============================================================ DIGITAL DIGEST � http://www.marconews.com � August 17, 2004 ============================================================ Subscribe to the Naples Daily News: http://web.marconews.com/marco/subscribe.html HURRICANE 2004: MORE HELP ARRIVES PUNTA GORDA � Three days after Hurricane Charley ripped up Charlotte County, relief workers and government officials are finally in place, trying to sew it back together again. After spending 72 hours in a devastated county toppled by Charley, tired victims were greeted on Monday by thousands of volunteers, law enforcement officials and military troops who scoured the area in search of people who were anything from thirsty to injured. The number of storm-related deaths rose to 17 by Monday, and four of those occurred in Charlotte County. HURRICANE 2004: RELIEF SUPPLIES WELCOME, MONEY PREFERRED Southwest Florida residents wanting to help their hurricane-stricken neighbors to the north are filling up donation boxes with relief supplies but the American Red Cross and other charities are encouraging people to send money instead. In the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, numerous drives are under way to collect everything from bottled water, baby wipes, toys and board games, diapers, canned food, towels and sheets, bug spray, household items and even generators. HURRICANE 2004: BARRIER ISLAND RESIDENTS WAITING TO RETURN ON WEDNESDAY Residents of Fort Myers Beach, the eager and the angry, will be allowed back to their barrier island homes at 9 a.m. Wednesday, town officials decided Monday night. Some Estero Island residents stewed at the San Carlos Island end of the Matanzas Pass Bridge, and a few � no official count was available � were ticketed or arrested for interfering with deputies and National Guardsmen stopping traffic bound for Fort Myers Beach. HURRICANE 2004: TRACING THE PATH OF CHARLEY'S EYE Editor's note: Tracing the path of the eye of Charley, Daily News reporter Janine A. Zeitlin and photographer Justin L. Fowler flew in a small airplane Monday to view the damage the hurricane brought to Southwest Florida on Friday. This is their report. The once postcard-ready panorama of Florida's west coast is spoiled today with macabre shots of Hurricane Charley's northward stomp. Maps must be redrawn to show North Captiva Island sliced in two. Hundreds of mobile homes in Punta Gorda subdivisions look like cookie crumbs spilling out into the streets. HURRICANE 2004: SOME STORM VICTIMS MAKE OTHERS THEIR TOP PRIORITY Oral Cooley's Cape Coral home was damaged in Hurricane Charley, but he can't stay home and fix it, or even gauge how badly it was hit. He has to go to work � just like thousands of residents throughout Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties whose homes were damaged by the storm yet had to help others also affected by Charley. "My neighbor called the police department (Friday) saying, 'You've gotta send him home because his house got trashed,'" said Cooley, a 25-year veteran officer with the Fort Myers Police Department. HURRICANE 2004: UTILITY COMPANIES SLOWLY RESTORING SERVICE With the tally of Florida Power and Light customers in Collier County turned back on reaching 100,000 Monday, the residences and businesses still without electricity number 30,000. Workers from a variety of utility companies � power, telephone, cable television � will be back out today to try to restore service to those who have been without it since Hurricane Charley crashed into the area Friday. HURRICANE 2004: ONCE BUSTLING BARRIER ISLANDS NOW ISOLATED, LONELY Before Hurricane Charley arrived, Fort Myers Beach was the playground for the region's partygoers. It is now a proving ground for the Florida National Guard. The Humvees rolled through the lonely island slowly Friday evening, carrying soldiers with their weapons loaded with ammunition and their canteens filled with water. Most of the talk was light as they killed time while scanning the deserted beach for looters. Get details on all these stories and more at http://www.marconews.com
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Click on the link below to be removed from the marconews.com mailing list. http://web.marconews.com/cgi-bin/[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BCfwlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumpulan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
