President Bush yesterday got a firsthand view of the devastation inflicted when Hurricane Charley roared through Florida as the death toll in the ravaged state rose to 16, thousands were homeless and damage was estimated at $15 billion.
Accompanied by his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president boarded a helicopter to fly over Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte on the state’s Gulf coast, two of the hardest-hit communities.
From the chopper, it was clear that Charley, which packed 145-mph winds and was the fiercest hurricane to strike Florida in 12 years, was a force to be feared.
Debris from homes lay strewn across soggy fields. Tree tops were sheared off. Utility lines were down.
The copter landed at Punta Gorda airport, where the storm had flipped over small planes, damaged hangars and twisted pieces of metal around trees and power lines.
In a motorcade and on foot, Bush toured downtown Punta Gorda, a retirement haven of 15,000, where buildings were missing and roofs and fences were flattened.
He stopped outside the green cinderblock home of Gary Nickols, a 57-year-old utility worker.
“All the clothes that I’ve got is just what I’m wearing now,” Nickols told the president.
“We were going to try to ride it out but the neighbors across the street said, ‘You better get out of there,’ ” the heartsick man recalled, explaining that he escaped harm by taking shelter inside a local church.
Nickols returned home Saturday to find there was no water or electricity. Still, he said he felt fortunate because his home had been relatively unharmed.
“A lot of people’s lives have been turned upside down,” Bush observed.
The president praised the quick assistance provided by federal and state officials, but was quick to caution recovery efforts would take time.
“There is a lot of help moving into this part of the world,” he said. “Out of these catastrophes, the spirit of America really shines and that spirit is neighbor helping neighbor.”
As Bush was visiting, a weakened Charley churned up the East Coast and was downgraded to a tropical depression.
Toni Jennings, Florida’s lieutenant governor, said the death toll rose to 16 yesterday, up one from the day before. “We may find more as we go along,” Jennings warned.
The state requested emergency housing for 10,000 people.
In five cities, supermarkets gave away water and portable automated teller machines were set up to distribute cash.
In other cities, residents stood in long lines to buy water and ice.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management estimated the damage at $15 billion, but warned that figure was likely to change.
Many of Florida’s orange groves were stripped, hurting the $9.1 billion citrus industry.
In Charlotte County, which includes Punta Gorda, 31 mobile-home parks – some having more than 1,000 units – sustained major damage.
Sheriff’s spokesman Bob Carpenter said teams were sent to each park to search for bodies and survivors, but “we just couldn’t get the vehicles in – there is so much debris.”
Emergency officials pronounced Charley the worst hurricane to strike Florida since Hurricane Andrew walloped the state in 1992. Andrew caused 26 deaths and $19.9 billion in property damage.