Those that went through Charley: Most memorable moments

[HurricaneQueen]

To TheShrimper:

I have repeadly read your posts downplaying Hurricane Charlie. How a Cat 4 storm can be a non-event is beyond my comprehension. Luckily our experience in N. Naples/Bonita was just some strong wind, a little rain and no electricity for 5 days. But...ask the people on Ft. Myers Beach,Sanibel, Captiva, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, etc. what they thought. Many of them are still without homes and yes, many are still in suffering traumatic effects from their experiences. (I understand their pain as I still choke up from memories of a Cat 4 that I experienced first hand).

I can only assume you were one of the lucky one. I'm glad for you but your portrayal of a Cat 4 is misleading to many who may think it is safe to sit out one based on reading your posts.

I don't know if you are watching NBC's 3 hour special on Charlie right now but it certainly brings it all back and is actually more powerful to watch the second time around. (of course, I'm watching it with electricity on a screen larger than 5 inches and with cable unlike the first time around.)

Lynn

P.S. been to South Seas Plantation lately?

[Myersgirl]

For me it was the shock of thinking we had a passing category 1, then being told " this hurricane is turning in and strenthening, shelters are full, it's too late to leave, many people have saved their lives by putting a mattress over them and getting in a closet" The following week was just a blur of looking for ice and living in filth. I had several good cries in the heat
Fort Myers

[Sanibel]

There's a 3 hour program that started at 8 on Charley here on NBC Ft Myers.

Excellent local live coverage of the storm.

[Sanibel]

But...ask the people on Ft. Myers Beach,Sanibel, Captiva, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, Arcadia, etc. what they thought. Many of them are still without homes and yes, many are still in suffering traumatic effects from their experiences. (I understand their pain as I still choke up from memories of a Cat 4 that I experienced first hand).

The storm could have been a lot worse. The suffering was mostly emotional trauma from the change of lifestyle (not to ignore the serious cases of devastation and people who lost everything). It is true, on average, this was a not an average category 4 145mph direct hit. Andrew is a better example.

To put Charley in perspective, there were few curtainwall failures for a category 4 with gusts over 170mph. Andrew, on the other hand, leveled entire neighborhoods of suburban houses. Charley had little to no surge because of his size and forward speed. Ivan was a weak category 3 and took out an interstate bridge with 20 feet of surge. Charley was a whipper not a roller. His energy came from the outflow being coned up vertically along the trough.

If you took Ivan and put him in Charley's track with his intensity then you would have seen catastrophic damage with thousands of fatalities - Maybe ten thousand...


We're very lucky we still have a house considering a category 4 eye passed about 14 miles west of us. But that alone is telling you it could have been much worse...

[oceanbrz312]

This was the first hurricane I had gone through after living here in Florida for 10 years.

1. I live in Casselberry (a few miles northeast of Orlando) and started getting real nervous as the mets tracked this storm across the state and watching hour by hour as it approached.
2. Seeing people rushing about putting up plywood frantically.
3. The tornadoes before Charlie got here.
4. The howling winds and hearing thumps and bumps throughout the night.
5. Luckily not too much damage but was without electricity. Can't complain... only 3 days compared to what most Floridians went through.
6. I think we all were in shock to hear there was another hurricane heading our way with the possiblity of making landfall in Florida.
6. The relief of seeing out of state electric companies coming off I-4 and heading to staging areas.
7. The gas and food shortages especially after the 2nd and third hurricane.

[recmod]

Reading the posts of several other Orlando area S2K members, I see that I am not alone in my emotions regarding Hurricane Charley. This storm was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The numerous near-misses over the years had sort of lulled us into a false sense of security,....which was ripped to shreds that night of August 13.

Others have mentioned that first ominous rainband that moved over our area shortly after 2pm. That cloud bank was an incredible sight to behold. I remember folks from my neighborhood stood on their lawns and stared at the sky. I took some pictures with my digital camera



This hurricane and it's aftermath will remain with me forever. One of the most heart-wrenching moments was when the power returned in a neighborhood up the street from me a week after the storm. One particular house had some unseen damage to the electrical system and, when the power went on, the house went up in flames. I watched as this house burned to the ground and the helpless family who had suffered no apparent damages from the hurricane directly, were now homeless. The family came to my place of employment, a local retail department store, immediately after the fire. They were covered with soot and were trying to buy clothes to change into, since everything they owned had been burned. This is just one example of the multitude of hardships faced during the long recovery process.

I know some reading these posts about the Orlando area will smirk and say we went through nothing more than a Category 1 storm. But, keep in mind that nothing like Charley had struck the city in 44 years. There was MASSIVE tree undergrowth that Charley effectively "pruned" in less than an hour. Many of these trees fell on homes and cars, causing incredible damage. True, we did not experience an Ivan-esque storm surge or Andrew-type devastation, but I believe this was the single most life-impacting weather event the Orlando area has ever experienced. When Hurricane Donna followed a similar trajectory in 1960, the population (and resulting damage) was far less than that of today.

As many fellow Storm2K members already know, I have created a web-site devoted to the Florida hurricanes of 2004. You can view a more in-depth description of my personal experience with Charley, along with dozens of damage photos I personally took in the days following the hurricane.

My Hurricane Charley Experience

--Lou

[Weatherman911]

TheShrimper wrote:
"I think you are dramatizing a little too much about the destruction in Cape Coral."

Dramatizing ? Are you ok ? Because I don't think you are!

TheShrimper wrote:
"I dont live there but I work in the city and saw what went on. Outside of minor roof damage"

Minor roof damage ? If you work for the City of Cape Coral, I think I know how you are and I worked with you, no names mentioned. You call the Sunset Towers Apts. metal and rubber roof and a/c units blown off 10 floors down onto Cape Coral Parkway, that we had to use front end loaders to remove it to open traffic, was minor ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"the Circle K stores getting their facades blown away"

There are three Circle Ks' on Cape Coral Parkway (you work for the City, you're there all the time at all of them, right ?) and one was gutted because the roof fell in because it was an old store before new codes. It was much more than facades!

TheShrimper wrote:
"and of course the vegitation decimation, the area fared qiute well."

Fared quite well as to what ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"Anything major was caused by small tornadoes contained in some bands, as the sustained winds were not that strong.

Everything was major and was caused by both hurricane force winds, and the tornadoes.

TheShrimper wrote:
"I saw very few power poles snapped as was the case on Pine Island where I live."

Gee, I guess you missed the 10 - 15 power poles down on Gleason Pkwy. and Skyline Blvd. and half of them fell onto peoples homes. Where were you working then ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"The power outages were due to Australian Pines taking down the wires. Many pool enclosure were lost, anything alumminum for that matter, but that is to be expected."

Give you that much credit!

TheShrimper wrote:
"The extensive damage to Lee County was taken by the Barrier Islands and Bokeelia on N Pine Island."

What about Captiva ? Upper Captiva ? Sanibel ? Port Charlotte ? Punta Gorda ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"Charley was to small of a storm to be considered a devastating hurricane."

Hurricane Charley was to small of a storm and wasn't devistating ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"Not to lessen what happened to alot of people (me included), but it could have been so, so much worse."

You ? What happened to you ? You just said Charley was nothing! Did you loose a roof shingle ?

[Weatherman911]

Here is a photo of a house that was destroyed and the couple were killed by TheShrimper's not so bad hurricane in Port Charlotte. Shrimper ?, would you like to tell the Hawkins' kids that Charley was nothing ?

If you go to the bottom of the web site, click onto the menu and view other photos.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... s&index=28

[Sanibel]

I'd really like to discuss the constitutional issues of keeping people from their homes in Ft Myers Beach and Sanibel. People are saying people will be killed in the next bad one because they won't leave their houses due to this previous restriction.

[Huckster]

Unfortunately, constitutionality does not seem to be an important factor in a lot of cases these days. Besides, there's usually a way to circumvent the constitution; all you need is a judge.

[AnthonyC]

I was in close contact with a cousin who lives in DelRay Beach...she had very little impact from Hurricane Charley but Hurricane Frances was a different story.

She received alot of outer rainbands from Hurricane Charley...and the wind gusted over 60mph. At the time, she had just gone back to school that previous Wednesday. She lost power for two days and there was no school the following week. Many tree branches/small trees/power lines litered the sidewalks and roads but very little structural damage.

As for Frances, DelRay had a MUCH bigger impact...considering the system stayed offshore for such a long time. She experienced sustained winds of 50+mph for over 12 hours...they received over 10 inches of rain...they had no power for 7 days...school was closed for two weeks (meaning 10 school days) and there was moderate structural damage. After the storm, she said many of her neighbors stayed indoors for two/three days...everything was deserted and everything was HOT and HUMID. People were afraid to leave their windows/doors open because there was no electricity and it was dark, but some nights her family had to do it.

With all the hurricanes, that school year they missed over 20 days. There last day of school was suppose to be in the middle of May...it wound up being somewhere around June 20.

Anthony

[inotherwords]

I was a lucky one but I do have some distinct memories of Charley. I'd been in Alicia in Houston in '83 and TS Gabrielle in 2002 pretty much made landfall in my back yard, so I knew how nerve wracking hurricanes could be. The first feeder band terrified me and after I saw the Cat 4 status and it starting to turn, I decided to high-tail it over to a friend's in Miami with my pets.

I turned on the TV to get a road report, and watched the stupid ditzy Sarasota newscaster (Richelle Ridgeway) being cutesy and perky with callers who were terrified of what was coming and needed serious help with advice. I waited for almost an hour for them to give a road report to see if evacuation routes were clear, and never got a single traffic report, just little Miss Perky being unprofessional and inappropriate as if it were just another morning. I was livid. I left before dawn and, with no traffic and no additional feeder bands yet, got to Arcadia just as the sun was starting to rise. I gassed up and stood in line at a rest room chatting with people who had come to Arcadia from St. Pete to stay in the shelter. We all know what happened later that day! At the time we were completely oblivious that Arcadia would be so hard hit, or hit at all.

We weathered the storm in Miami but I will never forget the road home across Alligator Alley and up I-75, watching as the damage increased, seeing the trees snapped in half in a competely visible swath of destruction up Charlotte Harbor. I was also horrified at those gigantic light posts on the highway bent over like straws and huge road signs twisted like the aluminum foil trays you crumple up and toss in the trash. I was also amazed to see the last tree damage only 9 miles from my house. When I got home? Not a shrub out of place. It was incredible.

[TheShrimper]

To Weatherman911, a few things you should be enlightened on. Firstly, the barrier islands of Lee County consist of the following, FMB, Sanibel, the Captivas, Useppa, Cayo Costa and Boca Grande. Some also include Pine Island on the list as well. The statement was directed to LEE county, not Charlotte, as stated. Secondly, the photo exhibited where fatalities occured was a mobile home, the residents of which were TOLD to leave very early Thursday by Wayne Salladade, head of Emergency Operations in Charlotte. Some folks are stupid, and they payed the price, others were smart and heeded the warning. Enough said. Thirdly, when the same contractor is responsible for building the local Circle K stores and the damage results are the same, that tells you something, the work was shoddy. As far as the roofs falling in, I do not know that to be true. I think it can be better described as the damage gave them the opportunity to trash the whole place with the settlement they recieved and start from scratch with thier new layouts. Aspects of the stores that were not damaged, were tore down and redone. Pertaining to Sunset Towers, I saw the roof on the ground. The building is one of the oldest in the Cape and the tallest. There have been articles in the past years about the reidents complaining about the overall condition of the structure, so it was in a delapidated state prior to Charley. I do not recall the Lanai Kai or other high rises on the beach loosing thier roofs, do you? I didn't go down Gleason or Skyline, really dont like seeing duplexes with 15 cars in one driveway, so if poles came down I wouldnt know. What I do know, is that I traveled many other roads in the Cape, in the NW area, alot closer to the eye and saw no poles down. If they went down on Gleason, it wasnt from sustained winds but from a tornado. The poles were SNAPPED on Pine Island, not blown down. Finally, Charley was devistating in the seven mile wide path it traversed and I think I made that clear. It was not devastating elsewhere. I feel for the impacted and appreciated the thoughts of us by others in the ensueing days. If you want to see "devastation", go to the NOAA home page and do a search on archived photos from Aug. 24, 1992. You will see what happened from Kendall south to Fl. City, and from Key Biscane west to Krome Ave. View them please and see if it does not redefine "devastating" for you.

[TheShrimper]

Here is the definition of "devastation". http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nws/andy1.html

[jrod]

My parents drove me through Homestead over a year after and it was still in ruins. You can say that about Charlie, as bad as it was for some it was a cat 4 and no more, and no one more than 35 miles from the coast even felt cat 4 winds; Charlie IMO just showed us what hurricanes do. Andrew deserved every bit of it's upgrade 10 years later to a cat 5.

[CharleySurvivor]

The damages weren't as 'bad' as Andrew because of the new building codes.

Should Andrew have never happened and no new building codes like we have now been enacted, I can guaranty you there would have been as much damages with Charley as with Andrew.

[Sanibel]

Andrew pushed 16 feet of surge. Charley barely any...

[Weatherman911]

TheShrimper wrote:
"a few things you should be enlightened on. Firstly, the barrier islands of Lee County consist of the following, FMB, Sanibel, the Captivas, Useppa, Cayo Costa and Boca Grande. Some also include Pine Island on the list as well."

I know the names of all the barrier islands, thanks. I mentioned some for the readers because you did not. All you could say was, barrier islands.

TheShrimper wrote:
"Secondly, the photo exhibited where fatalities occured was a mobile home, the residents of which were TOLD to leave very early Thursday by Wayne Salladade, head of Emergency Operations in Charlotte."

Did you forget Hurricane Charley was first forecast to make landfall in Tampa ? So, how much time do you think people really had to evacuate ? Read the news caption again.

TheShrimper wrote:
"Some folks are stupid, and they payed the price, others were smart and heeded the warning."

Some folks are stupid ? You have a big heart I see. Because they didn't heed the warning, they deserved to die ? Remember, Charley was forecast to make landfall in Tampa. There were allot of people caught off guard because of Charlies' sudden turn.

TheShrimper wrote:
"Thirdly, when the same contractor is responsible for building the local Circle K stores and the damage results are the same, that tells you something, the work was shoddy. As far as the roofs falling in, I do not know that to be true. I think it can be better described as the damage gave them the opportunity to trash the whole place with the settlement they recieved and start from scratch with thier new layouts. Aspects of the stores that were not damaged, were tore down and redone."

Same contractor, shoddy work ? How do you know ? Sounds like you like making excuses all the time.

TheShrimper wrote:
"Pertaining to Sunset Towers, I saw the roof on the ground. The building is one of the oldest in the Cape and the tallest. There have been articles in the past years about the reidents complaining about the overall condition of the structure, so it was in a delapidated state prior to Charley. I do not recall the Lanai Kai or other high rises on the beach loosing thier roofs, do you?"

Another excuse for you. Yes, other high rises were damaged also. First Homes on Del Prado Blvd. and Everast Parkway, and Cape Coral Hospital, and there's more. Same builder as Circle K ? Shoddy work ?

TheShrimper wrote:
"I didn't go down Gleason or Skyline, really dont like seeing duplexes with 15 cars in one driveway, so if poles came down I wouldnt know. What I do know, is that I traveled many other roads in the Cape, in the NW area, alot closer to the eye and saw no poles down. If they went down on Gleason, it wasnt from sustained winds but from a tornado. The poles were SNAPPED on Pine Island, not blown down."

Yes, the poles were snapped and blown down. Remember, Gleason runs east - west, not north - south. You must be a real winner for a City of Cape Coral employee. Do you avoid work tickets on roads that have duplexes ? You said you work for the City and the most damage was on Pine Island road, now you say you didn't go to the area of Skyline and Gleason because of the duplexes. Nice!! But, you saw all of the Cape ? Sure!!

TheShrimper wrote:
"Finally, Charley was devistating in the seven mile wide path it traversed and I think I made that clear. It was not devastating elsewhere. I feel for the impacted and appreciated the thoughts of us by others in the ensueing days. If you want to see "devastation", go to the NOAA home page and do a search on archived photos from Aug. 24, 1992. You will see what happened from Kendall south to Fl. City, and from Key Biscane west to Krome Ave. View them please and see if it does not redefine "devastating" for you."

Why do you keep trying to compare Charley to other hurricanes like Andrew, etc... Hurricane Charley was the worst hurricane to hit this area of FL. in many years.

[Sanibel]

TheShrimper wrote:
"Some folks are stupid, and they payed the price, others were smart and heeded the warning."

Some folks are stupid ? You have a big heart I see. Because they didn't heed the warning, they deserved to die ? Remember, Charley was forecast to make landfall in Tampa. There were allot of people caught off guard because of Charlies' sudden turn.

Plus, the people who were killed were in wheelchairs and in their 80's...

[hurricanefloyd5]

i was tring to pretect my ex-grilfriend from charley because she thought she was going to die!!!!!!!!!!!! i was like noting is going to hapeen to her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even though she thought i waasnt scaried deep inside i really was scariesd and terriffied!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!