Saturday, August 14, 2004


Yahoo! News - Official: Charley's Death Toll to Climb
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.

The eye of the worst hurricane to hit Florida in a dozen years passed directly over Punta Gorda, a town of 15,000 which took a devastating hit Friday.

Hundreds of people were missing and more were left homeless, said Sallade, who compared the devastation to 1992's Hurricane Andrew, blamed for 43 deaths, most in South Florida.

Daylight will bring some devastating pictures, I'm sure. Christmas Day a few years ago my Mom and I drove down the coast and made it right to the tip of the Charlotte Harbor before heading back, and what struck me the most was how empty it was between there and Sarasota. Lots of open space, but also a lot of trailer parks.