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It won't be business as usual

From electric companies to hospitals to kennels, many businesses were busy Thursday making arrangements to take care of customers and employees in anticipation of Hurricane Charley. Here's a look at some of the preparations.

Electric utilities

Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg and Tampa Electric Co. warned Thursday that they now expect Hurricane Charley to ravage their respective service territories. Some customers could be without power for several days as line crews scramble to fix what the utilities fear will be a huge number of downed power lines.

As a result, both companies have doubled the number of backup personnel they have requested from out-of-state utilities. Tampa Electric has asked for 1,200 linemen and 700 tree trimmers, while Progress, which serves a much broader area in Florida, is seeking 2,500 linemen and 1,000 tree trimmers.

Tampa Electric warned that it may cut power to downtown Tampa, Harbour Island and Davis Islands because those low-elevation areas are particularly vulnerable to rising water. Doing so pre-emptively will make it easier to restore power later, Tampa Electric spokesman Ross Bannister said.

"We're positioning ourselves as if the storm is going to come right into the pocket," he said.

Meanwhile, Progress shut down one Pinellas County power plant Thursday and may shut down two others intermittently today because of the threat of water damage. But Progress spokesman Aaron Perlut said if power demand declines sharply as customers evacuate the area, the company might avoid cutting power.

Progress also evacuated its downtown St. Petersburg headquarters because of its proximity to the bay.

Compounding the utilities' challenge is the fact that the Tampa Bay area already has experienced unusually heavy rainfall this year. That, Bannister said, has softened the ground and increased the likelihood that storm winds will uproot trees and utility poles, which in turn will knock out power lines.

Bill Habermeyer, Progress Energy Florida president and chief executive, said the utility will be aided by backup crews from as far away as Texas, Ohio and Kentucky.

"If it hits as projected, it will be a big, big job," he said.

- LOUIS HAU

Two Tampa Bay area hospitals in low-lying areas were evacuating patients Thursday. Town & Country Hospital in Tampa was moving about 45 patients to Tampa's Memorial Hospital. Palms of Pasadena Hospital in Pinellas County was preparing to close after transferring as many as 80 patients - along with their nurses and supplies - to St. Anthony's and Edward White hospitals in St. Petersburg.

Earlier in the day, staffers at Tampa General Hospital, which sits 12 feet above sea level, were moving computers and essential records to higher floors. By evening, Tampa General had decided to transfer as many of its 500 patients as possible to other area hospitals. The remaining patients will continue to be treated at Tampa General, but no new patients will be accepted.

Many facilities were canceling elective surgeries scheduled for today, though hospitals that remain open will be staffed to handle emergency procedures.

- KRIS HUNDLEY

Many banks throughout west-central Florida will be closed today and others will close early.

Bank of America, the biggest bank in the region, is closing all its branches and other bank buildings in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties today. So are SunTrust and BB&T.

Bank of America planned a 5:30 a.m. meeting to reassess the storm's path to determine if a limited number of branches in those areas may still open. SunTrust, which is closing 101 branches in a six-county area, said customers who need access to their money or accounts may use telephone banking, PC banking and ATMs.

On Thursday, many banks were reporting a run on deposits - of sorts - as residents pulled hundreds of dollars at a time out of ATMs and bank branches to tide them over.

Alarm systems within the ATMs go off when the machines run low on cash, and several banks said they were trying to replenish them within a couple of hours.

"They're monitoring it on a moment-by-moment basis via computer," said AmSouth spokeswoman Susan Lang. "Our policy is to add as many dollars as we can to our ATMs, to keep replacing it."

- JEFF HARRINGTON

Airlines watched the progress of Hurricane Charley as they decided how long to keep flying into Tampa International Airport.

The only cancellations by midday Thursday were 11 flights to and from cities affected by Charley or Tropical Storm Bonnie: Key West, Pensacola and Panama City. By late afternoon, most of Tampa International's largest carriers decided to leave planes overnight so they could fly their earliest departures today.

Southwest planned to fly outbound from Tampa until 8:50 a.m. today. US Airways' last jet flight was scheduled to leave at 7:20 a.m., with the last US Airways Express flight expected to depart at 9:30 a.m. The two airlines won't fly into Tampa before this evening.

Delta Air Lines decided to move jets out of Charley's path even earlier. The last departure was scheduled for 12:30 a.m. today. Delta will decide late today whether to return planes to Tampa International in time for Saturday morning departures, said spokeswoman Peggy Estes.

Tampa International officials advised travelers to check the status of their flights with airlines today before coming to the airport.

- STEVE HUETTEL

Tampa Bay area kennels were besieged by callers seeking a place to board their pets during the storm. Many callers were evacuating but were not allowed to bring their dog, cat or reptile to the local emergency shelter.

"We're filling up pretty quickly," said Bobbie Glassman, owner of All Pets Inn in St. Petersburg. "The phone hasn't stopped ringing since about 7 this morning."

To safeguard the kennel's guests, Glassman and her husband were boarding the windows, filling huge vats with water and stockpiling gas for their generator. They also had plenty of chew bones on hand to keep any nervous dogs occupied.

Pasadena Pet Motel in South Pasadena, located in an evacuation zone on Bear Creek, was less fortunate. Owner Karen Hughart said kennel employees were trying Thursday to reach owners of all 35 dogs and cats on the premises to ask them to pick up their pets. Not everyone was reachable, however, and some customers chose to leave their pets with her anyway.

"Whoever's left here, I'm going to ID them with a tag, put them in the highest cage possible, and then go home if it's like a (Category) 3 (hurricane)," said Hughart, who plans to use a kayak to get to and from work. "If it's 1 or 2, I'm staying here."

Kennel owners could not simply hand pets over to a local animal shelter. No area animal shelters accept pets during disasters, said Beth Lockwood, executive director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Pinellas County.

- SCOTT BARANCIK

Fast food operators, which have become major sources of food in disaster situations, spent Thursday making plans to provide relief, including pizza and coffee, to evacuees and emergency workers during the storms and afterward.

"All our restaurants will stay open unless we are forced to close, meaning by a mandatory evacuation order or a power outage," said Bob Conigliaro, vice president for community relations at the Caspers Co., which has 51 McDonald's restaurants around Tampa Bay as well as 22 units in the path of Bonnie in Tallahassee and the Panhandle.

Company officials huddled in Tampa on Thursday afternoon and assigned all executive personnel to work in the field, staffing restaurants and ferrying workers with transportation problems.

- CHRIS SHERMAN