Hurricane Charley roared ashore yesterday, pounding west-central Florida with 145 mph winds, shutting down Disney World and sending thousands of terrified residents fleeing before an expected 15-foot tidal surge that could submerge miles of coastline.
“This is the nightmare scenario that we’ve been talking about for years,” said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Nearly 2 million luckless Floridians were urged to evacuate ahead of the strongest storm to hit the state in a decade – a Category 4 “nightmare” that crashed ashore on Friday the 13th.
President Bush, the brother of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, declared four counties major disaster areas.
Charlotte, Lee, Manatee, and Sarasota counties are eligible for federal aid to help with recovery – which may cost more than$15 billion, according to the governor.
Charley hit land at around 3:45 p.m. southwest of Fort Myers, about 160 miles southeast of the populous Tampa Bay area that includes Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Disney World and other tourist magnets closed their doors as the storm blew toward land and shelters filled with thousands of evacuees.
“The theme parks are closed,” Disney’s corporate sales director Kathy Seary told The Post. “We’re keeping the resorts open, and the guests are staying put. We’ll sit out the storm.”
Other theme parks in Orlando shut down, including Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando, and guests who remained at the hotels were urged to stay indoors.
Residents said the Gulf of Mexico churned “like a washing machine” and palm fronds whipped in the wind.
About 100 people refused to leave Sanibel Island, where the storm first touched down, and they were told to seek shelter in their homes. Authorities closed the bridge leading to the barrier island and didn’t expect to open it until today.
Sea water swamped the barrier island at Fort Myers Beach, and many shelters on the west coast were full, including Sickles HS in northwest Tampa, which held its capacity of 500 people.
“They were very nervous, and very scared, begging us not to turn them away,” Assistant Principal Nelson Duarte said.
The evacuation rivaled the largest in state history, and Gov. Bush urged people in the storm’s projected path to keep off highways and roads.
“We are ground zero for Hurricane Charley,” said Wayne Sallade, director of emergency management in Charlotte County.
Residents who hadn’t left the area were told to stay put or find shelter, and even the Charlotte County emergency operation center was evacuated as a precaution.
“When the ocean decides to meet my bay, that’s a lot of water. It’s already in my pool,” said Lucy Hunter, the hotel operator at the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Spa.
Six resort employees, including Hunter’s husband, hunkered down in a room in the hotel’s center.
“Every now and then, you hear a big whistle, but the noise isn’t bad,” Hunter said before the phone line went dead.
Diana Alexander, 47, was hunkered in the bathroom of her Punta Gorda home with her two sons, including 16-year-old Dagan, who had his wet suit on and planned to surf.
“It’s definitely a conflict between us, but it’s his passion,” Diana Alexander said.
“I’m going to pray to God and get off the phone,” Alexander said.
As it blew through the Caribbean, Charley was blamed for at least four deaths, three in Cuba, one in Jamaica, and there were two deaths in traffic accidents in Florida.
On its final approach to the Florida coast, the storm exploded from a Category 2 to a Category 4, capable of causing extensive damage to homes and buildings.
The Navy began moving all of its warships, including destroyers and frigates, and some helicopters out of its Mayport base on Florida’s northeast coast.
Charley was expected to slice north through the state, with 6.5 million of Florida’s 17 million residents in its projected path.
The storm even affected the nerve center of the war in Iraq, MacDill Air Force Base, where residents evacuated and only essential personnel remained.
Newspapers in Hurricane Charley’s path were determined to go to press, even those battening down for a direct or near hit.
At the Charlotte Sun-Herald, near where the eye came ashore, Executive Editor Jim Gouvellis said hurricane shutters were up – but that the newspaper had no plans to evacuate its 30 staffers.
The paper’s operations vice president, Richard Hackney, said the daily would hit the streets three to six hours late if the power wasn’t cut. If it was, the paper would go to press at other sites.
“We have never not published,” Hackney said. With Post Wire Services