Relief agencies, individuals and companies come to the aid of the hardest-hit areas.
By CARRIE JOHNSON
Published August 16, 2004
[Times photo: Bob Croslin]
Salvation Army volunteer Kelly Hughes serves coffee and hot breakfast along U.S. 41 in Punta Gorda on Sunday morning. Hughes, who started work at 6 a.m., guessed that the Salvation Army had served more than 350 people by 9 a.m.
Thousands of people left homeless or destitute by Hurricane Charley found a hot meal and freshwater Sunday as a massive federal, state and local relief effort was mobilized in the areas most damaged by the storm.
Five mobile kitchens were set up in southwest Florida, each capable of serving 10,000 meals a day. Three more kitchens were planned for Central Florida. More than 800 callers offering their services clogged the phones of a state volunteer hotline. The Salvation Army sent more than 350 volunteers to six counties and more were on the way Sunday.
"Everybody's helping everybody out and everybody's doing a good job," said Rick Grove, who drove his Chevrolet Cavalier to a relief distribution center in Punta Gorda from his home in Port Charlotte on Sunday.
Elsewhere in Punta Gorda, a Salvation Army truck from West Palm Beach was one of at least four food stations in the city serving meals. By 9:30 a.m., more than 500 people arrived for a breakfast of sausage gravy and bread.
"I've been dying for a cup of coffee," said Luca Navarro, 79, whose condo unit was destroyed in the storm.
Matt Holloman, a public information coordinator for De Soto County, said he was amazed by how quickly donations started to arrive.
But with a majority of residents still without power or potable water, Holloman said he's anticipating a need for more help in the coming days.
"We haven't come up short on anything yet," he said. "But without power, the demand for things like ice is going to be very high."
Gov. Jeb Bush, who visited Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland on Sunday afternoon to survey the supply hub where hundreds of crates of water, ice and ready-to-eat meals were arriving, pledged to get as much aid as necessary to those who needed it.
"This is the beginning of a long, long effort," Bush said. "And I can assure you that the communities that have been impacted are going to be restored, and in my opinion, will be better off after having gone through this, than prior to Hurricane Charley's arrival."
For now, relief agencies were focused on basics: food, water and shelter. Wendy Spencer, the head of Volunteer Florida, said needs will become more specific as the cleanup effort continues.
She urged those who wanted to help to contact a reliable agency instead of organizing a collection or driving to a disaster site and offering their services. For now, the most effective way to help is by donating money to a reputable organization, she said.
"We just need people to continue to send money," Spencer said. "There's just no way around it, that's the fastest way to provide relief."
Steve Dick, development director for the Salvation Army, said relief agencies were far more organized than they were in 1992 for Hurricane Andrew. Communications have improved and kitchen facilities expanded to feed far more people at once.
"Obviously, you learn a lot from history," Dick said. "Andrew was a big, eye-opening event for us and a lot of other agencies."
Relief organizations weren't the only ones helping. Private companies were also donating money and supplies. By Sunday afternoon, one Wal-Mart in Port Charlotte had given away five semitrailer loads of water.
Shirley Davidson of Punta Gorda was there to take advantage of the giveaway and stock up on paper towels, toilet paper, charcoal, tissues, soda and water.
"I think it's wonderful," she said of the Wal-Mart effort. "I just wish the phone would come on, and the power."
Times staff writers Tom Scherberger, Leanora Minai, Steve Bousquet and David Karp contributed to this report.
