Five days after Hurricane Charley hammered southwest Florida, hundreds of residents streamed back to the barrier islands on Wednesday as authorities opened causeways for the first time to allow access to homes left largely intact. "I'm relieved," said Lee King, a Venice, Florida, resident as he surveyed modest damage to his vacation condo on Sanibel, a resort island off Fort Myers. "You know if you own a place like this it could go in a hurricane." Lines of cars began forming before dawn at the bridges and causeways linking Sanibel, Captiva and Estero islands to the mainland, where 20 people died, thousands of buildings were damaged and insurance claims are expected to exceed $7 billion after Charley tore through the state on Friday. As the lines inched forward, National Guard troops checked identification, allowing only residents and business owners past the barricades. Although some island residents had complained of being kept away from their homes for five days, people honked horns and cheered as police and troops began letting cars through, local radio reported. --MORE 1936 Local Time 1636 GMT
