Charley: Aftermath 1

We were overwhelmed without water, power or a roof we could not live in our home. The friends we rode out the storm with offered to let us stay there but there was already a house full there. My parents, sister and her family came down on Saturday the 14th to help get the cleanup started. They offered to let us stay with them for a few days. We accepted.
We stayed in Bradenton (about an hour and a half north of Punta Gorda) for two days. At my folks house we saw television and newspapers for the first time since the Charley knocked out our power. One thing that bothered me abou the news coverage was that most of the video was of trailer parks. There was a lot more flattened by Charley than trailer parks. On Monday one of my wife's co-workers was going north for a week and said we use her home in Englewood. We accepted that offer as well and were about an hour closer to home and work. We began to look for the FEMA offices and the comfort stations. We needed food and water. We had brought some food with us when we left the house but with both our workplaces closed we didn't know how long that would hold us. As much as I dislike port-a-potties there were a welcome sight when no business or pulic building had water. There also groups all over serving free food and drink. Again this was a welcome sight as we searched the county for information and supplies for trying to get things back to normal. My sincere thanks goes out to those volunteers who made life more bearable for all of us through this tragedy.