Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have damaged more than one of every five Florida homes.
From: Psalm 110 (Gods_Fist_at_sbcglobal.net)
Date: 09/29/04
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Date: 28 Sep 2004 21:36:25 -0700
<Quotes> ---------------------------
* Combined, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have damaged
more than one of every five Florida homes.
* The insurance industry was expecting claims this season to top 2
million, greatly exceeding the 700,000 claims filed 12 years ago in
the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, the nation's most destructive
hurricane ever.
* Tom Gallagher, who as Florida's chief financial officer oversees
insurance regulation, estimated insured losses from this season's four
storms at $18 billion, or $3 billion more than Andrew.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/9784407.htm
Fla. Beach Residents Return to See Damage
MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
VERO BEACH, Fla. - Janet Hettinger waited more than two days to return
to her home on this city's barrier island only to be told she couldn't
go inside. Hurricane Jeanne had made it impossible.
"There's nothing to see any more anyway," the 81-year-old Hettinger
said Tuesday, putting her pointer finger to her temple and pretending
to pull the trigger.
The five-story condo where she lived was severely damaged by Hurricane
Frances early this month before Jeanne finished the job - ripped off
facing, tearing through walls and leaving aluminum siding dangling.
Rebuilding, if residents decide to, would take about three years.
"I don't know if I will live that long. I'm ready to call it quits
right now," Hettinger said.
Thousands of residents waited in a mile-long line Tuesday to finally
get a chance to see the destruction Jeanne meted out in Vero Beach.
Condo owners like Hettinger fared the worst, while most of the
single-family homes seemed to have made it through.
As it churned north, the storm's remnants dumped torrential rain and
spawned tornadoes and high wind. Three deaths were blamed on the
storms and damage was widespread.
The storm hit Virginia especially hard, dumping a foot of rain and
killing a woman who drowned when she was swept from her mobile home.
Flooding closed more than 200 roads in several counties. In Roanoke,
rescuers ushered to safety 11 mill workers who became trapped by the
Roanoke River.
The National Weather Service was investigating a suspected tornado in
Pittsylvania County, Va. "When I heard the train noise, I tried to get
in the closet," said Joe McDaniel, whose mobile home was destroyed.
"Five seconds later, I'm in a pile of rubble."
In western Maryland, nearly a half-foot of rain fell. Emergency
workers rescued several people from vehicles stranded by high water,
and turned around a loaded Frederick County school bus trapped by an
eroding roadway.
The storms also spawned a tornado near New Castle County Airport in
Delaware, the National Weather Service said. "It is a mess. Storms
like this are not supposed to happen in Delaware," said Cpl. Trinidad
Navarro, a county police spokesman.
Five cargo planes assigned to the Delaware Air National Guard were
damaged, and one was tipped onto its wing, said guard spokesman Maj.
Len Gratteri. Some 2,000 gallons of fuel also leaked from one of the
planes.
Nine tornados have touched down in North Carolina since Monday, with
most causing only minor damage, said Gov. Mike Easley. In South
Carolina, a tornado killed one man while another died after his car
ran off a rain-slicked highway.
The storm also spawned a tornado in southern New Jersey, damaging
several buildings but causing no injuries, the weather service said.
In Philadelphia, a woman was killed after surging water swept her off
a sidewalk and under a vehicle. About 400 people had to be evacuated
from a commuter train after floodwaters appeared to be undermining the
ground beneath the tracks, officials said.
Commuters stuck in a train surrounded by water had to be evacuated.
And along the Schuylkill River, rising water washed a pedestrian under
the wheels of a bus, but the injuries did not appear serious,
officials said.
Around storm-battered Florida, more than 5,300 people were staying in
shelters, nearly 1.3 million homes and businesses were without power,
and at least one insurance company was seeking state help because it
was overwhelmed with claims.
The emotional toll mounted, too. Gov. Jeb Bush announced that domestic
violence reports were spiking in areas hit by the four hurricanes that
have slammed Florida in the past six weeks.
"Nerves are frayed and frustration levels run high," Bush said. "The
stress of rebuilding a home or business can be overwhelming."
The governor's brother, President Bush, was making his fourth visit
Wednesday to Florida following a hurricane to tour a citrus grove in
Lake Wales. The state's agricultural industry sustained an estimated
$2 billion in crop damage from Hurricanes Charley and Frances. Ag
damage from Jeanne hasn't yet been totaled.
Combined, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have damaged
more than one of every five Florida homes. The insurance industry was
expecting claims this season to top 2 million, greatly exceeding the
700,000 claims filed 12 years ago in the aftermath of Hurricane
Andrew, the nation's most destructive hurricane ever.
Tom Gallagher, who as Florida's chief financial officer oversees
insurance regulation, estimated insured losses from this season's four
storms at $18 billion, or $3 billion more than Andrew.
Last weekend, Jeanne killed at least six people in Florida. The havoc
caused by the four hurricanes prompted the largest relief effort ever
undertaken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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