More sad news from SW Florida=Death toll rises to 20

[cycloneye]

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 Posted: 10:31 AM EDT (1431 GMT)

PUNTA GORDA, Florida (CNN) -- As a massive cleanup effort swung into a fifth day, the death toll from Hurricane Charley climbed to 20 early Tuesday as refugees from the storm coped with sporadic thunderstorms and sizzling August weather, a Florida emergency management official said.

Assessing the recovery effort after the storm cut a path of destruction diagonally across the Sunshine State, Gov. Jeb Bush said that "we've made really good progress" -- although he conceded the patience of some Floridians coping without roofs or electricity in 90-degree heat may be wearing thin.

"The great majority of people, I think, recognize that this is a work in progress, that there's improvements being made," he said. "There may be isolated cases of people that are annoyed by the inconvenience, and who can blame them."

Charley also threatened to interfere with the state's scheduled August 31 primary, which could add yet another chapter to the state's recent history of election malfunctions.

Monday was the first day of early voting for the primary, but the lack of electricity kept the polling stations closed in Charlotte and Hardee counties. Election officials in counties along the path of the storm were also surveying their polling places to assess structural damage and determine if they will be usable for the primary, Secretary of State Glenda Hood said.

However, while Hood said that "there are challenges," the primary should move ahead as scheduled. The state law on early voting has enough flexibility so that the temporary delays in the two counties will not create a problem, she said.

Hurricane Charley is being blamed for 19 deaths, the majority of which took place after the storm from traffic accidents, heart attacks and drivers being electrocuted by live power lines, state officials said.

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

By early Tuesday, 760,000 homes and businesses throughout the state were still without power, with service restored to more than 100,000 customers in the previous 24 hours, said Tameeka Forbes with the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

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 being told to continue boiling water before drinking it.

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

In Punta Gorda, which took a direct hit from the storm, the search-and-rescue effort that began Saturday came to a close Monday afternoon, said Wayne Sallade, director of the Charlotte County Office of Emergency Management. No one was found trapped in debris, although some elderly residents were found still hiding in their damaged homes.

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, including 12 officers from Florida City, a town near Miami that was flattened in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew.

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

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

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

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

In the meantime, 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 is 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.

Economic impact
The governor said "we haven't quite got our arms around" just how much money the disaster might cost the state. However, he announced Monday that his brother, President Bush, has 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.

State officials have also 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 windy march across the state, from southwest to northeast, took it through prime citrus-growing territory, where about a third of Florida's $1.5 billion 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."

[Terry]

CNN now reporting 20 Charley-related deaths this morning.