News

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- No one would blame Gary Cinelli for feeling angry that the ceiling of his waterfront home in Port Charlotte gapes open to blue sky, that rainwater puddles on the tile floor of his living room or that the screen over his outdoor pool has simply disappeared.

But where others see heartbreak, Cinelli, 55, sees an opportunity for change. He plans to retire five years early and move rather than restart his auto repair shop or try to salvage his home.

"Maybe this is God's way of telling me to take it easy," he said Sunday morning amid the devastation wrought by Hurricane Charley. "Everything's gone now. You can get all depressed and upset about it, but what good is it going to do you?"

As President Bush visited Southwest Florida yesterday, the death toll from Friday's storm rose to 16 and officials said tens of thousands are homeless. An initial damage assessment by state officials: $5 billion to $11 billion -- just to insured residential property.

A snapshot of some of the aid already delivered or on the way: 300,000 meals, emergency housing for 10,000 people, 30 mobile kitchens, 407 trucks hauling 2 million gallons of water, 162 trucks packed with 7 million pounds of ice, 60 trucks loaded with cots, blankets and portable toilets.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency expanded its disaster aid zone from four counties to 25. Utilities struggled to restore power to more than 1 million customers, some of whom faced another 10 days without it.

Even as residents finally begin to grasp the enormity of their losses, few take the time to pity themselves. Many more seem determined to rebuild their lives or start over.

"What are you going to do?" said Howard "Captain" Schutzman, 51, whose house in Punta Gorda Isles was destroyed and whose small boat sank at an inland harbor. He has been staying in a first-floor room of a local Holiday Inn that lost not only its electricity but most of its second floor.

"We're alive," Schutzman said. "I'm just glad to be alive at this point."

The sounds of gas-operated generators mixed with that of chainsaws and leaf blowers throughout the day as people tried taking small steps to restoring normalcy.

Ed and Judy Wiltrout moved to Port Charlotte from Hempfield, Westmoreland County, in 1988. Their home was mostly unscathed, except for some minor damage to a screened-in outdoor porch, but like more than a million of their fellow Floridians, they remained without electricity yesterday.

Unlike many others, they had an electric generator to power two refrigerators and a small television tuned to local storm coverage. They have about 30 gallons of gas, which they figure will last a week at best.

So many businesses lack power that customers are growing desperate for basic amenities such as gas and ice. At the few gas stations with generators to operate the pumps, drivers waited for two hours or more to fill up.

Residents who take pride in their independence had to swallow the idea of relying on volunteers and relief agencies. Both the American Red Cross and National Guard have visible efforts. Others are acting on their own.

Jason Gaul, 34, lives in Sarasota, which felt only a glancing blow from the storm. He spent $225 on hamburgers, hot dogs, buns and condiments, and then drove down to a sandy patch along Charlotte Harbor, where the eye of the storm had passed. He set up a grill and started handing out free food.

"I was getting ready to go to church, and the Lord said, 'Come down and give it away,'" Gaul said, waving disbelieving drivers to pull over for a sandwich.

People who live and own businesses here seemed to have a hard time deciding where to start cleaning up after losing so much.

"It's surreal," said Myrna Baumgartner, 63, whose Port Charlotte house sustained relatively minor damage. But the storm seemed to turn her life upside-down. "I don't know where to start. Physically I'm fine, but emotionally I'm shot."

Her son, Craig Huffman, works at a local outlet for Pittsburgh-based Eaton Electrical, and he had helped arrange for a truckload of 150 generators to be delivered from a Milwaukee warehouse to a Fort Myers store. He brought one of them to Baumgartner's house so she and her husband would at least have lights, instead of candles.

Under a hot Florida sun with no escape to air-conditioned oases, the cleanup efforts seemed almost heroic compared to the devastation.

Robert and Deborah Kormann lost everything from their store, Port Charlotte Flower Mart, when the hurricane ripped off the roof, shattered glass vases and pulverized computer equipment. Metal signs from a gas station 100 yards away had landed inside their store.

Deborah Kormann, 46, stood outside the building, sweeping glass from the front sidewalk.

"You have to be optimistic," she said. "Otherwise you're crying all the time."

Her husband, 57, stood nearby, plotting their recovery. As soon as phone service comes back, they will reopen at first in the garage of their home, which sustained only minor damage. Then they will start taking flower orders again, making deliveries and rebuilding.

"We're not out of business," he said in a way more matter-of-fact than defiant. "Things look bad now, but I always land on my feet. Trust me, three or four months from now, I'll be better than ever."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News