PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — President Bush vowed Sunday that the government would send aid quickly as he surveyed the devastation from Hurricane Charley, the most powerful and damaging storm to hit the state in 12 years.
"You know the job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas. And that's exactly what is happening now," the president said as he stopped to shake hands with residents who had ridden out the storm here. "A lot of people's lives are turned upside down."
The number of confirmed deaths in Florida rose to 16, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings said. "We may find more as we go along," she told CNN's "Late Edition."
The deaths followed the track of the storm, whose winds reached 145 mph, as it made landfall about halfway between Sarasota and Naples on Friday, then headed northeast and into the Atlantic Ocean near Daytona Beach.
State officials said four people died in Charlotte County and one each in DeSoto, Sarasota and Lee counties, along the west coast. Five people died in Polk County and two in Orange County in central Florida. Two also died in Volusia County on the east coast.
By Sunday, the much-weakened storm had moved up the Eastern seaboard, bringing rain and wind to the Massachusetts coastline before blowing past the Canadian Maritime provinces and out to sea.
In Punta Gorda, insurance adjusters set up makeshift offices, and industry officials estimated that the damage to residences alone would be between $5 billion and $11 billion. That estimate did not count losses to businesses or to cars and boats, the officials said.
If the estimates are accurate, Hurricane Charley would be the state's second-costliest storm. When Hurricane Andrew struck south of Miami in August 1992, it took 26 lives and cost nearly $20 billion in insured losses.
That storm also took a toll on the popularity of then-President George H.W. Bush because federal aid was seen as coming too slowly. His son, the current president, said he would try to prevent a repeat of such complaints.
"We're moving a lot of aid very quickly. You can ask the governor whether or not he's satisfied with how fast the aid is moving," the president said, referring to his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Asked what lessons were learned from Hurricane Andrew, Bush replied: "The lesson is, respond quickly. And we are responding quickly. And we're surging equipment."
