August 18, 2004
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press Writer
Photo: Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown, left, talks with Bill Nylander of Port Charlotte, Fla., as he is treated for a burned leg he received while fixing his roof in Punta Gorda, Fla., Tuesday, Aug, 17, 2004. Brown announced in Punta Gorda that more than 1000 checks have maild to victims of Hurricane Charley. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - Until the electricity hums again and the debris is cleared, health officials are worried that there could be more deaths and injuries in Hurricane Charley's aftermath than during the storm itself.
In addition to injuries sustained during repairs, residents are being sickened by eating rotting food and contaminated water. They are skipping their prescription drugs and, with no air conditioning and with window screens blown away, exposing themselves to mosquitoes carrying diseases such as West Nile virus.
"It really gets back to getting electricity as soon as possible because that's going to solve a lot of problems," said Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Right now there are a lot of heart attacks in people who are going out and cleaning out their property."
Bill Nylander survived Hurricane Charley, but the storm still managed to hurt him days after it cut a swath of destruction through his hometown. Nylander burned his leg while trying to repair his sun-scorched roof. The 68-year-old retiree needed treatment Tuesday at a medical center set up in four tents outside a hospital closed for repairs.
"We're seeing lacerations, injuries post-hurricane," said Karen Mulvaney, a critical care nurse. "A lot of people are coming here now because people are now returning to their homes."
The U.S. death toll Tuesday rose from 19 to 20, when an 86-year-old man who had evacuated his home fell and died in a motel. Officials in Charlotte County said three new deaths may be linked to the aftermath of Charley: The three died Monday in a crash at an intersection where the traffic lights were not working.
For thousands of Floridians, Tuesday was a day when services cut off by the rampage of Charley's 145-mph winds last week were being gradually — and sporadically — restored. Federal disaster assistance money began flowing, state officials cracked down on price gouging and postal workers handed out mail.
About 493,000 people remained without power Tuesday, state officials said, holding to predictions it could take weeks to fully restore electricity. Nearly 100,000 still lacked local phone service from the storm, estimated to have caused as much as $11 billion in damage to insured homes alone.
Free food, ice and water were distributed across the region.
"I haven't had a hot meal in days, but I'm doing all right," said 82-year-old Norma Chapman, who drove to a half-demolished strip mall in Punta Gorda Tuesday to pick up six bags of ice.
With all the damage, the services of an electrician would seem to be in demand. But on Tuesday, electrician Ralph Guthrie was inching his way through the Port Charlotte unemployment line.
His company's workshop was destroyed, along with all its service vehicles. Even if he had tools and transportation, it could be weeks before anyone needed electrical service from Guthrie and his nine co-workers.
"It's kind of hard to work on electricity when there ain't none," said Guthrie, 30.
The medical center where Nylander sought help is one of three that opened after Charley when medics and medication became scarce and a lack of air conditioning exacerbated conditions such as asthma.
Each day the number people seeking help at the federally-sponsored facility has grown larger. Saturday brought 54 people, Sunday had 88 people and on Monday there were 107 patients.
The medical center has to pick up the slack since Charlotte Regional Medical Center is closed and Charlotte County's other two hospitals are just treating emergency-care patients.
Some supplies are getting low.
"We're running out of medication. We're running out of bandages," said John Caprio, team commander of the medical team running the center. "We're going to need a resupply."
A bandage was what Norman Bentley was looking for after an awning at his trailer home gashed his right arm as he was trying to retrieve some belongings. He walked into the medical center covering the 5-inch gash with a baby-blue wash rag.
"It's painful," said Bentley, a 73-year-old retiree from Punta Gorda. "It hit the bone pretty hard but I don't think it got any tendons."
He filled out a form in an open-air tent serving as a waiting room, where a half-dozen wheelchairs were being used as seats. He then was taken into a tent filled with cots that was used for examinations and treatment of minor injuries.
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On the Net: http://www.fema.gov
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=2&u=/ap/20040818/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_charley