Storm blamed for 5 Central Florida deaths

Hurricane Charley’s nighttime fury wrought freak accidents across Central Florida and was blamed for five deaths, authorities said Saturday.

Two died in Polk, two in Volusia and one in Orange, according to the latest count.

In Polk, a 61-year-old man was killed when part of State Road 60 east of Lake Wales washed out about 10 p.m. Friday, turning the eastbound portion of the road into a yawning pit, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michal Shaley said.

Jerry Padgett Jr. was driving his 1992 Chevrolet pickup when he plunged into the hole near Stokes Road and slid 34 feet down an embankment. The car flipped over and was partially submerged in water. Padgett was declared dead at the scene.

The gaping hole was 25 feet wide and 200 feet long.

Also in Polk, an elderly man was found dead in his car Saturday morning. The body was discovered hours after the man went to his car to turn on the air conditioner because he had trouble breathing.

The medical examiner ruled the death to be “storm related,” Polk public-safety director Larry Alexander said. Officials have yet to release the man’s identity or the location where he died.

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In Volusia, an unidentified woman was found face down at 2:30 a.m. Saturday on a sidewalk in downtown Daytona Beach. Her body was on fire from the waist down and her foot was touching a power line when an officer arrived, according to a police report.

The woman either stepped on or brushed against a downed power line on Martin Luther King Boulevard near Cedar Street, according to police.

Also in Volusia, a man died in Edgewater at the Florida Shores subdivision Saturday afternoon while pruning a tree. Officials did not release additional information.

In Orange, Florida Highway Patrol officials did not release the identity of a young girl who died in a Friday afternoon accident on the Beeline Expressway in a Hurricane Charley-related accident. Five others were injured.

The accident occurred when harsh winds forced a tractor-trailer traveling westbound to cross into oncoming traffic on the Beeline Expressway. It landed atop a car carrying a man, a woman and three children -- two boys and one girl. The girl, about 4 or 5, was taken to Florida Hospital East where she was pronounced dead.

Ludmilla Lelis and Vicki McClure of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Willoughby Mariano can be reached at wmariano@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5944.