President George W. Bush declared Florida a federal disaster area.
He later reflected on the government response to Charley:
...the job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas.
And that's exactly what's happening now.
We choppered over and saw the devastation of this area.
A lot of people's lives are turned upside down.
We've got ice and water moving in, trailers for people...are moving in.
The state is providing security...There's a lot of compassion moving in the area, the Red Cross is here.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson released $11 million in additional aid and other assistance to Florida, with $10 million to be earmarked to Head Start facilities that need repair or new supplies, another $1 million was provided to the DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia and Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, and $200,000 would be spent to provide services to senior citizens.
Across Florida, 114 food service operations and eight comfort stations were set up.
FEMA opened four disaster recovery centers.
President George W. Bush declared Florida a federal disaster area. He later reflected on the government response to Charley:
...the job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas. And that's exactly what's happening now. We choppered over and saw the devastation of this area. A lot of people's lives are turned upside down. We've got ice and water moving in, trailers for people...are moving in. The state is providing security...There's a lot of compassion moving in the area, the Red Cross is here.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson released $11 million in additional aid and other assistance to Florida, with $10 million to be earmarked to Head Start facilities that need repair or new supplies, another $1 million was provided to the DeSoto Memorial Hospital in Arcadia and Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, and $200,000 would be spent to provide services to senior citizens. Across Florida, 114 food service operations and eight comfort stations were set up. FEMA opened four disaster recovery centers.
Hurricane Charley