Among tree branches and stormwater, residents find crab traps and fish. Still, they call themselves lucky.
By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published September 8, 2004
OLDSMAR - Overflowing trash cans, garbage bags and debris lined Shore Drive on Tuesday as residents began to clean up the mess Frances left behind.
"Nobody expected this," Mayor Jerry Beverland said.
"They said we wouldn't get this. Well, we got it. It was a mess. The town looks like somebody went through with a switchblade and cut all the trees down."
Crews began combing Oldsmar's streets and clearing debris Tuesday. Beverland said cleanup efforts could take several days. And many residents remain without power, he said.
City officials are still sizing up damage from the storm, spokeswoman Holly LiBaire said.
The city pier at R.E. Olds Park sustained about $50,000 in damage and could be closed for up to six months, she said.
Some of the pavement on Shore Drive will also need to be repaired or replaced, she said.
"I truly hope we're not tidying up for Ivan's arrival," said Mark Minteer, 51, taking a break from raking his front yard. "This has been an exhausting ordeal."
The storm surge that hit Tampa Bay early Monday morning left about 6 inches of water in the playroom, spare bedroom and work area of Minteer's 502 Shore Drive home.
Water swamped his back yard and ended up about 5 feet in front of the house.
But that wasn't all.
Along with the water from Tampa Bay, crab traps, buoys, toys, half a fishing pole and a 10-foot section of someone's dock all made their way into the Minteer family's yard.
Evan Minteer, 12, spotted a crab on the lawn Tuesday afternoon as he and his sister Emmy, 10, helped clean up.
Beverland, who also lives on Shore Drive and had to clean up his flooded yard, said he found a fish on his front step.
Tom DeBeche, 79, hired work crews to help him remove debris from his lawn at 732 Shore Drive E.
His garage flooded, he said, but the rest of the house he has lived in for 29 years with his wife, Jeanne, stayed dry.
"We've been dodging the bullet for quite a long time," he said, pointing out that Hurricane Charley left far worse damage in its wake. "We got away lucky."
