Governor Charlie Crist paid a visit to Punta Gorda Thursday marking the 5^th
Anniversary of the day Category 4 Hurricane Charley made landfall in
the small gulf coast city.  He spoke at the newly built Charlotte
Harbor Event Center – which sits on the site of the old municipal
auditorium destroyed by the storm.  WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

U-S Senator Bill Nelson says he believes there is hope for recovery in storm-ravaged Haiti.  WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

News remains grim for hundreds of stranded residents from the Manna Christian Mobile Home Park in Bonita Springs. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez has the latest...

Some of the more than 400 Manna Christian mobile home park residents still living in an Estero Community Center won’t be able to return home after floodwaters from Tropical Storm Fay recede. WGCU’s Amy Tardif has more.

When tropical storm Fay raged across the state last week it brought Southwest Florida much more than rain…it also brought a fresh crop of mosquitoes. WGCU’s Katie Pankow reports.

Tropical storm Fay has dumped lots of rain and driven many Floridians out of their homes. Health officials are reminding residents to to protect themselves against mold after the storm. Trimmel Gomes reports.

Central Florida’s Red Cross chapter is taking the lead role in storm response efforts. Judith Smelser reports.

A lawsuit against a Florida agency could affect homeowners who suffered damage from hurricanes in recent years, but were insured by companies that are no longer in business. Michael Hibblen has more.

The ongoing recovery in Charlotte County from Hurricane Charley marked another mile-stone Wednesday.

Ground breakings and ribbon cuttings have become standard fare in Charlotte County as it continues to rebuild from the damage left behind by Hurricane Charley in August 2004. This time is the opening of the rebuilt Florida Street Operations Center – headquarters for public works and maintenance in south county. Allen Hobach is Charlotte’s Maintenance Operations Manager.

“there’s been overall good recovery – what we’re seeing now is the remnants of it – those who aren’t going to rebuild – who don’t have the insurance money to be able to rebuild – but I would say we’ve made great strides in the county and city recovering from hurricane charley, but there’s still work to be done.”

The Seven thousand square foot building houses maintenance and operations staff as well as six building inspectors and two customer service representatives. And the rebuilding continues – a new public safety complex is under construction.

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Charlotte County marked another milestone in its recovery from Hurricane Charley. The ribbon was cut today/yesterday and a new public works building in Punta Gorda. In addition to maintenance personnel the 7000 square foot building will also house – six building inspectors. Jim Evetts is director Building Construction Services – he predicts the inspectors will be in place just in time for another boom.

“when you compare our area to the counties around us we’ve never slowed down to the degree they have –we’ve had continuous interest and we’re sitting in the best area possible for when the boom starts again – more available lots, better prices – and charlotte county is a great place to live”

Evetts says there’s been a tremendous increase in commercial construction in recent months – and residential construction is picking up.

An advocacy group formed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to keep tabs on the U-S Army Corps of Engineers has launched a Florida chapter. Levees – dot – Org is a non-profit, grassroots organization whose mission is to hold the U-S Army Corps of Engineers accountable for the design, construction and performance of the projects it builds. The group wants state and federal lawmakers to closely scrutinize the Corps and its many projects. Florida Atlantic University professor of urban and rural planning – Joyce Levine is the group’s new Florida Director. She says there are correlations between New Orleans and the area south of Lake Okeechobee…

“What we’re seeing here with the dike is an independent review group comes in, looks at the dike, goes over all the information about it and says you know folks, this is at very high risk of failure – particularly in a stronger hurricane. And we’re getting the same response from the Corps that we got before Katrina, which is Oh there’s nothing wrong with the dike, yeah it needs a few repairs but it’s got a lot of good years in it…this report is alarmist.”

Levine says after what happened in New Orleans…there’s no such thing as alarmist anymore.

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An organization formed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has expanded into Florida. Its mission: to hold the U-S Army Corps of Engineers more accountable for its work. The state office of “Levees-dot-Org” is headed by Joyce Levine, a professor of urban planning at Florida Atlantic University. She points to a recent independent review of the dike around Lake Okeechobee as the primary reason for the expansion. The review concluded the dike had a 1 in 6 chance of failing if faced with a strong hurricane. Corps officials have called it ‘alarmist’.

“You know we’ve got a clash here of threat and protection, and the threat is getting bigger and the protection is getting weaker. So for them to say it’s alarmist and nothing more needs to be done than routine maintenance and repairs seems a little suspicious to me.”

The Corps is working to shore up parts of the dike that are leaking. The 300-million-dollar, 25-year project began earlier this year…but has been delayed because of complications.