The Naples Daily News from Naples, Florida • 1

a i aCMFHHOWUU) Collier newspaper Tuesday August 25 1992 35 cents a copy li r-rii 1 1 -Tf ii 11111 All things considered we're very lucky we fared very well Mike Volpe Collier County Commission chairman Hurricane's best punch misses Collier Andrew kills 10 Miami left without electricity By STEVE HART Senior Staff Writer By RICHARD COLE Associated Press MIAMI Hurricane Andrew struck southern Florida on Monday with the fury of 160-mph winds and a 12-foot tidal surge that flattened homes uprooted trees and flung boats and planes onto leafy streets The death toll reached 10 in Dade County before the storm blew into the Gulf of Mexico on a path taking it toward New Orleans A hurricane warn Hurricane Andrew ripped through South Florida on Monday causing ten deaths and massive destruction in Dade County but sparing Collier County most of its wrath Collier officials reported only minor injuries and no deaths Thousands on Marco Island Everglades City and parts of East Naples were left without power Monday night and several mobile homes and older residences were destroyed but the bulk of the damage was light things considered we're very Collier County Commission Chairman Michael Volpe said fared very Gov Lawton Chiles and US Sen Connie Mack were in Miami on Monday night and Mack planned to be in F'aples today to survey damage Fifty National Guardsmen had been called to on Marco Ir'and and in hardest hit b- the storm Guardsmen had been called to help protect property Everglades (Sty the areas ing was posted from Pascagoula Miss to Vermillion Bay La Andrew which grew to hurricane strength from the first tropical storm is continuing into the Gulf Forecasters say it is on a path toward New Or leans and could become the most destructive storm in hli The storm the most powerful to strike Florida in more than 60 years left 13 million people without electricity It was expected to reach land again sometime tonight or Wednesday morning was complete devastation like building blocks and somebody comes along ana steps on it Dade County Manager Joaquin A vino said of the worst-hit suburbs southwest of downtown Miami As weak sun broke through in late afternoon a swath of destruction in messy residential subdivisions and splintered farm communities became more evident by the minute On the waterfront a forest of spindly Australian top pine bordered by coconut palms at the southern tip of Key Biscayne was de the time it reached Collier around 7:30 am The decrease in winds combined with the fact that center passed five miles south of its redicted path' saved the county from more serious iurricane damage officials say Had Andrew struck ust a few miles to the north the area could have suffered more loss The eye of Andrew the center part of the storm that produces the strongest winds passed over Dade County early Monday and caused billions of dollars in damage there It passed 15 miles south of Marco Island and 35 miles south of Naples causing relatively little damage See COLLIER Page 7A Marco Goodland damage likely in millions of dollars nuded Air Force Base no er said Toni Riordan of the star Community Affairs Department There were some looting and arrests in southern Dade County but Metro-Dade police spokesman Donald Blocker said not much left of Homestead for anybody to loot a lot of One of the Metro-Dade police officials who toured the Cutler Ridge area 10 miles away said looked like a bomb went through The entire county was put under a 7 pm-to-7 am curfew President Bush authorized federal disaster assistance and made plans for a quick trip to Florida to inspect the damage Andrew smashed ashore about 25 miles south of downtown Miami before dawn with sustained winds of 140 mph and gusts of 168 mph or more Blasts of tropical air were strong enough to strip the paint off houses The worst damage was in southern Dade County between the Miami suburb of Kendall and the Florida Keys The storm ripped off roofs and left streets blocked by uprooted trees utility poles siding and live electrical wires 1 By HEATHER CROOKS Staff Writer Staff photo by Erie Strachan Flooded streets form the center of Everglades City around City Hall at the bottom of the photo Collier officials toured the county by air late Monday to survey the damage of Hurricane Andrew Story Page IB See MIAMI Page 7A At Williams Marina on the Isles of Capri it looked as if someone blew on a carefully built house of cards Two out of three racks full of boats in dry storage slammed to the ground during Hurricane making twisted piles of more than 100 power its The marina wreckage was me of the most serious effects of the storm which left the Marco Island area better off than many expected despite wind gusts of 100 mph looks like done pretty said Lt Paul Canady supervisor of the sheriffs island substation could nave been Marco Goodland ami the Isles of Capri escaped serious calamities such as collapsed buildings nut even the most preliminary estimates place the damage in the millions of dollars County officials said perhaps a quarter of the island's 10000 or so summer residents rode out the storm on Marco None were seriously injured but residents spent the day without electricity Lee County Electric Cooperative promised to send additional crews to the area today in hopes of speeding repairs The relative lack of destruction was of little comfort to Madeline Medovich office manager at Williams Marina Between phone calls from anxious customers she surveyed the damage and looked worriedly at the only rack still standing perched at a precarious angle probably need a crane to pick up the she said could use the forklift for some of it Where the hell's the After finding the forklift unscathed Medovich stared at the wreckage can you say? Devastation These custom- 0 i POWER OUTAGES Hurricane Andrew knocked out electricity to about 75000 Collier County homes and businesses and Marco Everglades City and some East Naples residents were still without power Monday night It could take days to restore electricity countywide officials say Page 5A DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Hurricane Andrew had barely left the area Monday when county damage-assessment teams were in the air and on the ground trying to measure the extent of the storm's destruction Page 8A ROAD PROBLEMS Area motorists should have tew problems on roads in and around Collier County by early today transportation officials said As of 5 pm Monday all major thoroughfares except for a stretch of US 41 east of Naples were open and traffic was flowing smoothly Page 4A See MARCO Page 8A Staff photo by Kim Wetmer Frank Cutolo walks through his East Naples mobile home Monday afternoon after Hurricane Andrew had been there The roof of home was blown off and all his belongings were destroyed f-s 1 mmrnm mi -4?.