‘Day of complete devastation’

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Rescue teams clawed door-to-door through a panorama of gutted buildings, mangled vehicles and splintered mobile homes Saturday as reports of multiple deaths emerged from the coast-to-coast calamity delivered by Hurricane Charley.

The statewide death count stood at 16, according to local officials, and seemed likely to rise. Scores were left injured, tens of thousands homeless, hundreds of thousands dazed.

“Our worst fears have come true,” Gov. Jeb Bush said after completing a helicopter tour of the region. “Clearly, there was major devastation.”

His brother, President Bush, planned to survey the region today.

Ten deaths were reported in Charlotte County, which includes Punta Gorda, the disaster’s apparent epicenter. The county’s emergency manager said he ordered 60 body bags, hoping they weren’t all needed.

The governor called Punta Gorda “a community destroyed, in essence” by Charley’s 145-mph wind and 10-foot storm surge.

Rubble sprawled across nearly the entire bayside city. A steeple served as testament to where a church building once stood. Cars parked in what had been a garage were piled atop each other, the floors that once separated them no longer in existence.

“This town got pulverized,” said resident Jerry Luyk.

And that was just one corner of a vast swath of Southwest and Central Florida littered by catastrophe – an area 200 miles long and at least 30 miles wide. Another hard-hit area: mobile home parks and other places in and near the historic ranching town of Arcadia.

Access to many remote areas remained blocked by debris or police, but the extent of at least some of the damage came into focus when viewed by air, sea and, in some cases, land.

Visible were caved-in roofs, a new inlet created by 200 yards of submerged beach and twisted boat docks on Captiva Island, a collapsed furniture store and trailer parks reduced to rubble in Port Charlotte, gutted condominium buildings and wrecked shopping centers in Punta Gorda.

Entire mobile home parks were flattened near Arcadia, about 30 miles from the coast. Arcadia’s business district appeared to be in good shape, but more fragile buildings like the rodeo arena and county fairgrounds sustained severe damage.

Damage estimates stretched well into the billions. More than 1.3 million customers endured a second day of power blackouts. Water service did not exist for residents of Arcadia, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.

Fort Myers and the rest of Lee County reported $3.3 billion in damage. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that 80 percent of the buildings in Charlotte County – and every mobile home and all three hospitals – sustained damage. Dead cows wrapped in barbed wire sprawled beside roads in DeSoto County.

Adding to the misery: Thunderstorms swept the area Saturday, raining on homes without roofs and people without homes.

Rescue workers from Miami-Dade County, Broward County and other areas flocked to the region and searched for dead and injured. Long convoys of utility repair trucks approached from the south and north. Two thousand National Guard troops and 800 police officers patrolled or guarded the area.

At least 63 shelters served 12,000 suddenly homeless people, and many others sought lodging with friends, relatives or in the few local hotels that withstood the storm.

State officials said they delivered 3.6 million pounds of ice and 1.9 million gallons of water to Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia and other cities. Federal officials urged migrant and undocumented workers to come forward for housing, food and water.

A state election official said the Aug. 31 primary in Charlotte, Hardee and Desoto counties could be delayed because “there are no roofs at the polling places.”

People stood amid the rubble surrounding Arcadia, examining what was left of their homes, cleaning up fallen trees. In one collapsed mobile home, all that could be seen was a bunk bed, sitting in a sea of splintered debris.

In the town of Bokeelia on the northern tip of Pine Island, those flying in a helicopter saw a dozen destroyed mobile homes and a marina full of the bits and pieces of smashed boats.

Looting flared in some areas. Insurance companies mobilized adjusters. State officials warned that they would prosecute price gougers.

“One of the most egregious things a business can do is to take advantage of our citizens through price gouging,” said state Attorney General Charlie Crist.

All if it seemed so heartbreakingly familiar.

“It brought back very vivid memories for me personally and going through Andrew and seeing similar destruction,” the governor said of the hurricane that bulldozed much of South Miami-Dade in 1992.

Bush noted one difference: the lessons learned from the slow state and federal response to that disaster.

“While this is a day of complete devastation and there’s a lot of sadness in people’s hearts right now,” he said, “I’m absolutely convinced that within a shorter period of time than Andrew, people’s hearts are going to be lifted.”

The White House announced that President Bush would travel to Florida today to survey the damage. The president declared a major disaster in the state Friday, clearing the way for federal aid.

“The president wants to take a firsthand look at damage from Charley and make sure people affected by Charley are getting the assistance they need,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Details of the trip were not immediately released.

Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County’s director of emergency management, told CNN he ordered 60 body bags and requested that two refrigerated trucks arrive in Punta Gorda. He said he didn’t believe that all the bags would be needed, but he requested them as a precaution.

He called the destruction in his county “catastrophic.”

About 15,000 people live in Punta Gorda, which sustained a direct strike when Charley strengthened into a fierce Category 4 hurricane, shifted direction at nearly the last minute and slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast at Sanibel Island and Port Charlotte.

The storm finally retreated from Florida on Saturday morning, refueling over the Atlantic for an assault on the rest of the East Coast. It struck South Carolina with 85 mph winds Saturday before weakening into a tropical storm.

In Florida, it left behind incalculable misery and debris.

From Punta Gorda to Port Charlotte, Arcadia to Kissimmee, Orlando to Daytona Beach, evacuees left shelters and returned to homes missing windows, roofs and walls. Residents who rode it out took advantage of daylight to assess their property – and their lives.

Sanibel, Captiva and Pine islands remained closed to the public as officers conducted search and rescue operations. Unconfirmed reports said that as many as 200 people had tried to ride out the storm on those vulnerable islands.

About a half-mile west of Sanibel, the destruction was sporadic but evident – largely dependent on the quality of construction.

At the Charles Harbour Yacht Club, homes were virtually untouched, yet devastation was evident two blocks down the road at Sunshine Mobile Village.

Aluminum sheets swathed palm trees, homes were de-roofed, metal and garbage gathered everywhere, helicopters circled overhead.

Not too far away, some locals gathered Saturday afternoon at San Carlos Island’s Channel Marker bar and restaurant, a very hot but resourceful place that managed to have very cold beer.

Cooks barbecued steaks for everyone – no charge.

“This is a good little community,” said Gino Husko. “We’ll be fine. Everybody takes care of each other.”