Hurricane Death Toll Rises To 20 As Florida Suffers

ORLANDO, Florida, Aug 14 (AFP) - The death toll from Hurricane Charley rose to 20 on Wednesday and 439,000 homes remained without power five days after the storm devastated southwest Florida, state officials said.
The authorities are also having to transport huge amounts of food and water into the four worst hit counties five days after the worst hurricane in 12 years hit Florida, destroying or damaging tens of thousands of houses and other buildings.
Most of the casualties have been in counties close to Fort Myers on the west coast, where Hurricane Charley first hit last Friday and which suffered most damage.
The American Red Cross served 121,432 emergency meals on Tuesday alone, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which gave the new death toll.
A spokeswoman said more than 1.94 million (7.34 million litres) of water and 7.4 million pounds (3.35 million kilogrammes) of ice have been taken to counties declared disaster zones in the days since the hurricane.
Officials said more than 100,000 homes have no fixed telephone service and petrol supplies are scarce in many areas.