South Florida Gets Tidal Wave of Hurricane Aid

South Florida’s cries for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew were answered Saturday with so many tons of relief that bottles of water, canned food and piles of clothing littered the roadsides here like so much storm debris.

As the highway from Miami south approached gridlock with truck convoys, church caravans and ordinary citizens with car trunks jammed with supplies for storm victims, local officials, although grateful for the help, began to call for a slowdown in the goodwill effort.

“Some people have been cleaning out their closets, I think,” said Otis Wallace, mayor of Florida City, which, along with Homestead, shows the effects of taking the most powerful of Andrew’s 150 m.p.h. winds early Monday.

“I’ve had to send some crews out just to pick up donated clothing blowing around,” he said.

The death toll from the storm is at least 28. Officials counted 24 dead in Florida, three in the Bahamas and one in Louisiana.

In Washington, President Bush, who had been criticized because the federal response to the disaster did not come more quickly, announced Saturday that an additional 5,000 troops will be dispatched to Florida. That will bring the total to 19,400, the White House reported, in addition to 5,700 National Guardsmen on the scene.

Bush also announced that he will make nearly $300 million available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Small Business Administration, and that he will seek additional money, if needed, from Congress when the House and Senate return in September from their summer recess.

Officials in Washington said the military is trying to avoid setting up massive tent cities, and instead is planning smaller communities so that those needing tents for shelter can remain near their destroyed homes and possessions.

“What the military is going to be doing--if you are concerned about the psychological aspects of this--is have people down there block by block. People don’t want to go to tent cities, so the military will be there face-to-face, one-to-one, handing out food and blankets,” said a senior White House official.

In South Florida, with an estimated 250,000 homeless, hopes were lifted by the promises of more federal troops, tent cities, mobile field kitchens and millions of dollars in rebuilding money from major corporations.

Still, the scene in the most ravaged areas of Dade County wavered between chaos and paralysis.

Florida Sen. Bob Graham, standing in front of Homestead City Hall, said he has asked retired Army Gen. H.Norman Schwarzkopf to take over the relief operation. He added that the hero of Operation Desert Storm--a Floridian--has not yet returned his phone call.

Graham, a Democrat, said that although he considers Transportation Secretary Andrew H. Card Jr., the Bush Administration’s point man on the disaster, “a good man, this operation requires more of a military approach than a civilian one.”

He added: “This recovery is not going to be done in 30 days. We need these troops for three to six months.”

Six days after Hurricane Andrew cut a 25-mile swath of destruction across the tip of Florida, booming afternoon thunderstorms rolled in out of the Everglades, adding to the woes of the thousands living without roofs, running water, electricity and telephones. Temperatures again climbed into the low 90s.

Although garbage collection had resumed in some areas, in many neighborhoods the smell of waste hung in the humid air.

William Dorsett, 58, sat in the roofless garage of his battered house in Florida City and said he was still counting his blessings after a night that he called “terrifying, scary, something else.”

Dorsett said that he and his wife, Anna, have taken in his daughter Yolanda, her 4-year-old son, Gregory, and Yolanda’s boyfriend, and all five sleep on the floor under the one piece of roof still there.

“I tell you, I’m never going through a night like that again,” he said. “If I hear of a storm coming again, I’ll pack the car and drive as far as I can.”

Down the street from the clutter of Dorsett’s neighborhood, vans, pickups and tractor-trailers were dropping off cases of food, over-the-counter medicines, bottled water and diapers.

Floyd Smith, 78, said he had been sleeping in his van after the storm destroyed his house and knocked a dresser over on his leg. He walked with a limp as he carried a box of groceries to the van.

“Anything I can get to eat, I’ll take,” he said of the food being handed out by a group from a Jupiter, Fla., Church of Christ. “I live on $437 a month in Social Security, and I barely get by on that. It may be six months before I see the mail again.”

Throughout Homestead, Florida City and the Cutler Ridge areas, private groups and organizations that had collected food and water for days and then driven for hours to reach South Florida just pulled to the side of the road and opened the doors of their vehicles.

But there were often more volunteer givers than takers, and local officials said residents of some of the outlying areas in these agricultural communities were probably unaware that help was available.

Brothers Tim and Mike Dighton, who are painting contractors, and four of their longtime friends drove from their home in Boca Raton and set up a barbecue grill next to Florida City’s city hall. From two vehicles they handed out $500 worth of hot dogs and soft drinks, then drove home.

“We got lucky where we live,” said Mike Dighton, 35. “This place looks like a bomb hit.”

As many people began to rebuild--clearing debris, chain-sawing trees, nailing plywood on bare beams--Florida Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth toured the area to warn of price gougers. The day after the storm, Butterworth said, he ordered an investigation and issued subpoenas for the records of Georgia Pacific, Weyerhaeuser and five other lumber companies after the price of plywood tripled in some areas.

Those convicted of price gouging could face a $10,000 civil fine and criminal charges, he said, adding: “South Florida has been hit by the worst tragedy in the nation’s history, and as far as I’m concerned, there is no difference between looters and price gougers.”

A spokesman for Florida Power & Light Co. said the number of homes without power in Dade County exceeds 325,000. Crews called in from around Florida and several other Southern states continued to work through the night to replace downed poles and restring lines.

Officials urged residents not to use phones unnecessarily. Southern Bell, which normally handles 1.5 million calls per hour, was getting 4.7 million Saturday. County officials feared that the telephone system might crash unless calls were reduced.

Travel to devastated areas was also discouraged, but traffic on one highway was piled up for 20 miles Saturday, partly because of volunteers and sightseers.

A judge on Saturday delayed primary elections in Dade County, which had been scheduled for Tuesday. Circuit Judge Leonard Rivkind postponed voting until Sept. 8, agreeing with county officials that Hurricane Andrew made a Tuesday election impossible.

Harrison is a Times staff writer and Clary is a special correspondent.

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