOD !!! it is too bad !!!! I hope everybody is fine. !!!

I pray !!

su

 

[Serena]

Hurricane Kills at Least 15 in Florida
August 14, 2004
By MARK LONG, Associated Press Writer

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Hurricane Charley's devastating tear across Florida flattened oceanfront homes, killed at least 15 people and left thousands more homeless before the weakened storm pushed north and struck the Carolinas on Saturday.

It was the strongest storm to strike Florida in a dozen years, knocking out electrical service to an estimated 2 million homes and businesses as it crossed from the southwest coast at Punta Gorda to the Atlantic 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.

Charley's generally northward course took it across open ocean, missing the westward curving shore of Georgia, before it made landfall for a second time on South Carolina's Grand Strand resort region and moved into North Carolina.

By the time it made landfall for a second time on South Carolina's Grand Strand resort region, the area was nearly empty after a mandatory evacuation of some of the area's 180,000 tourists and residents.

The storm still packed wind of 75 mph, considerably weaker than its sustained speed of 145 mph Friday but still enough to classify it as a hurricane.

Ten deaths had been confirmed in Charlotte County, said Wayne Sallade, the county's director of emergency management, but no exact death toll was available.

"Not hundreds. I would hope that it would be limited to dozens, if that," Sallade said. Deputies were standing guard over bodies because they were in areas not immediately accessible by ambulances.

There were five confirmed storm-related deaths elsewhere in the state. Earlier, Charley killed three people in Cuba and one in Jamaica. Tornados spun off by Tropical Storm Bonnie killed three people in North Carolina earlier in the week.

President Bush said he would visit Florida on Sunday to see the damage. He already had declared storm-struck counties a major disaster area.

His brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, completed a helicopter tour of the region, saying, "our worst fears have come true."

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.

Dan Strong, 51, returned to his home in Biehls Mobile Home Park in Punta Gorda and found it had been destroyed.

"Everything is gone," Strong said as he dug through the rubble trying to salvage photographs, clothes and other belongings.

The storm arrived in North Carolina with maximum sustained wind of 75 mph, and gusts to more than 80, down considerably from the 145 mph wind that ravaged Florida's west coast on Friday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Humble.

A hurricane warning was in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to the Virginia-North Carolina state line. A tropical storm warning extended north to Sandy Hook, N.J., and a tropical storm watch was in effect to the Merrimack River in Massachusetts.

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.

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."

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.

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.

With a his shotgun sitting on a chair beside him, Terry Frye sits in front of his home which was devastated by Hurricane Charey in Port Charlotte, Florida early August 14, 2004.

A demolished gas station along highway 41 in Port Charlotte, Florida after Hurricane Charley hit the west coast of Florida, August 13, 2004.

Sandy Kavouras walks through the flooded streets of her neighborhood in Fort Myers, Fla., after Hurricane Charley made its way through Florida.

A parked car is surrounded by the ruins of a house north of Port Charlotte, Fla., early Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004, after Hurricane Charley moved through the area Friday.

 

[kickingbird]

bigdw in lakeland - glad to hear you're ok! I know the area a little bit - have family in the area - Orlando, Kissimmee (I never could spell that), Polk County, Loughman.
Quite a bad hurricane, esp. considering how it turned direction and headed inland. There are no basements in Florida, at least not many - except in DisneyWorld of course, where there's an entire underground complex.

 

[Serena]

Bigdw--Very glad to hear you're safe! Hope you didn't have much damage.

HURRICANE CHARLEY
At 5 a.m. ET Sunday

Position of center: Near the town of Farmingville, New York
Latitude: 40.8 north
Longitude: 73.0 west
Moving: Northeast at nearly 30 mph (48.2 kph)
Top sustained winds: Near 40 mph (64.3 kph)

Source: National Hurricane Center

 

[KATHYPURDOM]

I just talked with my brother and sister-in-law in Tampa Bay and he said that their house now has no roof on it. They are ok and staying with friends.
It is so sad that so many people lost their lives.

 

[bigdw132002]

thanks everybody I just pray for the familys that didnt get as lucky as me

 

[Littledragon]

PUNTA GORDA, Florida (CNN) -- The number of people killed in Florida by Hurricane Charley has risen to 16, Florida Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said Sunday.

Jennings said five people had died in Polk County; four in Charlotte County; two in Orange and Volusia counties; and single deaths were recorded in DeSoto, Lee and Sarasota counties.

President Bush arrived Sunday in southwest Florida to inspect the devastation with his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for a flyover tour.

"The job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas, and that's exactly what's happening now," the president said.

Charley made landfall Friday in western Florida, pounding Punta Gorda, a town about 25 miles 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 state's $9 billion citrus industry was "just completely devastated" by the storm, according to a citrus growers' group.

About 280,000 of 800,000 acres (35 percent) dedicated for growing grapefruit and oranges were in the storm's path, said Florida Citrus Mutual spokeswoman Casey Pace.

One grower estimated that 70 percent of his crop was destroyed, she said.

More than a million Floridians were still without electricity Sunday, state officials said. Power had been restored to about 900,000 people, but about 1.1 million remained without it, officials said.

The officials said it could take as long as two weeks to restore power in areas worst hit by the storm.

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, and by 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Charley had dissipated to a tropical depression near New England. Remnants of the storm, with winds of 35 mph (56 kph) are moving northeast.

Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth named storms of the Atlantic hurricane season were out at sea Sunday. Tropical Storm Danielle formed Friday and developed into a hurricane Saturday, but is far from land.

At 11 a.m. ET Sunday, Tropical Storm Earl had sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) Sunday and was centered about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Grenada. It prompted warnings on islands in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

Deaths and injuries
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.

Guy Tunnel, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 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 house to house, 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 after the storm passed Friday evening.

Bush: Rebuilding will take time
"It's going to take a while to rebuild [things]," President Bush added, praising Floridians for helping each other. "In these catastrophes, the spirit of America really shines -- and that spirit is neighbor helping neighbor. So that's the lesson here."

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.

 

[Littledragon]

Bigdw--Very glad to hear you're safe! Hope you didn't have much damage.

HURRICANE CHARLEY
At 5 a.m. ET Sunday

Position of center: Near the town of Farmingville, New York
Latitude: 40.8 north
Longitude: 73.0 west
Moving: Northeast at nearly 30 mph (48.2 kph)
Top sustained winds: Near 40 mph (64.3 kph)

Source: National Hurricane Center

I believe 2mrw Tropical Storm Charley is going to hit my area..

 

[Littledragon]

This pic is so sad..

Beverley Cahill, 7, looks around her bedroom in Punta Gorda, Florida.

 

[yudansha]

Insured losses from Charley estimated as high as $10 billion to US$14 billion

CHICAGO (AP) - Insured losses from hurricane Charley could total as much as $10 billion to $14 billion US, according to industry estimates released Monday as insurers fielded thousands of claims from hard-hit Florida residents.

Home, auto and commercial insurers sent teams to assess the damage and were taking claims at temporary centres set up at venues ranging from Wal-Marts to the Daytona International Speedway.

Both State Farm Insurance and Allstate Insurance, America's two biggest insurers, are facing steep losses from Charley, which killed at least 17 people and left 25 counties declared federal disaster areas. But the blow will be eased somewhat by the Hurricane Catastrophe Fund which Florida established in the wake of devastating hurricane Andrew in 1992.

State Farm said its losses would be limited to no more than $200 million because of the Florida fund and reinsurance contracts. Reinsurers provide backup for primary insurance companies, enabling the system to spread risk so it can cover losses from major disasters.

Allstate said it would pay the first $289 million of catastrophic losses in Florida, but the company had not actually estimated losses yet. The country's biggest publicly traded insurer said it does not expect the storm to have a material impact on its operating results or financial condition.

Neither Illinois-based insurer would project the total number of claims expected to be filed.

"There are lots of areas that people haven't been able to get into yet, so we're still trying to figure it out," said spokesman Kip Diggs at State Farm headquarters in Bloomington, Ill. "Our greatest concern is for the safety of the folks down there."

Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurer, estimated the total value of damage caused by Charley at about $20 billion and put total losses covered by insurance at between $7 billion and $14 billion. Munich Re estimated its own exposure to be in "the low three-digit-million dollar range," spokesman Florian Woest said.

Another estimate was slightly lower. AIR Worldwide Corp., a Boston-based risk modelling company that helps corporations assess catastrophe risk, pegged insured losses at $6 billion to $10 billion.

Both figures are preliminary, with reports of storm damage still being assessed. Another advisory company that gives disaster and catastrophic estimates, Insurance Services Office Inc. of Jersey City, N.J., said at least another week is needed to compile a reliable estimate.


State Farm, Florida's largest home insurer, has about 23 per cent of the residential market in hardest-hit Charlotte County, nearly three times the share of Allstate. The company had received 19,454 homeowners' claims and 1,552 auto claims as of 3 p.m. Sunday, Diggs said.

Adjusters from both those companies and others were combing the area Monday. State Farm said it had brought in several hundred catastrophe claims representatives and set up six temporary claims processing centres in the affected area -two at Wal-Marts, others at Target and Publix stores and one at the Daytona speedway.

Both insurers have special toll-free numbers for those filing claims: State Farm's is 1-800-SF-CLAIM while Allstate's is 1-800-54-STORM.

Allstate shares rose 40 cents to $46.43 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

DAVE CARPENTER; © The Canadian Press, 2004

 

[Littledragon]

PUNTA GORDA, Florida (CNN) -- Floridians recovering from the wrath of Hurricane Charley coped with sporadic thunderstorms and sizzling heat Monday as the massive cleanup continued and the search for possible victims drew to a close in hard-hit Punta Gorda.

State officials said most of the 17 people whose deaths were blamed on the storm died in traffic accidents or from heart attacks afterward. Some were electrocuted when they drove over live power lines that had been blown down.

The latest estimate for the amount of damage is at least $11 billion, a number expected to rise as the cost is assessed.

The storm, which struck the southwest coast Friday and churned diagonally northeast across the state, was the strongest hurricane to strike the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida in 1992.

By late Monday afternoon, 796,000 homes and businesses throughout the state were still without power, Gov. Jeb Bush told reporters at a news conference.

Electricity was expected to come back on by Thursday or Friday for most customers, although state emergency officials were giving no estimate for the communities of Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Arcadia.

People in those three cities were also told to continue boiling water before drinking it.

With temperatures in the 90s and a heat index of 100 or more, the absence of electricity and water and mounds of debris littering streets were causing rising tensions, said Sheriff William Cameron of Charlotte County. "It's starting to get difficult."

The Florida Department of Health said streetlights and traffic lights were still out in many areas. Trees, power lines and debris were strewn about many streets.

People who drive in damaged areas are taking a tremendous risk, said State Health Secretary John Agwunobi, warning that traffic fatalities and injuries "will be an ongoing problem."

Agwunobi also said those injured by the storms should go to first-aid stations -- even if they have only cuts or bruises, which could be infected.

The "medical system is hugely stressed," said Florida Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.

About 2,000 people were still being housed in 21 emergency shelters in 11 counties, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency had begun the process of bringing in permanent housing for them, Bush said.

In Punta Gorda, which took a direct hit from the Category 4 storm, searchers found no one trapped in debris, although they did find some elderly residents still hiding in their damaged homes, said Wayne Sallade, director of the Charlotte County Office of Emergency Management.

More than 1,000 law enforcement officers, emergency personnel and search-and-rescue teams from across Florida came to Punta Gorda to help with the effort.

Charlotte County officials had no idea how many people lost their homes in the storm. Sallade said they won't know that figure until people sign up for emergency housing assistance.

Some 2,000 insurance adjusters were in the region Sunday afternoon and another 2,000 were expected soon, Jennings said.

Many people have winter homes in southwest Florida, and Sallade urged them not to come to the area to check on their properties because there was no place for them to stay.

"I know the desire to see your loss, but it's not going anywhere," he said.

Taxing conditions
Living conditions were taxing survivors' mental health.

Tami Wilson, who spoke to The Associated Press, cried to release some of the stress looking for food had created.

Wilson, 45, of Port Charlotte, picked up ice and water from a National Guard "comfort station" Monday as she bemoaned not having hot food or a shower since Friday.

"The hard part is not being able to bathe and not having food and water unless I go out and look for it," Wilson told the AP. "Last night, we almost gave up because it got so hot."

Dr. Gerry Ross of Charlotte Community Mental Health Services said others experience the same frustrations. "Many people out there can't get their basic needs met because they're so traumatized by what happened to them," he said.

The county is trying to set up crisis centers to help people cope.

Schools in Charlotte and Hardee counties are closed for two weeks, as officials try to figure out where to put students whose schools were damaged by Charley.

Some 5,000 aid workers, volunteers and National Guard troops have fanned out across the Punta Gorda area, providing food, water and ice for displaced residents.

A curfew was still in effect in the county from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. Officials said only isolated incidents of looting have occurred.

Statewide, 114 food service operations and eight comfort stations have been set up, and FEMA has four disaster recovery centers open, Bush said.

He said his brother President Bush waived a regulation requiring Florida to match the direct federal assistance it receives for debris removal and emergency services, which will increase the federal government's contribution from 75 percent to 100 percent.

FEMA designated 25 counties eligible for federal disaster assistance. The move allows a quicker rush of funds and resources to the worst hit areas.

Economic impact
State officials also have been trying to assess the economic impact of Charley, particularly the effect the storm might have on the state's $9 billion citrus industry.

The hurricane's march across the state took it through prime citrus-growing territory, where about a third of Florida's crop is grown.

Trees were uprooted and oranges and grapefruit thrown to the ground, causing what Bush termed a "dramatic loss."

Terry McElroy, a spokesman for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, said a firm estimate of damage won't be available until Tuesday at the earliest, though "I think we can safely say it's in the millions."

The storm destroyed numerous business and most likely left hundreds of thousands of Floridians jobless, said Susan Pareigis, director of the Agency of Workplace Innovation.

Special centers were opened Monday for people to file unemployment claims, she said.