Free Republic

In the midst of wild accusations about the California firestorms, news comes out bearing on Katrina, the largest natural disaster in U.S. history, which provided Democrat politicians and the mainstream press (including the NY Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN) with an opportunity to spread distortions and outright lies in order to try to embarrass and destroy a sitting President. Lies were published about the amount of aid that was provided, the timing of the aid and the number of deaths; and also that bias supposedly motivated the distribution of aid.

Two years after Hurricane Charley, some storm victims still haven't escaped a FEMA trailer city. A cloud of white dust rises from the sand road of FEMA's trailer city as a U-Haul van pulls out with a screech of wheels. Down the street, a frustrated mother of five sits in front of a computer in her trailer searching for a housing grant and a way out. In another trailer, a 61-year-old waitress packs up her belongings to move to South Carolina this weekend. As the 2006 hurricane season gets under way, many residents here are still trying to figure out...

As one who suffered through the devastation of Hurricane Charley, I know that, as bad as our situation was, the people on the Gulf Coast have suffered much more due to the flooding that followed Katrina. Every effort ought to be made to alieve their suffering and stabilize their situation as quickly as possible. The American Red Cross and the National Guard saved us in Florida by bringing us ice, bottled water and hot meals every day. Even so, it is over a year later, and very little rebuilding has been done in the areas of Florida that were hardest...

Special Reports Storms of the Century: 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane 1919 Keys/Corpus Christi Hurricane 1926 Miami Hurricane 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane 1953 Flint/Worcester Tornadoes 1954 Hurricane Hazel 1955 Hurricane Diane Floods 1957 Hurricane Audrey 1960 Hurricane Donna 1962 Pacific Northwest Big Blow1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak1972 Rapid City Flash Flood 1976 Big Thompson Canyon Flash Flood 1977 Johnstown Flash Flood 1978 New England Blizzard 1985 OH/PA Tornado Outbreak 1989 Hurricane Hugo 1991 Halloween "Perfect" Storm 1996 Blizzard 1999 Hurricane Floyd Floods The 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane was the country's deadliest since the Galveston hurricane of 1900....

LAKE WALES -- On his way to the first presidential debate in Miami, President Bush will stop in storm-battered Lake Wales today. A White House spokesman said the president will arrive at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this afternoon and travel by helicopter to Lake Wales. His exact schedule was not released, but reporters and photographers accompanying him were told to be at the base at 1 p.m. for the short flight to Polk County. The St. Petersburg Times said Bush will take a walking tour of orange groves. Polk County's citrus industry has been devastated by the series...

...But none of that impressed me the way Jeb Bush did. Not for standing tall and radiating calm in crisis - you expect a governor to do that - but for a gesture that most Floridians might gloss over or even resent. As he has done with this season's other hurricanes, whenever he had a press briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Bush explained himself not only in English but in Spanish. Then, according to his spokesman, Jacob DiPietre, Bush did something many of us never saw. He repeated his message in interviews with Spanish language TV...

Warnings for the next hurricane to hit the United States have already been issued -- for Washington, D.C. Taxpayers should keep an eye on the aftermath. After most disasters, Congress acts like a whirlwind to rush to the aid of victims, as lawmakers should. A few members of Congress are also quick to take advantage of the situation to tack money for their pet projects onto such bills. "Congress simply has no shame," warned Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Knowing that this is most likely the last opportunity to bring home the bacon before the election, members...

Back to DC for business, the President met with reporters and then members of Congress in the newly-remodeled Cabinet Room at the White House. He and Governor Bush of Florida assisted hurricane victims. Enjoy your Dose of W @ Sanity Island!

High storm cycle is here to stay BY MARTIN MERZER mmerzer@herald.com Charley, Frances and Ivan. Three major hurricanes. Two assaults on Florida already and possibly a third by next week. Get used to it. This is the new normal. Scientists say we are in a period of enhanced hurricane activity that could last for decades, ending a 24-year period of below-average activity. They also say the law of averages has caught up with Florida, with a change in atmospheric steering currents turning the state into a hurricane magnet. ''People are suddenly alert, suddenly paying attention,'' said Stanley Goldenberg, a meteorologist...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Even as tree limbs were cleared away and power gradually returned across eastern South Carolina after Tropical Storm Gaston, officials waited and watched Monday for Hurricane Frances. While Gaston caused some problems, "it's not the kind of catastrophic damage we see in a major hurricane," Gov. Mark Sanford said. He urged coastal residents to monitor Frances, which has 125 mph winds but is still days away from the Southeast coast. An evacuation would be tremendously difficult, warned Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "The whole state would be naked," he said. "This will be a challenge...

Power Companies Warning from Florida It's been a week here in Florida since Hurricane Charley. My workplace got electric power back Wednesday by a crew from Georgia Power. My new job at a small business employer is getting tax relief, so I got paid for the days I couldn't work. No lost wages is pretty cool. My home power was restored a day later by a power company from somewhere while I was at work. Power companies from more than eight states have poured into hurricane ravaged Florida according to a local newspaper. I have seen power workers from Georgia,...

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- It isn't among the first questions you ask after a disaster bulldozes your life; it comes after, ''Are my loved ones safe?'' ''How bad is the damage?'' and ''Is help on the way?'' But it might be the most difficult to answer: Why? Why, one asks, did this catastrophe happen to me? Hurricane Charley didn't have to stomp on Charlotte County like a celestial boot, prying off roofs, uprooting trees, smashing windows and gouging out homes as if with a cosmic trowel -- but it did. What, one asks, did I do to deserve having my...

PUNTA RASSA, Florida (CNN) -- Florida authorities reopened Sanibel Island early Wednesday, for the first time since August 12, when it was evacuated in advance of Hurricane Charley. Inspectors on the 12-mile barrier island declared 46 properties "seriously damaged" and "unsafe" and another 78 "damaged" with "questionable" safety. But Mayor Marty Harrity said he didn't think any property on the island was "completely destroyed." "There's some pretty heavy damage on the beach front," Harrity said, "but over the years we've had some pretty stringent building codes, and I think we really weathered this thing." "A little over a hundred hours...

Maybe national emergencies shouldn't be political events, but they are. So after Hurricane Charley ripped through Florida this past weekend, President Bush understood the political imperative: Get down there. With thousands left homeless and a million people without electricity, the president needed to walk amid the wreckage and stand with the people most affected. For those questioning his political motives in responding so quickly, Mr. Bush said simply: "If I didn't come, they would've said we should have been here more rapidly." If 90% of success in life is just showing up, in politics often it's the whole ball of...

Hurricane Victims File for Unemployment 3 minutes ago By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Still smarting over the loss of their homes, Hurricane 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, 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."...

Double-linked: click above or below: Florida after Hurricane Charley This article has links to fairly high-resolution JPEGs of Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor. However, these are not the highest-resolution that IKONOS is capable of delivering.

Disaster Relief Update August 16, 2004 Disaster Relief Update Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God? (2 Cor. 1:3-4, NIV). Hurricane Seventy-one disaster relief units/teams have been activated from 11 state Baptist conventions (Fla., Ga., N.C., S.C., Tenn., Ala., Miss., La., VBMB, SBCV, Tex.) and NAMB as of 2 p.m. Monday, August 16, with more to come as additional sites...

PUNTA GORDA - After the hurricane ended, the looting began.Among the first targets, officials said, was the Charlotte Harbor Fire Department. Firefighters arrived early Saturday to find that their computers had been swiped in the night. Charlotte County Sheriff's Office spokesman Robert Carpenter said his office is getting regular reports of looting from residents of the area's many storm-wrecked neighborhoods. Carpenter said his officers are responding when able, but that they are saddled with more pressing demands, such as caring for survivors. "No question about it," he said. "We are behind on these types of calls." The fear of...

Notice the lead story on this web site..."Charley hits South Carolina..."Then, a death toll update and a list of the damage caused by Charley.After a few video links, we see "Latest Headlines"....the third story down is about John Kerry's campaign providing "relief". The story about President Bush's visit to Florida?? Not seen.But there is no bias in the South Florida media, right???

Here's a ground zero report from the Hurricane . . . from my observations as one who lives in the area that was hit. Charley made a direct hit on Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte Florida. These two cities sit at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, and are separated by bridges that cross the Peace river which flows into the Gulf. Neither city had been hit or threatened by a Hurricane in more than 75 years. Hurricane Charley which was expected to hit Tampa, 120 miles north, unexpectantly veered into Charlotte Harbor, and followed the Peace River inland. When Charley...

It is with a heavy heart that I write this. I have no idea what is wrong with people today in this society and this country. My example I am going to use is a really really sad one. I was in Plant City as of Thursday night which for those who do not know is just north east of Tampa/St.Pete. I went down there to help a friend of mine who owns a house who happens to be a single mother of a 2 yr old girl. She needed help boarding up her house and sandbags etc. All finished...

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'...

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - The death toll from Hurricane Charley rose early Saturday, when a county official said there had a been "a number of fatalities" at a mobile home park and deputies were standing guard over stacks of bodies because the area was inaccessible to ambulances. Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's director of emergency management, said early Saturday that there were "a number of fatalities" at the mobile home park, and that there were confirmed deaths in at least three other areas in the county. The eye of the worst hurricane to hit Florida in a dozen years passed directly...

The National Hurricane Center has now upgraded Hurricane Charley to a CATEGORY 3 storm with SUSTAINED winds of 125 MPH. The storm is moving NNE at 20 MPH, and the center of the storm should reach Charlotte Harbor (about 2 hrs. SOUTH of Tampa) late this afternoon. This is good news for Tampa, as the worst of the storm will be to the south of Tampa Bay. The CAT 3 storm will come ashore in the Naples and Ft. Myers areas late this afternoon.

HURRICANE CHARLEY GOES BLACKWATCH PLAD

KDAB 131943Z 132018 15008KT P6SM SCT030 BKN080 OVC250 TEMPO 2022 16025G40KT 2SM +TSRA BKN020CB FM2200 14020G30KT P6SM SCT040 BKN060 OVC100 TEMPO 2224 16030G50KT 2SM +TSRA FEW015 BKN030CB FM0000 13040G60KT 3SM RA BKN020 OVC030 TEMPO 0003 13045G65KT 1SM +RA OVC010 FM0300 14050G70KT 2SM +RA BKN010 OVC020 TEMPO 0306 14055G75KT 1/2SM +RA OVC006 FM0600 17055G75KT 2SM +RA BKN010 OVC020TEMPO 0609 17060G80KT 2SM SHRA BKN020 FM0900 20045G60KT 3SM RA BKN020 OVC030 TEMPO 0912 20050G65KT 2SM +RA BKN015 OVC030 FM1200 23035G50KT P6SM SCT020 BKN040 OVC100 TEMPO 1215 23040G55KT 2SM +RA BKN015 OVC030

Hurricane Charley Whips Fla.; Three Dead 20 minutes ago , Associated Press Writers PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - The worst hurricane to hit Florida since Andrew a dozen years ago left at least three people dead, caused widespread damage to oceanfront homes and trailer parks and knocked out power to a million customers. Hurricane Charley's eye passed directly over Punta Gorda, which took a heavy toll Friday. The town of 15,000 on Charlotte Harbor was left without power, and at least 40 people were injured. Photo AP Photo Canadian Press Photo Canadian Press Slideshow Slideshow: Hurricane Charley Related Links • Tampa...

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Once Hurricane Charley is gone from Florida, it's a safe bet President Bush (news - web sites) will sweep in. Natural calamities present political opportunity, and many crucial electoral votes are in the path of Charley's howling winds. Bush swiftly issued a disaster declaration to expedite federal aid as Charley tore into the Florida Gulf Coast on Friday. He was acting on a request that had come from his brother Jeb, the governor, even before the ferocious storm made landfall. The president was expected to visit the area in the aftermath. Officials...

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Hurricane Charley (search) killed at least 15 people in Florida and flattened oceanfront homes, making thousands homeless before it roared north and struck the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County's director of emergency management, said there were 10 confirmed deaths in the county, but an exact total was not available. "Not hundreds. I would hope that it would be limited to dozens, if that," Sallade said. Five people were killed elsewhere in the state. Charlotte County (search) deputies were standing guard over bodies because the area was inaccessible to ambulances. The strongest...

Another great example of the importance of the 2nd am Notice the shotgun on the green deck chair...

What happens if the two storms collide? I am not sure there is a chance of that but what would happen if they did?

For weather bug users, to watch the winds, pressure, temp etc, the Ft. myers zip code is 33901. Put that in the "options" button and watch the wind. Peak wind so far is 43 MPH.

An interesting conversation was on Fox News this morning. Stuart Varney (sp) mentioned that for the two months after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida the National GDP actually dropped. Then, when recovery efforts really kicked in, the national economy benefited. Many feel this drop was one of the reasons Bush I lost the election. The monetary costs of Charley will probably get close to, or exceed, the 27 billion dollar price tag of Andrew. This may cause the national economy to stall before the rebuilding efforts start in earnest and trickle into the economy. Might not be soon enough.

FORT MEADE -- Polk County's 44 years without a major hurricane ended emphatically Friday when Charley roared in from the south. Roofs disappeared, lights blinked off and trees crashed to the ground as the storm's eye moved in a northeasterly direction across the county. Charley was a raging mix of howling wind and blowing rain. Even for veterans of Hurricane Donna in 1960, Charley was a storm to remember. Fort Meade was the first community in Polk to feel Charley's power. The storm's eye crossed the county line about 6:45 p.m. Bert and Ginger Blackwelder of Fort Meade spoke by...

000 WTNT33 KNHC 131655 TCPAT3 BULLETIN HURRICANE CHARLEY INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 17A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 1 PM EDT FRI AUG 13 2004 ...CHARLEY STRENGTHENS AS IT HEADS TOWARD FLORIDA WEST COAST... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM THE DRY TORTUGAS TO THE SEVEN MILE BRIDGE...AND FOR THE FLORIDA WEST COAST FROM EAST CAPE SABLE NORTHWARD TO THE STEINHATCHEE RIVER. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE FLORIDA AND GEORGIA...

ALL FLORIDIANS, PLEASE COMMENT ON CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY THOSE ON SOUTHERN WEST COAST I'm inland from Tampa Bay about 25 miles. Dear God, I'm scared. I lost it all in Andrew in '92 and left South Florida after a year and a half to come to this area. Please keep me and all those going through this storm in your prayers. I'm alone here, and this storm's probably going to be very damaging and destructive. I'm picking up branches, objects lying about. I've filled the tub with water, I'll bringing in my dog and my birds, I haven't taped the windows...

TAMPA, Fla. - With a "scary, scary" Hurricane Charley zeroing in on Florida's west coast Friday, state officials urged almost 2 million tourists and residents to evacuate and avoid the path of a storm that could submerge parts of this city's downtown and other neighboring areas. Charley's expected 120 mph top sustained winds and massive storm surge could devastate coastal and low-lying areas in Tampa and St. Petersburg. Everything from waterfront condominium towers to vulnerable mobile homes were in danger on the Gulf Coast. Charley's center was expected to pass west of the Florida Keys early Friday before hitting the...

The National Weather Service has just issued a Tornado Watch for most of south Florida until at least 8:00 Friday morning. Hurricane City is streaming live coverage at http://hurricanecity.com/live.ram -- their coverage includes reports from The Weather Channel, from observers on the ground, plus streamed reports from local Miami television stations.

BULLETIN HURRICANE CHARLEY INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 9A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 2 PM EDT WED AUG 11 2004 ...CHARLEY BECOMES A HURRICANE...RAIN BANDS SPREADING OVER JAMAICA... A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FLORIDA KEYS FROM DRY TORTUGAS TO CRAIG KEY. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS. ADDITIONAL WATCHES WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA LATER TODAY. REPORTS FROM AN AIR FORCE HURRICANE HUNTER PLANE INDICATE THAT CHARLEY HAS STRENGTHENED...AND IS NOW A HURRICANE. AT 2 PM EDT...1800Z...THE EYE OF HURRICANE CHARLEY WAS...

Two Tropical Storms Threaten Caribbean, Gulf MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Charley was born in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday, joining Tropical Storm Bonnie as twin threats to the Caribbean region and the southern U.S. coast. Forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Jamaica could be put under a storm watch later on Tuesday as Charley revved up between Venezuela and Puerto Rico. At 5 a.m. EDT, the center of Charley was about 450 miles south-southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at latitude 13 north and longitude 66.3 west, the hurricane center said. The storm was steaming west-northwest at...

Worthy Causes I grew up in a Protestant church that believed in a literal interpretation of the King James Bible. Since there is no mention in the Bible of Dec. 25, the church refused to make Christmas a religious observance. Baldwin pianos and Hammond organs were verboten for the same reason. In that they are probably right, since Christmas was adapted to a pagan festival. There is no written record of when the Christ child was born. Nevertheless, that didn't stop my family from observing Christmas, since, like most families with small children, Christmas was more about Santa Claus than...

A Fine Hour The best thing to remember about Sept. 11, 2001, is the magnificent way that New Yorkers and indeed all Americans responded to the tragedy. Being a country boy, I've never been fond of any big city, but on that day and in the days following, I would have been proud to be called a New Yorker. The way the people of that city opened their hearts, their arms and their pocketbooks to each other should stand forever as a rebuke to cynics. What a grand example they were of human beings at their very best. That I...

Trivia As News The decline of the American television media is evident in its inordinate attention to the Kobe Bryant case. The Los Angeles Laker is charged with rape. OK, a not-unusual occurrence for professional athletes. It is legitimate to report his arrest, his arraignment and his trial. It is illegitimate in the extreme to report hearsay stories and tales and to conduct endless speculation with lawyers who want to be on television but who know nothing about the facts of the case. We're still months away from a trial, and I'm sick of the whole business already. In first...

Kind Of Weird The large amount of attention many newspapers and television anchors gave to a recent Supreme Court decision knocking down an old law against sodomy frankly startled me. What's the big deal? It was an old law that many states had already repealed and that no state was making any effort to enforce as long as homosexuals stayed in their bedrooms. In all my years on the cop beat, I never saw or heard of any law-enforcement agency arresting homosexuals, except when they took their sex to public parks and public restrooms. Cops and prosecutors have many more...

Hubris Should Be Avoided A dangerous amount of hubris seems to be settling over Washington like fallout from a bomb. Hubris, of course, is the combination of arrogance and unwarranted assumptions. Recently, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said our "victory" in Afghanistan proves that we are the "most militarily powerful country in the history of the world." That's hubris, not to mention ignorance of matters both military and historical. We didn't fight in Afghanistan. We bribed warlords to do the fighting. We just bombed light infantry troops who had no air defense using advanced weapons. The outcome was no surprise...