Breaking: Punta Gorda death toll at 15

[nostamj]

just reported on CNN.

[patdem]

1. And Cuba only had 4 deaths? Which is a banana republic again???

n/t!!! just :grr:

[lapfog_1]

7. To be fair

When Charley passed over Cuba, it was only a category 2 hurricane,
when it hit Punta Gorda, it was a category 4. That's a big
difference.

Also, I'm guessing that most of the deaths are going to be
elderly folks living in mobile homes. They should have been
evacuated, but in the age of "personal responsibility" I'm
guessing that no one implored them to leave. Finally, some of
this should be laid at the BFEE's feet (brothers Jeb and George).
The entire west coast from Fort Meyers to Tampa Bay and beyond
should have been put on a evacuation order and sufficient National
Guard troops should have been on hand just to see that these
elderly folks living in trailer parks were evacuated. But the
National Guard is off fighting wars and the local responders have
had their ranks reduced by George's policies, and Jeb was not
prudent enough to appreciate that Hurricanes are still unpredictable
and dangerous. A more prudent person would have ordered far more
people to evacuate.

[seabeyond]

2. 260 or somewhere around what i heard

from a friend living in that area. havent heard on the news

[Catt03]

4. If there were 206 deaths

something went terribly wrong.

Andrew was a 200 mile an hour hurricane and there were 27 deaths.

Why would there be such a great discrepency? Even 15 deaths for a town of 15,000 is awful, just terrible.

[nostamj]

5. from what I'm hearing

this was a retirement community. elderly. many trailer parks. buildings disintegrated. they weren't part of the initial evac. and couldn't get out when the storm shifted.

almost certain to go higher... but >200? wow.

[Zynx]

8. People saw Andrew coming

Charley morphed from a Cat 2 to a Cat 4 in about thirty minutes and switched course almost as quickly.

[JanMichael]

12. I've avoided saying this but I've heard that it was over 200 too.

Apparently the Charlotte Regional Medical Center spokesperson said as much on a local broadcast, used the term "DOA" twice.

[seabeyond]

13. i turned off news

but i heard at least up there with andrew so more than four. why would they be keeping it quiet. waiting fro bushie boy to get there. i dont know, but not seeing hwy they are keeping quiet if they still are. a bunch of crap if that is the case and the news is sittin on it too.

hm..........

thanks for telling me you heard. couldnt believe this gal could be so wrong, she doesnt put out mis info and she lives right there

[JanMichael]

14. Too soon to release the news? It could also be that people are being...

...misquoted or they misspoke too.

Either way it's well over 10-15. Too many shut-ins and elderly (Median Age...59.9) people that stayed home due to all of the mistaken hype about St. Pete taking the hit.

[deminflorida]

3. The toll is going to be much higher after the clean-up....It will

almost be more than us Floridians can bear.

[nofurylike]

6. sympathy, deminflorida. it is unbearable. atrocious. n/t

[BeachBuckeye]

9. S.W. Florida caught by surprise

I know that sounds hard to believe but this "Charley" pulled a fast on on all of us. You see, on Thursday it was going to hit Tampa Bay area and up until about noon Friday that was still the forecast. All of us in Lee and Charlotte counties (Ft. Myers, Punta Gorda, Sanibel, Captiva) we all thought we would only get the outer edges of the wind. Bad, but not terrible. Well, all of a sudden around noon they said the bulls eye was Ft. Myers. So, all the emergency agencies got on the air and said: "Its too dangerous, don't leave your home. Well, then the thing made a small jog to the west and tore into a bunch of people who only had about a 1 1/2 hr.warning. Really, by the time they knew it was definitely heading their way it was too late to anything about it except pray. Unfortunately, many prayers went unanswered.

The wind at our home was around 100 mph. That was as much as I ever want to see again. I cannot possibly imagine what it was like at 145.

[Nashyra]

11. My thoughts and prayers or with you in Forida today

The loss of life is an extreme price to pay. All the families that are now left with starting over will have to go thru the trauma of insurance companies, fraud, etc and those will be the lucky ones. There will be those left with nothing to start over with. Someone from Florida please pm me with the best place to send a donation so that it will actually help people in need, I don't particularly trust the red cross, maybe a local bank who has set up a fund for local residents. I don't have alot but I can send some.

[Cleita]

10. Why haven't mobile homes been banned in Florida and

other states who are likely to be hit by hurricanes and tornadoes? I live in one myself, but in my case, I am more likely to be hit by an earthquake and mobile homes ride this type of natural disaster out better than regular buildings.

But every tornado and hurricane prone states seem to have a lot of people living in mobile homes. These people tend to be poor families and the elderly. Certainly the citizens and governors of these states can come up with a plan to provide better housing than mobile homes to these families.

But I guess that would take some compassionate planning and taxing the affluent to help the less fortunate. Silly me! What was I thinking?

[onethatcares]

15. because the cost of housing in this state on the coast is

fucking unbelieveable, I'm talking 130 sq ft for remodeling/additions. New construction without the land is up to about 200 s/f without the price of the land. The mobile home parks have been here a long time, for many it's their retirement dream and then these storms come along and bust it all apart. I can't blame jebthro for the storm, but I can blame him if he allows rebuilding on the dune line. Why should I pay for someone elses' fuck up idea?