Mighty Charley loses steam
Gov. Bush: 'Take this storm very very seriously'
 |  Hurricane Charley left behind demolished buildings and snapped utility poles along the coast. |
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 Aftermath of the destruction Hurricane Charley left behind.
 Hurricane Charley's high winds whip Punta Gorda, Florida.
 Details of Hurricane Charley's landfall conditions.
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| HURRICANE CHARLEY |  At 11 p.m. ET Friday
Position of center: Some 10 miles (16 kilometers) south-southwest of Daytona Beach, Florida
Latitude: 29.1 North
Longitude: 81.1 West
Top sustained winds: Near 85 mph (136 kph)
Map: Projected path
Source: Natl. Hurricane Center
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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Charley was downgraded to a Category 1 storm as it crossed the Florida peninsula Friday after causing "significant damage" as it came ashore on the state's southwestern coast.
Charley was expected to cross Florida's Atlantic coast as a minimal hurricane before continuing northward. The storm is forecast to bring wind and rain up the East Coast through the weekend. Hurricane warnings are posted as far north as the North Carolina coast.
Earlier, Charley snapped utility poles, demolished buildings and flooded roads at Captiva Island, Punta Gorda and Charlotte County when it came ashore with 145 mph wind and 10 foot waves. It lost strength as it moved northeast across the state.
Still, gusts were recorded as high as 105 mph in Orlando, where power was knocked out in about half of the city and the Walt Disney theme parks were forced to close. Forecasters called for four to eight inches of rain along the storm's path, raising the potential of flash floods.
The most powerful storm to soak the Fort Myers area since 1960, Hurricane Charley slammed into North Captiva Island just before 4 p.m. ET Friday -- a more powerful hurricane than Donna, which struck the area in 1960 as a Category 3 storm.
Bush said officials expect "significant damage" along the state's southwest coast. "People on the East Coast, as well as central Florida, need to take this storm very, very seriously," he said.
The White House announced that President Bush approved a presidential disaster declaration for Florida.
Late Friday, about 1,400 National Guard troops were sent to hard-hit Port Charlotte, where there are numerous reports of injuries and search-and-rescue efforts are under way, according to the Federal Department of Emergency Management.
Gov. Bush said initial reports on the scope of the damage are still sketchy, and no fatalities had been reported so far.
There are more and more reports of damage and injury as the storm tears across Florida.
About 270 people had to be evacuated from a nursing home in Lake Wales, about 50 miles due east of Tampa, when the storm tore off the roof, said Polk County spokeswoman Cindy Rodriguez. However, no one was seriously injured, she said.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported the Charlotte County Emergency Operations Center lost part of its roof to intense winds. Local television stations showed footage of flooded docks and battered buildings missing roofs and shutters. And the Cape Coral Hospital in Fort Myers lost much of its roof, Mayor Jim Humphrey told CNN.
The post office in downtown Fort Myers lost its roof, and beachfront hotels reported flooding.
Farther south in Naples, trees were toppled, power lines snapped and canals flooded.
At 11 p.m. ET, Hurricane Charley was 10 miles southwest of Daytona Beach. The Category 1 storm was moving north-northeast at 25 mph with maximum sustained winds at 85 mph with higher gusts, according to the National Hurricane Center. Strengthening is forecast once the center of the storm moves back over water.
Orlando theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando, had closed by early afternoon and Disney's Animal Kingdom did not open at all, the AP reported.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford declared a state of emergency and ordered residents and vacationers in two coastal counties to evacuate, the AP reported. State troopers immediately redirected traffic on the main highway leading away from Myrtle Beach.
Jim Hoke, director of the National Weather Service's Hydrometerological Prediction Center, predicts Charley will reach North Carolina around 2 p.m. Saturday where it's expected to weaken and continue inland to the central New England area Sunday.
Storm's surprise track
Hurricane Charley suddenly turned toward the Fort Myers-Port Charlotte area Friday afternoon. The storm was originally forecast to make landfall around 8 p.m. ET in Tampa Bay where preparations were focused.
But Bush said the Fort Myers region did not suffer because of the initial focus on Tampa Bay.
"I think that if you see where the counties began the process of mandatory evacuation, you will see they were in South Florida," Bush said.
Emergency officials issued evacuation warnings from the Florida Keys up through southwest Florida into the heavily populated Tampa Bay area.
Almost one-third of the area's population, 3 million people, was ordered to evacuate.
Humphrey said that while emergency officials were prepared, "We didn't expect to have the eye as close as it is."
Hurricane Charley's winds were 145 mph (233 kph), with higher gusts when it made landfall.
Hurricanes are classified as categories 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. A Category 4 storm has winds of between 131-155 mph (201-249 kph).
Florida Power & Light reported 700,000 residents lost power within the first hour of landfall in Lee County.
Lee County had 300,000 residents without power. Another 172,000 people were without power in neighboring Collier County.
Progress Energy reported about 9,000 residents without power around the Orlando area.
More storms
Even as Hurricane Charley wreaked havoc on Florida, a new tropical storm -- the fourth of the 2004 hurricane season -- has formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said late Friday.
The center of Tropical Storm Danielle was located about 235 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, moving west about 14 mph. Its maximum sustained winds were 40 mph, with higher gusts.
The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Depression Five, which at 11 p.m. ET Friday was about 895 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands, has the potential to become a hurricane that could threaten Jamaica in five days.
The Hurricane Center expected the fifth tropical depression to grow into a tropical storm Saturday.
Charley lashed Jamaica with wind and rain as it sped by south of the island Wednesday.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
