I just read a thread on another board from a local Orlando man that was trying to secure a room anywhere in the Orlando vacinity. I didn't realize that it was as bad there as he described it. The biggest problems now are getting services (gas, food, lodging) and having no power. Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone on their way there and thinking that the hurricane was a part of history. Here's an article from an Orlando paper:
Nearly 800,000 Without Power
Aug 17, 9:15 AM (ET)
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
About 790,000 people remained without power in Central Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, and officials estimated it could take weeks to get electricity fully restored. At least 150,000 were without local phone service. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was to study the damage in the area Tuesday.
Some 2,300 people stayed in shelters, and Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown said 11,000 have already applied for disaster aid. Federal officials received 20,000 catastrophic housing requests - 10,000 on Monday alone. Officials estimate Charley caused as much as $11 billion in damage to insured homes alone.
No phone. No running water. No toilets. No ice to fight the heat. No diapers for the baby and no gas to fill the tank. For thousands who've lost their homes and creature comforts to Hurricane Charley, this is reality.
"The hard part is not being able to bathe and not having food and water unless I go out and look for it," said Tami Wilson, 48, while waiting in line at a "comfort station" for ice and water while her blind husband, Dewaine, waited alone at home.
"After you live through it, you can't imagine how desperate you get," said Barbara Winslow, who was waiting in line for diapers, food, water and ice at National Guard comfort station. "You don't have anything. If the end of the world came tomorrow, this is what it would look like."
Gasoline was precious, with lines of 40 cars at some stations. Lines also snaked through parking lots at food distribution sites. Bottles of water and bags of ice took on vital importance and to make things even more difficult, temperatures have soared into the high 90s.
Frustrations began to emerge on a typically muggy day as people complained about the lack of power and access to their neighborhoods. All we hear on TV is about 15,000 mobile homes damaged in Punta Gorda. We have over one million people in Orlando and this area is devastated but no one wants to report anything about it because of the tourists, cried one woman. That seems to be the consensus of many Central Florida residents.
Nearly 800,000 Without Power
Aug 17, 9:15 AM (ET)
By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
About 790,000 people remained without power in Central Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, and officials estimated it could take weeks to get electricity fully restored. At least 150,000 were without local phone service. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was to study the damage in the area Tuesday.
Some 2,300 people stayed in shelters, and Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown said 11,000 have already applied for disaster aid. Federal officials received 20,000 catastrophic housing requests - 10,000 on Monday alone. Officials estimate Charley caused as much as $11 billion in damage to insured homes alone.
No phone. No running water. No toilets. No ice to fight the heat. No diapers for the baby and no gas to fill the tank. For thousands who've lost their homes and creature comforts to Hurricane Charley, this is reality.
"The hard part is not being able to bathe and not having food and water unless I go out and look for it," said Tami Wilson, 48, while waiting in line at a "comfort station" for ice and water while her blind husband, Dewaine, waited alone at home.
"After you live through it, you can't imagine how desperate you get," said Barbara Winslow, who was waiting in line for diapers, food, water and ice at National Guard comfort station. "You don't have anything. If the end of the world came tomorrow, this is what it would look like."
Gasoline was precious, with lines of 40 cars at some stations. Lines also snaked through parking lots at food distribution sites. Bottles of water and bags of ice took on vital importance and to make things even more difficult, temperatures have soared into the high 90s.
Frustrations began to emerge on a typically muggy day as people complained about the lack of power and access to their neighborhoods. All we hear on TV is about 15,000 mobile homes damaged in Punta Gorda. We have over one million people in Orlando and this area is devastated but no one wants to report anything about it because of the tourists, cried one woman. That seems to be the consensus of many Central Florida residents.
I was on the weaker west side at WLV.
got hit by a category 2 hurricane, there are still huge areas of devastation here. Trust me, the sustained winds of a cat 2 hurricane can cause a heck of a lot of damage. Punta Gorda and the Charlotte County area definitely got hit worse than we did but that does not mean that the counties around WDW are not suffering. 
