Charley rips across Florida

PORT CHARLOTTE — Hurricane Charley bullied its way up Florida’s midsection Friday, flipping small airplanes, tearing off roofs, knocking down trees and flooding roads as it headed from coastal Charlotte County through Orlando and Daytona Beach.

At least three people were reported dead, and 1 million customers were without power. Progress Energy Florida said it could be a week until all power is restored.

At least 40 people were taken to Charlotte Regional Medical Center with injuries, according to the hospital. Some of the injured were being airlifted to other hospitals because Charlotte Regional sustained heavy damage.

“We can’t keep patients here,” Chief Executive Officer Josh Putter said. “Every roof is damaged, lots of water damage, half our windows are blown out. . . . Things have fallen on people, crushed their legs, crushed their pelvis -- a lot of bleeding, a lot of major and minor lacerations.”

An additional 20 people were treated at a hospital in Fort Myers.

As one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the Sunshine State, Charley slammed into Florida at 3:45 p.m. near Charlotte Harbor as a Category 4 storm with winds of 145 mph and a wall of water 13 to 15 feet high, state meteorologist Ben Nelson said.

Gov. Jeb Bush predicted damage would be in the billions of dollars. In the Fort Myers area alone, a county property appraiser estimated damage at $2.3 billion.

The governor’s brother, President Bush, declared the regions in Florida affected by Charley and Tropical Storm Bonnie a federal disaster area.

“Charlotte County is ground zero,” Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Craig Fugate said. “Most of the damage is there in Charlotte County and the Sarasota area.”

On U.S. Highway 41 just outside Port Charlotte, an Ace Hardware store was flattened.

Tom Brown, 40, manager of the store for the past 20 years, was standing on top of the rubble weeping as he tried to contact the owners on his cell phone.

His wife, Barbara, said the couple, who live nearby, almost decided to ride out the storm at the store because it was a sturdy cinderblock building.

“This is his life; it’s our life,” she said. “And now it’s just gone.”

At Port Charlotte Middle School, more than 600 people took refuge in the building. The gymnasium held about 200 people until the roof started leaking and portions of it collapsed. No one was seriously injured, but everyone was evacuated to other parts of the school.

Near Port Charlotte, the Town Center Car Wash was in tatters.

“It looks like the roof is all gone,” said Dolly Williams, 68, of nearby Cleveland, who checked on the business for friends who owned it. “And I don’t have a clue what my house looks like.”

The eye passed directly over Punta Gorda, a city of 15,000 on Charlotte Harbor. At Charlotte County Airport, wind tore apart small planes, and one flew down the runway as if it were taking off.

The storm spun a parked pickup 180 degrees, blew the windows out of a sheriff’s deputy’s car and ripped the roof off an 80-by-100-foot building.

3 die in 3 counties

The three reported fatalities related to the storm were a crash on Interstate 75 in Sarasota County that killed one person, and a wind gust that caused a truck to collide with a car in Orange County, killing a young girl. A man who stepped outside his house to smoke a cigarette died when a banyan tree fell on him in Fort Myers, authorities said.

Hurricane Charley made a surprise shift to the south and east at midday, putting it on a path directed at Orlando. Before storming ashore Friday afternoon, the dangerous hurricane taunted and terrorized half the state.

Within a span of 30 minutes, Charley’s anticipated target shifted down the coastline of Florida from Pinellas to Manatee to Sarasota to Sanibel Island.

“Until this thing no longer has a name, it’s like sleeping with rattlesnakes,” said Gregg Feagans, chief of emergency management in Sarasota County.

Wayne Sallade, director of emergency management in Charlotte County, was angry that forecasters underestimated the intensity of the storm until shortly before landfall.

“They told us for years they don’t forecast hurricane intensity well, and unfortunately, we know that now,” he said. “This magnitude storm was never predicted.”

Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center near Miami, responded by saying that he agreed.

“He’s absolutely right; we can’t predict rapid intensification with any accuracy, and I think we’ve pretty honest about that,” he said. “But we have been talking about the possibly of a major hurricane since at least 5 a.m. Thursday.”

Almost 2 ƒ|million people were urged to evacuate in advance of the storm, which rapidly gained strength in the Gulf of Mexico after grazing Key West as a Category 2 hurricane. About 6.5 million of Florida’s 17 million residents were in Charley’s projected path through the center of the state, including 700,000 elderly.

Guard members called up

About 1,000 Florida National Guard members have already reported to duty, and 1,000 more were being called up, officials said.

In Charlotte County, there also was damage to a state veterans nursing home, four fire stations were lost and three hospitals were out of service, according to state reports.

In Lee County, damage was reported at a Cape Coral hospital, courthouse and to City Hall.

In Monroe County, downed tree limbs, signs and power lines were reported. In De Soto County, damage was reported to Turner Agri-Civic Center, and the top floor of a hospital was damaged, according to state reports.

As Charley bore down on the region, many streets were deserted as residents were told to stay home or head to shelters, and even the Charlotte County emergency-operations center had to be evacuated.

Shelters held 44,000 evacuees, including 4,000 at a Cape Coral high school, a state emergency-management official said.

About 660 people in Port Charlotte rode out the storm in Port Charlotte Middle School. The group included about 10 mentally disabled adults from a group home, who were initially turned away by the Red Cross because the shelter was full.

But deputies said it was unsafe to be on the road and insisted shelter managers find room.

As the storm approached, at least 100 people refused to leave Sanibel Island -- choosing to remain trapped on the island until the only bridge is reopened.

“It looks as if they’re going to have to ride out the storm,” said Gordon “Booch” DeMarchi, public-information specialist for Lee County.

Federal aid available

Because of the federal-disaster declaration, people affected by the storm may be eligible for aid.

Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Caroline Meirs said the agency is moving emergency teams to its regional office in Atlanta, and bringing workers and supplies into Florida, although the effort was hampered by airport closings throughout the state.

State Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said a survey team would start assessing damage today from the storm. He also said the public can call a toll-free number, 1-800-227-8676, for help with insurance questions.

Amtrak canceled long-distance service between Miami and New York for today, and trains coming from Los Angeles will stop in New Orleans instead of continuing to Orlando. The region’s theme parks shut down early but hope to reopen today.

Strongest since Andrew

The last storm as strong as Charley to hit Florida was Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which devastated parts of South Florida with 165-mph winds. That storm, the third most powerful to hit the U.S. mainland, killed two dozen people in South Florida and Louisiana. Andrew also caused more than $26 billion in damage in 1992 dollars -- the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Central Florida hasn’t seen the bull’s-eye of a hurricane since Donna plowed through the center of the state in 1960, causing the present-day equivalent of nearly $2 billion in damage and killing about 50 people. Hurricane Charley left the same sense of awe and agony in its wake.

In Punta Gorda, Don Paterson rode out Hurricane Charley in his trailer. It began to rock, a flying microwave oven hit him in the head and then the refrigerator fell on him. He spent the rest of the storm hiding behind a lawn mower, and his home was demolished.

“Happy Friday the 13th,” he said.

Maya Bell, Scott Powers, Jason Garcia, Gwyneth K. Shaw and Bob Mahlburg of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Wire services also were used. Jeff Kunerth can be reached at [email protected] or 407-420-5392.