A3 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 | YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SINCE 1874 | $2 Lake City Reporter LAKECITYREPORTER.COM >> SUNDAY + PLUS TIGERS 1D Four in a SURVIVE, New VA row — 15 21-19 provider years later in town Travel Tales Story below 1B See 1C FATAL CRASH EXODUS HURRICANE DORIAN Family learning Ready to live without a for the mother Yolandita Diaz leaves behind 3 young boys worst and a loving husband. Though even best case scenario By TONY BRITT may mean lots of wind and rain. [email protected] When Hurricane Maria struck By CARL MCKINNEY Puerto Rico in 2017, Ignacio [email protected] Santiago and his wife, Yolandita Diaz, escaped the worst of it. Lake City’s streets were eerily empty Tragedy would take a different Saturday morning, but the hotel rooms were form two years later. packed with evacuees from other parts of the Yolandita Diaz was less than state as the community braced for impact. two minutes from Hurricane Dorian had home on Monday Dorian may shifted northward and when a vehicle not make lessened the chance of a traveling in the opposite direction landfall in direct impact with inland veered into her Florida, but Florida. Even with the lane, causing a could still best-case scenario, Lake head-on collision. change course. City was still at risk of Diaz Diaz would die seeing at least tropical from injuries she Either way, storm-force winds — and sustained, leaving Santiago and we’ll likely there was still no guar- their three sons to pick up the feel storm’s antee Dorian wouldn’t pieces of their lives. impact in change course for a more “It’s a very painful situation,” direct route to Columbia Santiago said through family Lake City. County, whose residents friend Crissy Garduno, who acted as an interpreter. had no choice but to play He said he’s trying to keep the the waiting game. children’s spirits going, but they Nick Patel, the owner of six hotels in the haven’t seemed to grasp yet what Lake City area, said his businesses were at had happened. about 90 percent occupancy as of Saturday “At night they’ll ask where morning. their mom is, and they don’t want “Normally August and September are the to eat or they won’t eat because slowest months for the hotels in Lake City, so they say they don’t like the food,” having 90 percent is definitely abnormal,” Patel he said. And the three scared, said. “Though this is not the best way to get young boys can’t fall asleep with- busy.” out holding on to him tightly. The three children — Keliel, When there’s a looming hurricane, compa- 4; Kamyl, 6; and Kevyn, 9, all stu- nies such as Florida Power and Light reserve dents at Fort White Elementary a large number of hotel rooms for workers School — were in the vehicle who use Columbia County as a staging area for with their mother when the crash power restoration efforts. This time around, occurred Monday afternoon. the power companies waited a bit too long and Santiago said the children many rooms were snatched by evacuees, Patel often go outside their home look- said. ing for their mom. They have “We’ve got very busy last night,” Patel said been showing signs of despera- Saturday. “We expect the same thing today and tion in their search — a search at least until Tuesday.” that they’ll soon realize is futile. “When we had to go to the hos- Hundreds of utility trucks idled at the county pital several times after the crash. fairgrounds to await power restoration efforts. They would run away from us RAY CARPENTER PHOTOGRAPHY Clay Electric released a statement about its trying to find their mom, because Traffic on I-75 near the U.S. 90 exit streams steadily northward Friday, though preparations for the storm. they know she was there before,” few ventured south as residents downstate cleared out in anticipation of “If Dorian strikes Clay Electric’s service Hurricane Dorian. The powerful storm shifted slightly away from Florida FAMILY continued on 3A Friday night, but could just as easily shift back. Either way, it will be felt here. DORIAN continued on 6A Trash talks set to resume Tues. Four in a row — 15 years later Charley, Frances, Ivan, lions of dollars in property dam- menaced all of Florida. at City Hall Jeanne paid us a visit age in Columbia County alone. Frances was projected to over six-week period. Lake City breathed a sigh of make landfall on Labor Day By CARL MCKINNEY relief when Charley skipped weekend. As the storm collect- over the town on Aug. 14, 2004. ed its strength in the Atlantic, [email protected] By CARL MCKINNEY But the effects meteorologists warned it [email protected] were still visi- MORE INSIDE could arrive as a Category A second round of trash-talk is It’s been 15 years since moth- ble here, as a n The hurricanes 4 hurricane bringing 140- of 2004, 4A. set to take place at Lake City Hall er nature hammered the state thousand trucks mph winds. on Tuesday, where City Council repeatedly in a merciless show parked in the Columbia County Along Florida’s east coast, members will mull over new of force over the course of sev- Fairgrounds to establish a base seaside communities were options for a waste removal con- eral weeks. of operations for power resto- gripped in panic, stocking up on tract after the first set of choices A gang of four — hurricanes ration efforts in other parts of food and gas. fell flat last time. Charley, Frances, Ivan and the state. A whopping 2.5 million peo- FILE Seven options will go before the Jeanne — struck Florida in The respite was short-lived. ple were ordered to evacuate The front page of the Tuesday, quick succession in the fall of Around the start of September, Sept. 7, 2004, edition of the CITY continued on 2A 2004, causing millions upon mil- the looming Hurricane Frances 2004 continued on 2A Lake City Reporter is pictured. Vol. 145, No. 122 Obituaries . 2A CALL US: TODAY’S WEATHER (386) 752-1293 Opinion . 4A Sports . 1B FORT WHITE FOOTBALL SUBSCRIBE TO THE REPORTER: 89 74 Classified . 5B Indians down Hamilton, 1B Voice: 755-5445 Life . 1D Fax: 752-9400 Isolated storms, 2A 2A SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 LOCAL LAKE CITY REPORTER COUNTY BATTERED AGAIN AND AGAIN QUICK HITS Scripture of the Day Rapid fire ’canes hit in ’04 “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” residents were in storm More than 7,500 homes After ravaging the Gulf — Proverbs 31:9 (KJV) 2004 shelters operated by the were still without electric- Coast and causing at least American Red Cross and ity. 20 American deaths. Continued From 1A church groups. As the power restoration Lake City got caught in Thought for Today their homes, the largest in The Columbia County effort dragged into its the outer edges of Ivan. state history. Sheriff’s Office enact- fourth day on Wednesday, With the community Courtesy is only a thin veneer on the general As always, evacuees ed a curfew from 9:30 Sept. 8, people wondered already struggling to recov- selfishness. from other parts of the p.m. Sunday to 9:30 a.m. how much more they could er from Frances, that was — Honore de Balzac, 1799-1850, French writer state sought refuge in the Monday. take. enough. “Gateway to Florida,” a On Tuesday, Sept. 7, the Page 6A of the Thursday, Tuesday, Sept. 28, the nickname Lake City earned Lake City Sept. 9, edi- Lake City Reporter’s Winning Lottery Numbers through its proximity to Reporter ran tion gave a centerpiece headline pro- both Interstate 10 and As of Sept. 7, 2004, Pick 3: (Friday p.m.) 2-0-7 a headline sneak peak claimed “HAMMERED Pick 4: (Friday p.m.) 4-5-4-3 Interstate 75. proclaiming Frances had brought of what was AGAIN,” after another Columbia County offi- “Storms more than 15 inches to come, vicious storm pounded the Fantasy 5: (Friday) 4-9-24-26-28 cials braced for impact hammering of rain. Floodwaters detailing county. as the outer bands of the state just Hurricane Hurricane Jeanne had storm started to make con- forced people from See an error? bad luck, Ivan’s struck the Sunday before, The Lake City Reporter corrects errors of fact in news tact with Miami on Sept. 3. hurricane their homes and shut snowballing cutting off power to more items. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion, The Lake City Council experts say.” strength. than 14,000 county resi- down roads through- please call the editor. Corrections and clarifications will declared a state of emer- A photo out the county. “Farewell dents, displacing 140 locals gency in a specially called in the same Frances, into shelters and soaking run in this space. Thanks for reading. meeting, while the Lake edition here comes the ground with four to City Reporter warned cus- shows a tree split in half Ivan,” the Reporter’s Sept. eight inches of rain. tomers of disruptions to near Lake DeSoto. 12 edition announced. The power outage con- Submissions newspaper deliveries. Charity groups in the As Ivan loomed in the tinued for days on end for The Lake City Reporter accepts photographs and caption Frances slowed down, county opened food banks Gulf, the damage estimate many. information to run at the discretion of the editor. If you would creeping toward the state for the needy as local offi- for Frances came in at As of Wednesday, Sept.