Troops patrol Florida after storm kills 13

PUNTA GORDA, Florida – National Guard troops in Humvees patrolled devastated southwest Florida to prevent looting on Saturday as rescuers searched for victims of Hurricane Charley which killed at least 13 people, shredded mobile homes and damaged thousands of buildings.

“Our worst fears have come true,” said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who saw “entire communities totally flattened.” Charley, the strongest hurricane to hit Florida in 12 years, roared in on Friday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds, striking with more ferocity and farther south than initially forecast and taking many in the area by surprise.Thirteen people were killed, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management said.She had no details.Charley churned northeast through the state and lashed the Carolinas on Saturday, but as a weaker tropical storm.Its main impact was felt around the palm-lined coast near Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers, and the death toll appeared likely to rise as search crews edged their way through pools and debris-clogged roads to reach dangerously unstable buildings.The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated 50,000 people were in shelters and 80 percent of the buildings in Charlotte County were damaged.Many mobile homes were reduced to piles of twisted metal and smashed furniture.”Right now, people are devastated, they’re discouraged, they’re frustrated,” FEMA Director Mike Brown said.”We will get aid to you as quickly and as rapidly as we can.”The authorities declared a curfew from 9 p.m. (0100 GMT) until 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) after looting broke out the previous night.Thieves stole computers from a damaged Punta Gorda fire station, officials said.While Florida tallied the devastation from Hurricane Charley, another hurricane and a tropical storm gathered strength in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.Hurricane Danielle formed way out in the Atlantic, with 75 mph (120 kph) winds, and was around 375 miles (605 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands by 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT).It was not expected to take a course that would bring it near land.Tropical Storm Earl, meanwhile, took aim at the Windward Islands and was expected to grow into a hurricane as it spun across the Caribbean sea toward western Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico.The five-day forecast issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center put Earl on a path similar to Charley’s, with the storm approaching the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday.But forecasters cautioned it was too soon to predict where it would go from there.”The projections out that far can have large errors,” said hurricane center meteorologist Dan Brown.Tropical storm warnings were posted on Saturday for the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Lucia, alerting residents to expect storm conditions within 24 hours and prepare for up to 5 inches (13 cm) of rain.Earl was about 225 miles (360 km) southeast of Barbados, near latitude 11.3 north and longitude 56.8 west, by 11 p.m. EDT.It had top sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 24 mph (39 kph).Its current path could later threaten Cuba, where four people died and 1,129 houses were destroyed by Hurricane Charley, and Jamaica, where one man died in flooding wrought by Charley.The Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 but is typically busiest in August and September.- Nampa-ReutersCharley, the strongest hurricane to hit Florida in 12 years, roared in on Friday with 145 mph (233 kph) winds, striking with more ferocity and farther south than initially forecast and taking many in the area by surprise.Thirteen people were killed, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management said.She had no details.Charley churned northeast through the state and lashed the Carolinas on Saturday, but as a weaker tropical storm.Its main impact was felt around the palm-lined coast near Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers, and the death toll appeared likely to rise as search crews edged their way through pools and debris-clogged roads to reach dangerously unstable buildings.The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated 50,000 people were in shelters and 80 percent of the buildings in Charlotte County were damaged.Many mobile homes were reduced to piles of twisted metal and smashed furniture.”Right now, people are devastated, they’re discouraged, they’re frustrated,” FEMA Director Mike Brown said.”We will get aid to you as quickly and as rapidly as we can.”The authorities declared a curfew from 9 p.m. (0100 GMT) until 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) after looting broke out the previous night.Thieves stole computers from a damaged Punta Gorda fire station, officials said.While Florida tallied the devastation from Hurricane Charley, another hurricane and a tropical storm gathered strength in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.Hurricane Danielle formed way out in the Atlantic, with 75 mph (120 kph) winds, and was around 375 miles (605 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands by 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT).It was not expected to take a course that would bring it near land.Tropical Storm Earl, meanwhile, took aim at the Windward Islands and was expected to grow into a hurricane as it spun across the Caribbean sea toward western Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico.The five-day forecast issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center put Earl on a path similar to Charley’s, with the storm approaching the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday.But forecasters cautioned it was too soon to predict where it would go from there.”The projections out that far can have large errors,” said hurricane center meteorologist Dan Brown.Tropical storm warnings were posted on Saturday for the Caribbean islands of Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Lucia, alerting residents to expect storm conditions within 24 hours and prepare for up to 5 inches (13 cm) of rain.Earl was about 225 miles (360 km) southeast of Barbados, near latitude 11.3 north and longitude 56.8 west, by 11 p.m. EDT.It had top sustained winds of 40 mph (64 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 24 mph (39 kph).Its current path could later threaten Cuba, where four people died and 1,129 houses were destroyed by Hurricane Charley, and Jamaica, where one man died in flooding wrought by Charley.The Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 but is typically busiest in August and September.- Nampa-Reuters