Free Republic

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...

Top U.S. disaster official Michael Brown, under fire over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, cited prior emergency-management experience in an official biography but his duties were “more like an intern,” Time magazine reported. Brown's biography on the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site says he had once served as an "assistant city manager with emergency services oversight," and a White House news release in 2001 said Brown had worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., in the 1970s "overseeing the emergency-services division." However, a city spokeswoman told the magazine Brown had actually worked as "an assistant to the city...

The poundings that Florida and central Gulf Coast have taken from hurricanes this summer have that region reeling. The widespread damage to homes and businesses, combined with the housing-construction boom in Florida, has left building materials in short supply. Lumber, cement, shingles and the like are sold as soon as they're unloaded from delivery trucks. But the U.S. economy has the strength and Americans have the determination and wherewithal to withstand almost anything that deadly storms might dish out. In the end, the people will endure and life will return to normal. While Americans are fixated on the hurt that...

MIAMI (AP) -- The nation's leaders need to put aside partisan labels to help Florida recover from the devastation of three major hurricanes during the past month, Democratic Senate candidate Betty Castor said Saturday. In her party's weekly radio address, Castor said Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan "have cut a terrible swath of destruction," destroying homes and damaging military bases and the state's agricultural industry. "At times like these, we are not Republicans or Democrats. We are all Americans," Castor said. "The worst of Mother Nature brings out the best in human nature." Castor, a former state education commissioner, defeated...

WASHINGTON — It's an ill wind that blows no good — but for whom? That's a question that political analysts are pondering as a third hurricane takes aim at Florida, the biggest battleground state in the presidential election. Both President Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry maintain that partisan politics have no part in their concern for the victims of the storms that have battered Florida. But, with voting just over 50 days away, practically any word or action by the Republican president or Massachusetts senator is seen in the context of the Nov. 2 election. The conventional wisdom is...

GOVERNOR BUSH ANNOUNCES WEEKEND OF PRAYERTALLAHASSEE - Governor Jeb Bush today asked for people of all faiths to takea moment during their religious services this weekend to join him in prayerfor those who have been impacted by Hurricanes Charley, Frances andpotentially Ivan.  "The people of Florida have weathered brutal blows, and are braced for yetanother challenge as Hurricane Ivan approaches our shores," said GovernorBush.  "At this time of unprecedented challenge, I've drawn comfort andstrength from my own personal faith, and have been lifted by the prayers ofothers."Attached please find a letter from Governor Bush to faith-based leadersregarding the weekend...

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Three days before Hurricane Charley hit Florida, the 150 or so parakeets nesting in a power substation in Deerfield Beach seemed blissfully unconcerned. So did the ones in seven huge communal nests on the communications tower of the Broward County Sheriff's office a mile or two away. Jon-Mark Davey, a devoted observer, owner and defender of monk parakeets, was showing the nests to a reporter and said the birds knew when a storm was coming. So it may have been their forecasting that made them appear so devil-may-care in their stick condominiums on light poles and...

We know that America has been dumb downded. Have we also morphed into an ugly, toothless society? I am sure you have noticed this. Watch the news reports on Hurricane Frances. Nearly every single person shown is either a fat slob or butt ugly, normally missing a tooth (teeth?). Has America become an ugly slob society? I have seen about one hundred Floridians interviewed now about Hurricane Frances evacuations. Every last one of them have been so ugly they would scare Janet Reno. I ask all of you--have you seen a well dressed, good looking, good talking Floridian interviewed yet?...

Link post: go the thread below to post commentary for discussion -- thanks! Geology Picture of the Week, August 29-September 4, 2004: New Geology courtesy of Hurricane Charley

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...

One day after Donald Seither's mobile home was ripped up by Hurricane Charley, the 74-year-old retiree picked up a friend's phone and pleaded for federal aid. Technically, he got it. But mostly, he got ticked off. Seeking the government's help, the Punta Gorda resident — after being put on hold for 2 1/2 hours — got through to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and told his tale: a damaged roof, shattered windows and no electricity. About a week later, a check from the U.S. Treasury came in the mail. Here, Seither figured, was the hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars he...

WAUCHULA, Fla. - Angel Lopez examined a blue flier that read in English and Spanish, "Disaster Assistance is Available Now," but discarded it as soon as FEMA workers moved on to another house in this neighborhood of migrant farmworkers. Lopez had no intention of applying for federal assistance even though Hurricane Charley ripped off part of the roof of the home he rents and damaged his possessions. "I fear being deported," said the 32-year-old farmworker, who came to Florida illegally from Veracruz, Mexico, two years ago. Fear of deportation is one of the many obstacles preventing illegal immigrants who lost...

PORT CHARLOTTE -- Most of the signs curse Hurricane Charley and defy his power. Others mock the storm, thank volunteers and salute everyone who survived it. Then there are the strange hieroglyphics -- an orange box, a series of numbers -- that appear on inspected or condemned homes. Finally, there are scores of hand-painted markers for storm services. On Peachland Boulevard, one sign advertised "Wench or Tractor." The sign painter probably meant "winch," which would be a powerful tool rather than a sexy servant, but you never know. Good tuna, bad storm The harder an area was hit by the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that he won't attend the Republican Party Convention in New York later this month, where his brother will be re-nominated, because of the importance of the Hurricane Charley relief and recovery effort. "There will be a role later on for me to play," in the presidential race Bush said while speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting. "The recovery phase of this is important to get started and ... being up in New York is inappropriate. "It's appropriate for others but not for me," the governor said. Bush said he had planned...

Let the Market Work Even During Disasters By John R. Lott Jr. Distraught over the loss of their homes from Hurricane Charley, some Floridians have turned their anger on “price gougers.” $8,000 for removing a fallen tree from a yard? $5 bags of ice? $3 for gasoline? Newspapers carry stories of an 80-year-old woman who was told when she first called a hotel that a room cost $45, but by the time she called back it was going for $61. How can anyone justify such prices? By last Wednesday, almost 1,900 price-gouging complaints had been filed with the state Attorney...

Bring on the 'Price Gougers'Jeff Jacoby August 23, 2004 Imagine a system that could instantly respond to a calamity like Hurricane Charley by mobilizing suppliers to speed urgently needed resources to the victims. Imagine that such a system could quickly attract the out-of-town manpower needed for cleanup and repairs, while seeing to it that existing supplies were neither recklessly squandered nor hoarded. Imagine that it could prompt thousands of men and women to act in the public interest, yet not force anyone to do anything against his will. Actually, there's no need to imagine. The system already exists. Economists refer...

PUNTA GORDA -- A set of shoulder pads and a football helmet hung on a fence post like a scarecrow at harvest. A cow mooing in a field replaced the shrill of a coach's whistle. On the front of a barn was a salvaged sign that read: Charlotte Tarpons, Class 4A Regional Champs, 2002. Inside the barn, shoulder pads hung beside a horse's saddle and a stuffed boar's head with a Charlotte High hat on its head. There were weights next to feedbags, jerseys next to power tools, and scattered about were 50 high school football players ready to give...

THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY Sen. John Kerry probably didn't gain any votes while traveling through parts of Florida on Friday. The candidate walked through ravaged trailer parks and decimated neighborhoods, and attempted to comfort some of the people who were returning to rebuild their lives. Kerry, in speaking with reporters, called what he was seeing "inspiring." "Not sure what's so inspiring about me not having help," said a resident of a trailer park Kerry visited. "He wasn't offering anything. He just wanted to come here because the president came here." Kerry did travel with Sen. Ben Nelson, some of...

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,...

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Vincent and Mary Panettieri helped make Charlotte County into what it was before Hurricane Charley. In the wave of blue-collar retirees with a passion for bingo and sunshine, they were among thousands who, in the 1970s and '80s, chose Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda over pricier Florida destinations to the north, south and east. "We're using our kids' inheritance," Vincent, 89, says in a stage whisper, quoting the classic bumper sticker that has graced many a Charlotte County Cadillac or Buick over the years. Now the Panettieris are part of another movement, this time an unprecedented exodus...

Worried about flooding from Hurricane Charley, Pinellas County officials decided to take extraordinary measures. The day before Charley hit Florida, they released 163 nonviolent inmates on the condition that they return by Aug. 17. On Friday, 25 of them were still out there. "Obviously we're hoping people continue to return," said Pinellas sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen, who said the inmates were not considered public safety risks. Patti Flanagan disagrees. The 46-year-old St. Petersburg woman says one of the released inmates assaulted and injured her. Chester James, 56, was subsequently arrested on a battery charge Tuesday, the day he was scheduled...

As the Republican U.S. Senate primary heads into its final 10 days, many voters are now paying attention - just in time for a blast of critical ads aimed at undecided voters. Doug Gallagher, a wealthy Miami business executive, launched a radio ad calling himself a "successful businessman" and labeling rivals Bill McCollum and Mel Martinez "the M&M boys." He called McCollum "a lobbyist beholden to special interests" and Martinez the "president of the trial lawyers." "We've tried it their way. Now let's try it our way," says Gallagher, who is financing his campaign with nearly $6-million of his own...

At the Republican National Convention in New York, Gov. Jeb Bush faced a week in the national spotlight, talk of a family dynasty and endless speculation about his own political future. Now he's not going. Bush, who does not relish such scrutiny, said he's too busy with the recovery effort after Hurricane Charley to see his brother nominated for a second term as president. "I know my brother knows that I support him," the governor said. "The work here is real important that we get it right ... This is what I got elected to do."

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - Step by small step, life is returning to normal in this town hardest hit by Hurricane Charley. Things as simple as making a cell phone call or having a cold beer in a neighborhood pub are helping residents cope with the massive cleanup and repair efforts. That can be an important development in the recovery process. "I've heard people that have lost everything and they celebrate simple things like they have a dial tone or their cell phone chirped for the first time," said Craig Fugate, the state's emergency management director. "Businesses are coming back...

Kerry Visits Fla. Towns Hit by HurricaneBy MARY DALRYMPLE, Associated Press Writer PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - John Kerry waded on Friday into neighborhoods blown apart by Hurricane Charley, where he offered supportive words to families during his eighth trip to some of the most closely contested territory in this year's presidential election. "The courage of everybody is quite remarkable," the Democratic presidential candidate said after talking with residents still without power in one of the hardest hit towns. "These folks are unbelievable in their spirit." Florida decided the last presidential election so narrowly that Republican and Democratic campaigns are making...

O.K. panel... John Kerry was in Florida this week... While helping a seasoned citizen during a photo op, he was overheard to say: "Be careful don't step _________"

Below are the results of a three-day poll of likely voters in the critical battleground state of Florida for the presidential race. Results are based on telephone interviews with 801 likely voters in Florida, aged 18+, and released as indicated below. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/florida.htm Bush-Cheney 46% Kerry-Edwards 47% Nader-Camejo 2% Undecided 5%

August 19, 2004 04:59 PM US Eastern Timezone Halliburton Joins American Red Cross to Help with Hurricane Charley Aftermath HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2004--Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) pledged $100,000 to the American Red Cross' Disaster Relief Fund, becoming the organization's newest member of its Annual Disaster Giving Program. Representatives from Halliburton toured some of the most devastated sites near Punta Gorda, Fla., to witness volunteer and support services provided to victims of last week's hurricane. "The American Red Cross' efforts in southwest Florida are extraordinary and Halliburton is proud to join the team to assist in any way possible the many people affected...

CHARLOTTE COUNTY – A week after Hurricane Charley, thousands of residents are refusing to leave their destroyed or severely damaged homes. Soon, some may not have a choice. Charlotte County building officials began inspecting homes Thursday. Where imminent danger exists, such as the risk of a wall or roof collapsing, homeowners will be ordered to leave, said county Building Official Jim Evetts. In other cases, landlords are forcing residents to move so that the buildings can be razed or renovated. But residents such as Darlene Bills say they'll stay as long as they can -- enduring the heat, insects, lightning...

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Police are stepping up efforts to stop looters from using the many canals here to gain access to houses and mobile homes damaged by Hurricane Charley. A thief aboard a boat this week burgled a woman's home along Alligator Creek, in the Windmill Village mobile home park. The park's management is urging residents to keep an eye on the network of canals here that connect to the creek, which leads into Charlotte Harbor. On Wednesday, resident Wesley Spence hobbled to a spot along a seawall behind his Windmill Village trailer, poked his cane at the floating debris...

..........Marcia Smith, Polk schools' food-service director, worked this week at Lake Wales High School, one of several schools converted into a feeding station. One family pulled up with five or six children packed inside the car and was full of appreciation for the free peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, milk and fruit they received. "Those children were so excited when we had food for them," Smith said. Even without Charley, food-service workers say they see evidence some children get little to eat beyond what's served at school. "They clean their plates, and they want more, and you just know that's...

For missing work to evacuate his mother, city employee James Gesicki lost his job. By LORRI HELFAND, Times Staff WriterPublished August 19, 2004 LARGO - When James Gesicki heard that Hurricane Charley was heading for Tampa Bay last week, he had one thing in mind: getting his 81-year-old mother who lived in a mandatory evacuation zone to safety.So last Thursday the 30-year Largo public works employee told two of his supervisors he planned to bring his mother, Catherine, to his Spring Hill home. Fine, they said. But show up for work Friday - the day the hurricane was expected...

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...

[Excerpt] FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - Despite criticism that it should have better anticipated Hurricane Charley's rapid intensification and quick turn, the National Hurricane Center's forecast wasn't that far off, a preliminary post-mortem shows.When the storm was 24 hours away, the center's projected track was 45 miles from where it landed, on the barrier islands between Cape Coral and Punta Gorda, according to figures released on Wednesday.That almost cut in half the center's 10-year average error of 87 miles when a storm is a day away, hurricane center Director Max Mayfield said."That's pretty doggone good," he said. "It's a...

Cape Coral and Hurricane Charley August 18, 2004 By Mary F. Stump Cape Coral, Florida westump@earthlink.net Hey folks! We got back into town on Sunday afternoon, passed Punta Gorda and a mobile home village -- or what was left of it -- butted up against Interstate 75. There is nothing but debris -- aluminum, fiberglass, wood all strewn about in patternless fashion. Sign poles with directions and exits from I-75 are snapped off or broken in half, while the signs themselves are laying haphazardly bent and twisted on the ground or hanging on fences. Destruction on a massive scale like...

ARCADIA, FLA. -- A flock of ducks freed from their pen by hurricane Charley gathered in James Adams's orange grove yesterday, squawking loudly as they snacked on green fruit the size of golf balls that littered the ground. Branches from 200-year-old oak trees and royal palms snapped in half by the storm lay all over his 1¼-hectare property. Roosters roamed freely, liberated from barns destroyed in the Category 4 storm. Mr. Adams shook his head and rolled his eyes. Like most of the farmers in DeSoto County, the inland agricultural belt where Hurricane Charley unleashed its fury Friday, he has...

In the evening before Hurricane Charley hit central Florida, news anchors Bob Opsahl and Martie Salt of Orlando's Channel 9 complained that we "sure don't need" vendors to take advantage of the coming storm by raising their prices for urgently needed emergency supplies. In the days since the hurricane hit, many other reporters and public officials have voiced similar sentiments. There are laws against raising prices during a natural disaster. It's called "price gouging." The state's attorney general has assured Floridians that he's going to crack down on such. There's even a hotline you can call if you notice a...

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...

To PCA members and all others willing to help: Our denomination, through the Mission to North America, has a relief presence on the ground in SW Florida. What follows is information from Covenant Life's website and links to MNA's website: As of Aug 18th: (new information below) The Disaster Relief Coordinators have set up shop here at Covenant Life's facility. Ron will lead a team this morning, and Judy will be here in our office doing call-backs and lining up other teams. Eventually they will need food simply to service those who return from helping. Again, we will keep you...

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- As many as a dozen cars pull up in front of Morton's Ace Hardware in a busy hour. For the most part, their passengers aren't looking for nails or wood. They want to see the pile of rubble that has become one of the most recognizable images of Hurricane Charley. Soon, it'll also be one of the most common snapshots in the hands of the area's newest breed of tourists. Drawn by images of devastation on their television sets and a morbid fascination to see it themselves, the gawkers have come to Charlotte County. They clog up...

Can’t find a loved one? Call the Red Cross at 1-866-GET-INFO (438-4636) to inquire whether your loved one turned up on rosters at evacuation shelters in Southwest Florida. (Don’t be surprised if you have a minutes-long wait on this busy phone line before being put through to a representative.) Attention snowbirds! If you have a house, condominium or apartment in Southwest Florida that you can offer for free to displaced Hurricane Charley victims, the Herald-Tribune will run a Classified ad for you for free. Discounted rates may be available for those offering their properties at a reduced cost. The Herald-Tribune...

Want to help? Red Cross The Red Cross is asking people to make financial donations rather than donations of food, clothing or other supplies. Checks can be dropped off or mailed to the Charlotte County Chapter of the American Red Cross, 1300-D Enterprise Drive, Port Charlotte FL 33953, or to the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Red Cross, 2001 Cantu Court, Sarasota FL 34232. Indicate on the check that you want your donation to go to the victims of Hurricane Charley. Credit card donations can be made by calling (800) 435-7669 or at the organization's Web site, www.redcross.org. For...

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...

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 17 - Greg Lawrence talks about the $10 bag of ice. Kenneth Kleppach says he was clipped for nearly three times the advertised price for a hotel room. And a man with a chain saw told Jerry Olmstead that he could clear the oak tree off his roof, but it would cost $10,500. So much for a friendly, helping hand in a time of crisis. Since the winds of Hurricane Charley subsided, officials say a wave of price gouging has swept across central and southwest Florida, putting law enforcement officials into high gear and infuriating storm victims...

Has anyone noticed how the cleanup of Hurricane Charley has been reported? The reports in most newspapers are critical with sad pictures and angry citizens quoted. Mary Haggerty, 86, weathered Charley with her widowed daughter in her Arcadia home, which was seriously damaged. "I am still scared," she said. "No official people have come by to see if we are alive. What if one of us died? Who cares?" Photo source

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."...

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) - 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...

The morning after Hurricane Charley struck Southwest Florida, a team of highly trained Jacksonville rescue workers dropped everything, arranging to leave their families and jobs for several days to go where medical relief was needed most. Among the group of about 35 were emergency room doctors, nurses, firefighters, paramedics, mental health counselors and construction and communications experts --all part-time Federal Emergency Management Agency employees mobilized as the Northeast Florida Disaster Medical Team. Members of a Disaster Medical Assistance Team from Jacksonville prepare to leave Saturday to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. The team has been frustrated in its...

Scrounging for gasoline and ice, living without lights or air conditioning and now scrambling for child care on short notice because some schools will stay closed for another week, Central Floridians struggled Monday to deal with the woes caused by Hurricane Charley. About 750,000 people in Central Florida remained without power for the 4th night since Charley struck, and utility officals said restoring power in some locations is taking longer than expected.....

 Two Tropical Storms Threaten Caribbean, Gulf     GOES East Hurricane SECTOR Water Vapor Image (Tropical Storms Bonnie and Charlie)    Tropical Storm Charley About to Become Hurricane    H. Charley now a CAT 2 Hurricane, could hit Tampa as a CAT 3 Fri PM   Bonnie Hits; Florida Braces for Charley (380,000 ordered evacuated)    Neal Boortz "Waiting for Charley"     Charlie now Category FOUR - repeat Cat 4 storm, new track is to East, Lakeland - Orlando in path    CHARLEY BECOMES A (CATEGORY 4 Now!!) HURRICANE (new track is to East, Lakeland - Orlando in path)  ...