PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – Driven from splintered trailers, roofless condos and powerless suburban homes, Hurricane Charley’s hungry victims sweated through long lines Monday in search of food, showers and drinking water three days after the storm left their lives in shambles.
Some of the 15,000 residents of Punta Gorda waited 30 minutes for ice, water and portable commodes set up by the National Guard. Volunteer Jessica Byrnes held 4-month-old Brody Keener near an electric fan connected to a generator. The baby, dressed only in a diaper, managed a slight smile.
Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte were among the hardest-hit areas, and 25 of Florida’s 67 counties were designated federal disaster areas. By the numbers, the situation in Florida on day four looked like this:
* Number of dead: at least 18
* Estimated damage: as much as $11 billion to insured homes alone.
* People without power: 790,000.
* People staying in shelters: 2,300.
* People who have applied for disaster aid: 11,000.
* People the state has requested housing for: 10,000.
* National Guard troops who have been activated: 4,400.
* Food aid offered by the American Red Cross: eight mobile kitchens and five feeding centers capable of serving 9,000 meals a day.
Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown said it could take several weeks to find all the victims, and officials still had no count Monday of how many people remained unaccounted for. However, early estimates of hundreds of people missing are probably inflated, officials said.
At a Red Cross shelter in Englewood, about 300 people woke up to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and milk. Jo Trail was staying there with her husband and 10-year-old grandson after their Arcadia mobile home was destroyed as they rode out the storm underneath a mattress.
“It took the false teeth right out of my mouth,” Trail said, showing her gums. “It took the glasses right off of my face.”
After slamming into Florida with winds reaching 145 mph and a surge of sea water of 13 feet to 15 feet, Charley hit open ocean and made landfall again in South Carolina. It moved into North Carolina and up the eastern seaboard as a tropical storm before being downgraded to a depression.
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