Some Thoughts From Central Florida

[Downdraft]

Charley's biggest attack in this area came against the infra-structure; power, phone, water, cable and transportation. I work in Seminole County Public Safety and the combined E911 centers of the county handled 13,000 calls from Friday afternoon through Saturday night alone. By far power lines were the most numerous. 40 years of neglecting trim trimming, allowing big old oaks to overgrow roads, sub-division sprawl and blowing off hurricanes caught up to us.
Sanford-Orlando International Airport got hammered. Planes were tossed over, gates were damaged and 2000 passengers got stuck in the terminal without power or food for an extended period of time. Considering a hurricane inland wind warning was issued and the area was well within the NHC's cone of error I can't help but wonder why that happened.
Accidents the next day were really bad. I thought everyone that got a driver's license knew that when traffic lights are out the intersection becomes a 4-way stop. A lot of people learned that lesson the hard way!
I'm not going to tip my own department's hat but you got to hand it to everyone down here that came to rebuild the power system, we've had linemen here from as far away as Indiana, the phone companies, the cable companies and stores like Lowe's and Home Depot that got what people needed when they needed it. I don't begrudge them making a buck that's why they are in business. Fact is they got the stuff in quickly and didn't gouge the price to sell it.
I can't say enough good things about law enforcement or fire/rescue. Most of those guys slept when they could and worked in this heat non-stop. We all talk about what's wrong in this world far to much. Bush/Kerry, Iraq, terrorism, the problems seem to overwhelm us. Then, something like this happens and you see the inherent good in people. I'm very proud to be an American and a Floridian right now. Things like this define us as a people and show our true values.
The funniest moment I remember when Charley struck was remembering the scene from Forrest Gump when his friend sat up on the boat yelling, "You call this a storm?"