24 hours of Hurricane Jeanne

Read from the last page forward to see an archive of developments in chronological order as reported by Sentinel staff.

5:03 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

After Charley, my downtown Orlando neighborhood went eight days without power. I have to admit, part of me enjoyed it (despite my children’s heat rash). A giant pine to the west and an oak to the southeast turned our usually busy street into a cul-de-sac.

With no TV, computer, or school the kids played outside, biking, skating, playing tag. When they got tired of that, they pulled out every game in the game cabinet: Clue, Twister, Monopoly. So as Jeanne bore down this morning, I kept waiting. Every time the lights flickered, I thought: Here it finally comes! But it didn’t.

At 3 p.m., I’d had enough. I turned off the TV and pulled the plug on the computer myself. And what are my three stir-crazy kids doing right now? Playing a symphony of disgusting body noises with straws inserted into their armpits -- something they learned in a book.

Sara Isaac of the Sentinel staff

4:59 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

Hurricane Charley hit the Waterford Lakes area hard, and Hurricane Frances was not nearly as bad. Damage from Hurricane Jeanne seemed to fall somewhere in between. There are some smaller trees down, and water is standing several feet deep in spots along Alafaya Trail.

Roof shingles littered many yards, and some tarps were flapping loose in the stiff wind. For those who have been waiting for roofers to come repair their damage, there is hope. Waterford resident James Marshall had his damaged roof re-shingled in the past two weeks. His new roof withstood Jeanne just fine.

Oh, and if you plan to try to get to Interstate 4 from State Road 408 anytime soon, you may need a boat. Water is standing perhaps 2 feet deep along the exit to I-4 Westbound on the East-West Expressway. Some SUVs were able to make their way through it, but more than one motorist changed their travel plans.

Roger Simmons of the Sentinel staff

4:46 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- Driving downtown toward what I hoped to be an electrified apartment, I took stock of Jeanne’s toll on Orange Avenue.

At least one streetlight partially snapped from its powerline, looming over an intersection like the Sword of Damocles. The same could be said for a large street sign spanning one lane.

Newspaper racks, about 10 in all, lay scattered in a plastic, multicolored circle.

A few windows from shops were blown out, and a group of people worked hard to strap a ladder to the roof of a car. Meanwhile, five others sought refuge from the wind’s gusts in an alcove.

As I sat at a stoplight, rocked by the wind, a couple leisurely strolled down the street. It felt to me like a ride at a theme park.

Brandon Hardin, OrlandoSentinel.com staff

4:04 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- The mandatory curfew in effect in Orange County since Saturday night has been extended until 6 a.m. Monday morning, chairman Richard Crotty announced this aftermoon. Individuals going to or returning from work must have a photo ID and a work phone number.

A countywide curfew in Seminole County has also been extended to 6 a.m. Monday. Officials made the decision after learning tropical storm force winds were expected to continue until at least 1 a.m. Monday.

A mandatory evacuation order for residents living in mobile and manufactured homes will also be lifted at 6 a.m. Monday.

Sentinel staff

3:40 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE -- Three-foot waves were crashing against seawalls earlier today, where just months ago, numerous boats docked during the summer lake draw down. Several docks sustained heavy damage and all were underwater. Comparably few trees were knocked down compared to earlier storms, but those that fell tended to be massive oaks.

Also unlike the previous two hurricanes, most of the homes here took precautions. Boarded up windows were so common that some streets look abandoned.

Here and there, residents painted witty comments about the storms: “We aren’t scared. Hurricane capital of the world.” “ Florida - Plywood State.” “Do not open until Xmas.”

Jeanne answered an age-old question. What do birds do in a hurricane? Egrets, sand hill cranes and blue herons by the dozen hunkered downed at the base of oak trees. They looked like snowbirds -- the humans who flock south for winter, that is -- waiting for the early bird special at the local restaurant.

Henry Pierson Curtis, Sentinel Staff Writer

3:28 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- Weirdest thing to do in a hurricane: Wash windows!

Living a block off Colonial Drive/State Road 50, in downtown Orlando’s Colonialtown neighborhood, means a fine, smog-like film is constantly deposited over the front porch windows. Combine that with shredded leaves blowing every direction and condensation from a house intentionally cooled to barely 70 degrees, and the glass might as well be opaque.

Protected by the sturdy old bungalow’s porch, I thought ‘what the heck’ and stepped out with paper towels and Windex.

Now I have a great view of one neighbor’s second-story porch railing hanging from his roof, the skewed, snapped awning of another, unsecured lawn furniture blowing down the street, a few branches -- brown and green -- and a good bit of water.

And the lovely sight of porch lights still on in all directions.

Mary Frances Emmons, of the Sentinel staff

3:00 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- We drove into downtown Orlando around 2 p.m. Saturday from the Lee Road area -- the Kingswood Subdivision to be precise. Our neighbors, who pretty much lost their roof in Frances, now have a tree lying across their back yard,and their new wooden privacy fence. They weren’t home, and I’m sure this latest blow be hard for them to take.

As we left the neighborhood, things seemed much better than after Charley, just downed limbs and leaning trees. We did note that everything seemed a little askew, with street signs tilted at awkward angles. Then we saw a woman with her hand shielding her eyes from the rain staring up at the top of her house. Its flat roof was peeled back like the top of an aluminum can.

The power was out up until the interstate, and my husband and I lamented how some of the blighted buildings hadn’t blown away.

Kim Hays, of the Sentinel Staff

2:08 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Jeanne’s hard, steady rain thoroughly soaked the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa by Downtown Disney, flooding a small lake on the property and seeping into the Watercress Cafe. The family restaurant is decorated with brightly-colored umbrellas suspended upside-down from the ceiling, but they weren’t in the right places to catch the drips.

Like the Wyndham’s other restaurants, the Watercress was closed this afternoon because of the storm. Staff sold hot dogs and hamburgers from a makeshift stand near the cafe’s entrance, and a ballroom in the convention center became the buffet-only Wyndham Palace Cafe. The Outback and The Laughing Kookaburra bar were scheduled to open in time for dinner, but a flyer said the award-winning Arthur’s 27 as well as The Top of the Palace Lounge were “OFF LIMITS TO ALL PERSONNEL AND GUESTS.”

And because the storm prevented some employees from coming in, housekeeping was also no-frills at the AAA three-diamond hotel. Rather than clean each room, housekeepers asked guests whether they needed fresh supplies.

Todd Pack, Sentinel Staff Writer

2:03 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

During Hurricane Charley, the Salvation Army furnished meals for Seminole County’s Emergency Operations Center. Then, for Hurricane Frances, the county hired a private company to prepare meals. By the time the meals were cooked at Lake Mary High School and served at the EOC, they were often cold.

So the county got a new caterer for Hurricane Jeanne. On the menu today were meals such as beef enchiladas, chicken cavatelli, jambalaya and spaghetti with meat sauce. There were even meals for the vegetarians, including vegetable manicotti and cheese tortellini. And for those into home-style meals, there was meatloaf with gravy and pot roast with vegetables.

If the menu sounds too good to be true, it is. Those gourmet delights came in their own plastic bags, complete with a “flameless ration heater.” They’re better known as MREs -- Meal, Ready-to-Eat. They’re the same meals soldiers eat in combat.

The caterer? FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For those who turned their noses up at the MREs, there was a reward. Pans of salad, pasta and pizza arrived courtesy of 88 Pizza in Forest City.

Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

1:54 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- The Orlando metro area may be getting good at handling storms, now that it has gone from realistic drills every year to, well, the real thing this year.

Renzy Hanshaw, who oversees the Orange County emergency management office’s operations, said he has been in charge of conducting tabletop exercises to explore the what-ifs of hurricanes.

But nothing has been like the experience gained this year with back-to-back monster storms picking on Central Florida. “We can kind of chalk it all up as a learning experience,” said Hanshaw, who says the county’s outreach to the community through the media has improved with every hurricane.

It has also been a good idea, Hanshaw said, to have utility company officials at the county’s nerve center so they can continuously update emergency responders on electricity and water issues as well as the public that tunes in to the briefings throughout the day. Today, for example, the center heard of a downed power line across interstate I-4 and it was working with OUC and Progress Energy employees at the center to determine just what happened.

Sheriff Kevin Beary had another theory as to why the area was also faring better. He said that “after the first two blows” that did away with many trees, poles and signs, the hurricane basically has less stuff to break and damage.

Víctor Manuel Ramos , Sentinel Staff Writer

1:40 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- On Sunday morning, Alicia Areseneault, 20, sat on her front porch, smoking a cigarette and rocking in her chair as winds swept through Orlando’s College Park neighborhood. It could have been any other Sunday morning, excepting the hurricane and all. Areseneault, who works in a real estate office, says she likes to watch the storms: “It’s different than your average weather. You can see and feel the wind. You can see the massive power of it. It’s amazing. It’s really cool.” Still, she said this storm wasn’t as worrisome as the others. “This is fine compared to the last two.”

But a few blocks away, architect Mike Frohnappel, 41, fought a losing battle against rising waters in his backyard.

In preparation for the hurricane (and remembering Frances), Frohnappel rented a pump from Home Depot and set up a system to drain water from his backyard into the street. But his effort seemed wasted. His backyard still looked like a lake -- a foot deep in some places. “The ground is just completely saturated,” he says. “So anything more just makes it worse.”

Mark K. Matthews, Sentinel Staff Writer

12:55 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE -- Public safety director Tad Stone said the county has been experiencing rainfall in excess of 2 inches per hour. About 60 lift stations in the county are without power and officials are asking residents to minimize water use.

EOC workers are outside the building now trying to reattach the brackets that hold the wind instruments to the roof of the building after an 80 mph gust blew them off. The wind and rain are still pretty fierce and the small retention pond behind the building has ocean-like waves ripping across it.

Rebecca Panoff and Tania deLuzuriaga, Sentinel Staff Writers

12:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- It could be said that Orange County emergency officials have been sharing some of our pain. Many workers slept last night on uncomfortable cots spread throughout the floors of the facility, located northeast of downtown. And for about half an hour this morning, television monitors tuned to news and weather reports went snowy.

Cable, provided by Bright House, was out at the center. But public safety director Jerry L. Demings said the service was only temporarily suspended by emergency center technicians to deal with another storm-related problem: water seeping through windows and other leaks.

The media room, for example, flooded near the windows, but workers were quickly sent to dry the floors. Some of those same leaks may have been affecting the wires that connect the nerve center to the outside world.

“We sprang a few leaks in a couple of places,” Demings said, “but it’s back to normal now.”

Victor Manuel Ramos, Sentinel Staff Writer

12:05 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS -- The residential streets are deserted. In thirty minutes, I see six vehicles on the usually busy road behind our house. Two of them are ambulances.

The rain blows past my window in every imaginable direction. One part of the fence that surrounds our back yard flies open with every gust of wind -- now a gate instead of a boundary.

Besides broken fences and leaning trees, there’s no obvious damage to the neighborhood from our indoor view. There’s nothing else we can do but watch the storm and wait.

Carol Scott, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:40 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LONGWOOD -- The rain has turned our backyard into one of those “infinity pools” but the worst appears over.

We’re doing the math here in southwest Seminole’s Wekiva neighborhood and it goes like this:

Number of major hurricanes endured this year: At least three (Four if you count Ivan)

Days we’ve lived without power: Zero

Having underground utilities? Priceless

Nancy Imperiale, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:40 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- By late morning, there were no reports of major damage at either Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando. With winds near 30 miles an hour in the attractions area, park representatives said it will be a while yet before ride-out teams can venture out to check for damage.

Officials with SeaWorld Orlando couldn’t be reached Sunday morning, but executive vice president and general manager Jim Atchison said earlier that SeaWorld’s team checks first to see whether its marine mammals and other animals are OK. Next, the teams look for damage to park property, then decide which repairs should begin immediately and which, if any, can wait.

Each of Orlando’s Big Three will decide later today whether they can reopen on Monday.

Todd Pack, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:35 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE- The latest reports indicate that more than 13 inches of rain have fallen at the Osceola Emergency Operations Center. St. Cloud has had almost 17 inches of rain. Flooding has been reported on Kissimmee Park Road by the Public Safety Complex and on Commerce Court in St. Cloud. Also, 17th St. East of New York Ave is reportedly washing out.

Several streets are blocked by trees and downed powerlines in St. Cloud.

Tania DeLuzuriaga, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:25 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

VERO BEACH - Indian River County was pounded with almost non-stop wind and rain as Hurricane Jeanne came ashore early today, pummeling the area with all-night gusts exceeding 100 mph. Unlike previous storms, the big worry is from the water, not the rain, early assessments showed. Streets across the county were awash in six-to-eight inches of water before noon.

On 17th Street in Vero Beach -- one of the city’s main east-west routes -- mattresses, roof shingles and an old rug floated down a four-lane stream. Just a few blocks north on U.S. Highway 1, a downed traffic light floated in the water from a single wire like a bobbin on a fishing-line, rising up and down in the wake of cars driving by. Side streets fed water into the main roads like small rivers emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.

At the aptly-named River Park Place apartments, water rose up past hubcaps of parked cars. In the nearby Rock Ridge neighborhood, water washed across streets and yards and into houses.

It was unclear how bad the situation was on the barrier islands because flooding made it impossible for officials to assess the damage.

“You need to stay where you are,’’ Indian River Emergency Management Coordinator Nathan McCollum told residents who waited out the storm out on the beach. “It’s going to take us a while to get out there.’’

Jim Stratton, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

TAMPA -- An early-morning trip to Spring Hill to pick up a 6,250-watt generator turned into a maddening drive as the pelting rain and punishing winds blinded my line of sight on S.R. 589.

Maintaining control of my medium-sized SUV became tricky during the 1-hour drive to cover 45 miles. At various times, my Toyota Highlander hydroplaned. It’s a good thing there wasn’t any traffic.

Realizing I had only half a gas tank left, I struggled to find a gas station open after picking up the Coleman Powermate generator. Good thing a Chevron store on U.S. 19 was still dispensing gas.

I feel very fortunate. I have a full SUV tank, a full 5-gallon generator and seven gallons reserved in containers in my trunk.

And the power, which has flickered only once this morning, is still on at my relative’s house in the Carrollwood area north of Tampa.

Outside, in the backyard, the 50-foot and 70-foot trees are swaying in all directions as gusts of 43 to 52 miles an hour are recorded in nearby Tampa International Airport.

The worst is yet to hit the Tampa Bay area.

Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Sentinel Staff Writer

11:06 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

So far, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has made three arrests for curfew violations.

The latest report from the Kissimmee Utility Authority says that 27,636, or 48 percent of customers are without power. The company has lost 18 major distribution feeders that serve portions of Buena Ventura Lakes and Campbell City, as well as areas near Neptune Road, Pleasant Hill Road, Kings Highway, Lake Cecile, Orange Gardens and downtown Kissimmee. If you live there, you probably aren’t reading this.

KUA said it expects more outages as Jeanne’s high winds continue to pummel Osceola County. They’re advising customers to prepare for “long, extended electrical service outages.”

“We have half of our customers out,” KUA spokesman Chris Gent said. “That’s not something that’s going to be back in two days.”

Neptune Road at Shore Drive is also flooded with as much as 10 inches of water in the road. Cars can still get through, said Public Safety Director Tad Stone. County

Chairman Ken Shipley attributed the problem, in part, to the fact that residents have blocked drainage ditches with debris.

Tania deLuzuriaga, Sentinel Staff Writer

10:51 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

SANFORD -- Waves crashing against the shoreline of Lake Monroe are threatening to wash away large sections of U.S. Highway 17-92, west of downtown Sanford. Authorities closed the road between Central Florida Regional Hospital and Interstate 4 after the water began eating away sections of the asphalt.

“I think there is a pretty good possibility of the lane closest to the lake being undermined,” said Seminole County Fire Chief Terry Schenk.

Along much of the area immediately west of the hospital, the water has washed away the ground between the seawall and the roadway. In two places it has already washed away portions of the asphalt.

Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

10:42 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

The neighbor’s repair job on the Frances-torn shingles didn’t work. Jeanne took several of them out a few minutes ago as wind gusts in south Lake County surge every few moments. The storm’s eye sits just south of Bartow, about an hour’s drive south of here in Clermont. The wind is worse this time or at least it sure seems like it.

Inside, a sheet tacked to the hallway entrance cordons off the open doorway, keeping rambunctious and storm-jaded elementary school children in the “kid zone” of the house, where they light up the Halloween skull and make more noise than the storm outside.

Kelly Griffith, Sentinel Staff Writer

9:46 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

ORLANDO -- At the homestead in Lake Eola Heights, we are scathed. No hurricane has passed yet and left us unscathed.

Tree branches took their familiar precarious perch, hanging from power lines. Oak limbs scattered everywhere. And the electric juice sent from our fine friends at OUC is AWOL.

But we know the drill. Batteries, canned food, water. etc. I MacGyvered a car battery to a power converter (the kind you’d use in your cigarette lighter) so my girlfriend and the three cats can have a fan, light and radio, while I head to work.

News reporters head out to the rain.

Rich McKay, Sentinel Staff Writer

9:43 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE -- As winds continue to pound Osceola County, there have been reports of a mobile home in Narcoossee with damage and a house fire in St. Cloud.

Emergency calls have been extremely low during the storm, said public safety director Tad Stone, with only four 911 calls holding. Personnel won’t send emergency responders out, however, until high winds die down.

-- Rebecca Panoff, Sentinel Staff Writer

9:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

Horizon Middle School became the last shelter in Osceola County to lose power, with the lights going out for good at approximately 8:20 a.m.

About 236 people, including 30 Red Cross volunteers, are staying there.

Between last night and this morning, the number of people at the shelter doubled, though there’s space here for 450 people. Shelter manager Carol Conde said, “as long as people can get here we’re letting them in the door.”

Life here revolves around the weather reports and card games. Conditions are basic, with most people sleeping on air mattresses. The roof is leaking in three places and water is seeping in beneath the main cafeteria doors. But other than that, things seem to be pretty OK.

Erin Ailworth, Sentinel Staff Writer

9:07 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- With the parks closed, and Jeanne’s 30 mph winds whipping up white caps on the lake behind the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World, most guests stayed inside. Sunday morning, however, storm refugees who brought their pets walked them along a covered walkway connecting the resort’s buildings, and a half dozen smokers congregated in the shelter of the courtyard outside the spa. Some sat alone, but others stood together, talking about the weather.

It will be several hours before the winds subside and Disney employees can safely inspect the parks, but a company spokeswoman said there had been no reports of major damage by mid-morning.

--Todd Pack, Sentinel Staff Writer

9:03 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

POLK COUNTY -- Water was rising midway on tires in Polk County’s Emergency Operations Center parking lot in Bartow, pushed by sustained winds of 70 to 75 miles per hour. A massive white tarp snapped, dancing violently from the roof of a neighboring citrus plant.

Reports of damage to staffed facilities across Polk County began to trickle in Sunday morning as the eye of Hurricane Jeanne passed over Frostproof and moved west toward Fort Meade and Bartow, making it the third hurricane eye of the season to tour the county.

Overnight, Dundee lost the roof to its 9-1-1 center and evacuated the building.

In Lake Hamilton, three police cars were damaged when their carport collapsed. The town hall’s windows were blown out.

Some streets in Lake Wales were flooding and the roof of the high school gymnasium was damaged. High schools were also damaged in Kathleen and Bartow.

Tampa Electric Company reported 49,900 customers without power in Polk, but much of the eastern side of the county was reported to be without power as well.

Hurricane force winds are expected to last in the county until early afternoon, with tropical storm force winds persisting into the evening.

--Christopher Sherman, Sentinel Staff Writer

8:55 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LONGWOOD -- Nothing to see here in the southwest Seminole Wekiva neighborhood that isn’t being seen throughout Central Florida -- soaking rain, strong wind gusts, and what we’ve come to recognize as our scariest shared experience of the hurricane:The flickering of the lights.

-- Nancy Imperiale, Sentinel Staff Writer

8:53 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

OSCEOLA COUNTY -- Osceola County officials pulled down the storm shutters and locked down the EOC overnight. Thus, we can’t see the wind or rain outside, but we can hear it. The roof shakes and when the big gusts come; it sounds like waves are rolling over the top of the building.

More than 20,000 people in St. Cloud, or 90 percent of OUC’s 22,000 customers there, are without power. Elsewhere in Osceola County, the Kissimmee Utility Authority is reporting outages for 23,000 of its 58,000 customers. In the Celebration area, 3,700 of Progress Energy’s 25,000 Osceola County customers are in the dark.

The winds should only last about six more hours or so. The weather channel says it’s blowing approximately 46 mph and gusting to 72. The wind meter here is broken, so I guess I’ll just have to take their word for it.

-- Tania DeLuzuriaga, Sentinel Staff Writer

8:46 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

CASSELBERRY -- While it was a relatively quiet night compared to the activity caused by Hurricanes Charley and Frances, the City of Casselberry did incur some storm-related problems. Traffic lights are out on U.S. Highway 17-92 at Dog Track Road, Seminola Boulevard and North Winter Park Drive as well as at State Road 436 and Red Bug Lake Road. Traffic is almost nonexistent and no accidents have been reported.Casselberry Police arrested three people overnight for violating a county-wide curfew.A power outage in the northern section of Casselberry in the Gee Creek area has been reported, as well as a low-hanging power line on Bayou Drive. Nine of the city’s lift stations also lost power but all are currently up and running on generators.

-- Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

8:10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE -- Morning in the Osceola County EOC comes early. By about 5 a.m. today chatter was coming out of the main hub, where representatives from the two municipalities, the sheriff’s office and county departments watched the satellite image of the hurricane swirl around on television. By 7 a.m., more eyes turned to the TV, as the hurricane was right on top of the county.

The shelter population stands at 1,114 in the county’s seven shelters. Minor damage was reported in the eastern portion of the county, with one mobile home in Holopaw sustaining major damage.

-- Rebecca Panoff, Sentinel Staff Writer

7:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

SEMINOLE COUNTY -- Anti-crime units patrolled throughout Seminole County overnight, but reported no storm-related crimes. They did encounter a man wanted on an outstanding warrant and recovered a stolen car.The anti-crime units stopped 59 people for violating a countywide curfew, but made no arrests.While the anti-crime units didn’t make any arrests, other deputies did, jailing nine peole they stopped for violating the curfew. Three of those were also charged with driving under the influence and one was charged with marijuana possession. Altamonte Springs Police made one arrest for violation of the curfew.

-- Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

7:16 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- Jeanne’s roaring winds rattled the windows at the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa across from Downtown Disney, making it hard for some guests to sleep. As dawn approached, some tourists and coastal refugees made their way to the lobby, where they grabbed a newspaper and stared quietly for a few moments as the winds pulled open the free-swinging glass doors. Downstairs, a woman talked worriedly on her cell phone as a few guests shuffled past her into the hotel’s market for coffee and doughnuts.

Standing at the checkout, a man asked his wife, “Do you wanna get a beer?”

She said, “Uh, no,” sounding a little unsure whether he was joking or being serious.

-- Todd Pack, Sentinel Staff Writer

7:15 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

KISSIMMEE -- About 11,400 of Kissimmee Utility Authority’s 58,000 customers had lost power as of 6 a.m. today. Six distribution feeders for Buenaventura Lakes and Campbell City as well as areas near Neptune Road, Pleasant Hill Road, King’s Highway and Lake Cecile have been lost so far.

KUA crews won’t be able to go out and begin power restoration until the storm passes.

-- Rebecca Panoff, Sentinel Staff Writer

5:59 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

SEMINOLE COUNTY -- An early morning caller to Seminole County’s 911 system had what he seemed to think was a simple request. “Don’t turn the power off in Altamonte Springs.”

The 911 operator tried her best to explain that she had no control over electricity or the hurricane that might cause it to go out, but the man insisted she should turn it back on if it goes out.

He went on to explain that his mother was visiting from Greece. “She is very old,” he said. If the power goes off, she will get nervous, he said. “She eats too much when she is nervous.”

The 911 operator came up with a simple solution: “Keep the food away from her.”

-- Gary Taylor, Sentinel Staff Writer

5:19 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004

MELBOURNE -- The movement of evacuees from a Melbourne Special Needs shelter is continuing. More than two-thirds of those being moved from the shelter are already settling in at Brevard Community College and workers are reporting that the move is going smoothly. The 120 patients, along with 200 caregivers and staff members, are being moved from Sherwood Elementary School to nearby BCC by: