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Lumbering storm's damage light

Power is knocked out for more than 100,000 in Pinellas, but Frances doesn't stop people from getting out again Sunday night.

The streets of North Pinellas were almost empty Sunday as residents and officials waited for lumbering Frances to arrive.

That was good, officials said. People needed to stay put.

By Sunday evening, the storm had knocked out power to about 109,000 people countywide. Pinellas County Emergency Operations Director Gary Vickers said the power loss was "perhaps on the high side" of the number officials would have expected for a storm like Frances.

High winds brought down many wires, sparking fires, closing the Belleair Causeway and taking out power to shelters at Kennedy Middle School in Clearwater and Safety Harbor Middle School in Safety Harbor. Progress Energy initially restored power to Kennedy Middle School, a special needs shelter, but it lost power again. By late afternoon, both shelters were operating on generators, Vickers said.

Fire rescue calls Sunday were about triple what officials would usually see, and included 33 structure fires countywide, Vickers said.

Those included fires started by downed power lines and buildings that lost power temporarily, he said. There were no reported fires started by lightning strikes and very little lightning with the storm, he said.

In Tarpon Springs, Fire Rescue Chief Kevin Bowman drove through town several times Sunday afternoon. He said he saw plenty of downed tree limbs and trees.

"I didn't see any structural damage other than fence damage," Bowman said. "I'm sure there is some."

Likewise, he said, flooding had been minor, and less than anticipated.

For those who ventured out into the storm, open stores and restaurants were hard to come by.

By noon, the Oldsmar Dunkin' Donuts was out of eggs for its breakfast sandwiches and was running out of doughnuts.

Bill Kraus drove to two different gas stations, but both were out of gas. He found a Citgo in Oldsmar on Sunday morning and gassed up there.

Kraus was planning to stop at the bar where he works and get a couple of beers before heading home. He wanted to do some grocery shopping at Winn-Dixie, but the store was closed.

"I think this is as bad as it's going to get," said Kraus, who lives in Oldsmar. "We're going to get some rain, some wind, and that's about it."

Customers seeking last-minute supplies formed two long lines at the cash registers of the 24-hour Walgreens in Dunedin.

Enrique Hernandez came to buy some water.

He was planning to ride out the storm in his Dunedin mobile home but said he would find somewhere to go if he needed to when the weather worsened.

"We may have to move, but not yet," he said. "With Charley, we went and stayed with a friend, but nothing happened. We're waiting and following the storm."

Nancy Brown, who came to the store to purchase food, said she wasn't worried about the storm.

"I don't think it's going to be that bad," said Brown, who has three mobile home park residents staying with her in her Dunedin home. "I didn't even put all the lawn furniture in."

Nick Tirikos, owner of Niko's Pizza & Seafood in Oldsmar, kept his restaurant open during the tropical storm.

"I have to make money, so I can pay the rent," said Tirikos, who also was one of the few area restaurant owners who kept his doors open during Hurricane Charley.

He said Sunday afternoon that he expected the restaurant to do well around dinnertime, with 40 city employees coming in to eat.

Oldsmar City Council member Janice Miller watched television while she dined at the restaurant with her husband, Ruben Hernandez.

The couple went to Hollywood, Fla., to avoid Charley. But this time they decided to endure the storm at home.

"It's flying projectiles," Miller said. "That's the most dangerous thing. I think we're going to be okay. We may have some shingles missing."