Is that it gives Florida residents a false sense of security.
That you don't have to evacuate under a category 4 hurricane, that everything will be allright.

Hi Stuart, nice to see that your concerns about the death toll from Hurricane Charlie has led you to the Habitable Zone.
I am the only Florida resident who has posted my concerns about the death toll over here, and my story is available elsewhere on the Zone. (Our moderator Robert Sheperd, has built us a fine community here over the years).
My mother lives in Canada, and as soon as we were able to make contact several days later, she said that it was reported up there that there were hundreds dead and she saw saw photos on the news of refrigerated trucks up in Punta Gorda.

But no, not on our news. WHY NOT?
Why "sanitize" a natural disaster? So we can still look good to prospective people who might want to move here? So it won't hurt tourism? You have both George and Jeb Bush surveying the damage and offereing disaster relief, for wreckage as far as the eye can see, and there's what......only 19 dead? It's preposterous. We are getting anethsitized by our media as far as real death and real suffering are concerned.

I saw friends last night who live in Cape Coral. The eye missed them by several miles. They had to evacuate at the last minute. Like we got here in Sebring, it was only a "category 2", and then 30 minutes later it was a "category 4". They barely had the time to get out. Luckily their new home with it's hurricane straps (built to Miami code) survived the storm. Their neighbours weren't so lucky. He said it was sickening to see what happened to Sanibel/Captiva, and they have more to tell me. Will follow up on asking them for officials to talk to.

People who don't live here and have no respect for Mother Nature, or those of us who lived through it; shouldn't taunt or jest.
This is a SERIOUS situation, one I'd like to get to the bottom of. I feel sorry for those people who were trapped at the Best Western. There were several hundred people in a shelter in Arcadia when it's roof blew off. However, they all survived.

Thanks for your concern. Please keep us updated on what you find out.
You also have my email address.