Hurricane Charley Caused Damages $11 Billion in Florida

[bizsale]

World Hongming Foundation Calls for Assistance: 
Hurricane Charley Caused Damages as High as $11 Billion in Florida

            Full report with photos and videos, see 
            www.hongming.us/foundation/2004-8-15-Hurricane.htm

On August 15, 2004, as the remnants of Hurricane Charley disintegrated off the New England coast on Sunday, 
Florida residents began the massive task of cleaning up from a storm that state officials estimated caused 
damages as high as $11 billion for insured homes alone. According to Tami Torres, a spokeswoman for state Chief 
Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, uninsured homes, business losses and damage to automobiles were not included. 
Thirty-one mobile-home parks in Charlotte County sustained major damage, some with more than 1,000 units, 
said Bob Carpenter, a sheriff's spokesman. He 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."

In order to relieve the people in disasters, as a 501(c)(3) charitable and educational foundation in USA, the World 
Hongming Foundation would like to invite public donations to help the victims of the natural calamity.
 
President Bush flew over the most heavily damaged areas in a Marine helicopter Sunday before landing in this 
retirement haven of 15,000 people, which was devastated by Charley. The storm left thousands temporarily 
homeless. "All the clothes that I've got now is just what I'm wearing now," one resident, George Nickols, told the 
president. 

Chad Maxwell shoveled up soggy ceiling tiles and shattered glass Sunday from the floor of the real estate office 
where he works in Punta Gorda. Looking at the coffee shop next door, which lost its second floor, and a florist with 
only one wall standing, he described his impression of downtown: "Beirut." "It looks like a bomb zone. Everything's 
gone. Everything's tore up," he said. 

The hardest-hit areas appeared to be Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte in Charlotte County, though the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency declared 25 counties eligible for disaster aid after the worst hurricane to hit 
Florida in a dozen years.

As a weakened Charley churned up the East Coast and was downgraded Sunday to a tropical depression, 
emergency officials pronounced it the worst hurricane to wallop Florida since Hurricane Andrew tore through in 
1992. Twenty-six deaths were directly linked to Andrew, which caused $19.9 billion in insured property losses.

State officials said it was impossible to estimate the number of missing people, and downed power lines and debris 
made the task of searching for bodies "tedious and dangerous," said Mike McHargue, director of investigations for 
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

In Florida, Charley knocked out power to an estimated 2 million people as it hit southwest Florida as a Category 4 
storm, pummeling the coast with winds reaching 145 mph and a surge of sea water of 13 feet to 15 feet. 

The storm devastated citrus groves, and could have a "huge impact" on this year's crop, said Andy LaVigne, chief 
executive of the trade group Florida Citrus Mutual. 
 
Charley cut northeast across Florida, hit open ocean again and made landfall again at South Carolina's Grand 
Strand resort region Saturday. The weakened but still-powerful system moved into North Carolina and up the 
eastern seaboard. 

Three hospitals in the county sustained significant damage, Sallade said. Officials at Charlotte Regional Medical 
Center said they were evacuating all patients Saturday, and spokesman Josh Cutter said Sunday that the hospital 
hoped to reopen within three weeks. "This place just isn't safe," said Peggy Greene, chief nursing officer. She said 
windows were blown out, part of the roof was blown off, and there was no power or phone service. 

Charlotte County officials requested help in obtaining necessities. Supermarkets gave away free water in five cities 
from Fort Myers to Wauchula. 

Any generous assistance is needed and will be deeply appreciated. Donations please be made payable to:

          World Hongming Foundation
          P. O. Box 4820
          El Monte, CA 91734-0820
          USA

Website: http://www.hongming.us/foundation/en.htm
Email: donation@xxxxxxxxxxx
Fax: +1-561-431-7612

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Note: This is a useful message; please do not reply directly. Any inquiry regarding the information in this email 
should be sent to the mentioned institution. If you do not wish to receive additional message from us, please click 
optout@xxxxxx?subject=Remove. This request may take two business days to complete. Alternatuvely, your 
may send a mail to PO Box 1022, Resemead, CA 91770 to drop out.
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/