Punta Gorda, Fla. ? Betty Babitzke and her husband were so frustrated after Hurricane Andrew slammed into Florida in 1992 that they pulled out a map and started looking for a safer part of the state in which to spend their retirement. They settled on Punta Gorda.

“I plotted all the storms and all the charts of the hurricanes. I thought, ‘It’s been 44 years since Donna,”‘ the 71-year-old Babitzke said, referring to the major hurricane hit southwestern Florida, in 1960.

Then, two weeks ago, came Hurricane Charley, second only to Andrew on the list of Florida’s most destructive hurricanes. The Babitzkes’ home sustained even more damage this time, but the couple had reason to smile.

That is because life after Charley is much better than life after Andrew.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and state and local authorities are being praised for their response to Charley, something that did not happen after Andrew. Disaster officials said they learned their lesson from Andrew and were better prepared when Charley struck Aug. 13.

“After Andrew, it was chaotic, absolutely chaotic,” Babitzke said, describing the lack of services and free-for-all created by intersections with missing signs and signals. “Cleanup was extremely slow. There’s no comparison. This response team, they have it together. They’re at least three days ahead. It’s fabulous.”

Charlotte County emergency director Wayne Sallade has not been able to contain his boasting about the response to Charley. He said the first day of response after Charley accomplished more than the first three days after Andrew. On day four, he challenged anyone in Miami-Dade County to tell him that they were delivering ice, food and water door-to-door after the same period in 1992.

“From the courthouse to the White House, it’s been a remarkable response on all levels,” Sallade said this week, adding that other counties and agencies were immediately sending help. “They were in the county before the tropical storm force winds left Charlotte County.”

It is a far cry from what Kate Hale saw 12 years ago. Hale, who was the Dade County emergency management director when Andrew hit, asked in exasperation in the storm’s aftermath: “Where in the hell is the cavalry?”

Ron Berndt, left, and Scott Stone wear masks while removing wet, moldy carpet from TRA Associates Realty office in downtown Punta Gorda, Fla. After cleaning up their homes following Hurricane Charley, many residents are starting the cleaning process over again at work.

This time, “they’ve had food, water, people, equipment and communications in almost immediately. We were waiting days for that and sometimes longer,” said Hale, now president and chief executive of the South Florida Mental Health Association. “This one’s gone off the way you would want to see things happen.”

The response to Andrew was affected by the sheer size of the storm and the fact that it hit a more densely populated area. Charley caused $7.4 billion in insured damage, destroyed about 12,000 homes and left 19,000 others with major damage. Andrew destroyed 126,000 homes, left 180,000 people homeless and caused $30 billion in damage.

It took four days for FEMA to get its first people into South Florida after Andrew. In the same time after Charley, disaster workers had finished search-and-rescue operations and were focused on getting residents necessities like food and water.

Comfort stations were in place to provide air-conditioned tents and showers. Three temporary emergency rooms were open in less than 24 hours. Law enforcement officers directed traffic at intersections where signals were out. FEMA even had a team of 35 veterinarians on the ground quicker than it could get anyone into South Florida after Andrew.

“From Andrew, we learned a lot of lessons,” said Justo Hernandez, deputy federal coordinating officer for FEMA. “Andrew taught us that we have to move faster, move into areas quicker and hit the ground running.”