mile-long (21-km-long) barrier island home to about 6,500 permanent residents and 25,000 more vacationers in the winter. Volunteers handed out packets to passing drivers with information on utilities, reconstruction and garbage, mail and phone services. Sanibel Police Chief Bill Tomlinson said the island took a direct hit from Charley, with winds measured here at 140 mph (226 kph). But it withstood the tempest in remarkably good shape. "Beachfront condos sustained the largest damage. But of all the homes not one structure is down. There is approximately 50 with major roof damage. But out of 5,000 structures, we consider that a success story," he said, crediting tough local building codes enacted even before Hurricane Andrew in 1992 led to stronger regulations across the state. Tomlinson said even a small mobile home park in the center of the island survived more or less intact, a far cry from the cities of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte on the mainland where hundreds of the flimsy aluminum and wood houses were reduced to rubble. --MORE 1942 Local Time 1642 GMT
