The eye just passed over us. Coastal evacuees went into the eye.

[madfloridian]

It was like a very fast Hurricane Donna. Two hours of the roaring sound, things hitting the house, and the oak trees seeming to bend. No real damage assessment yet for our area, but our power just came on. Our neighbors seem to have minor damage, but one friend said there was more destruction in outlying areas.

Here is a quick update from the Ledger:
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040813/NEWS/408130415/1039

SNIP..."FORT MEADE -- Polk County's 44 years without a major hurricane ended emphatically Friday when Charley roared in from the south.

Roofs disappeared, lights blinked off and trees crashed to the ground as the storm's eye moved in a northeasterly direction across the county. Charley was a raging mix of howling wind and blowing rain.

Even for veterans of Hurricane Donna in 1960, Charley was a storm to remember.Ft.Meade was the first community in Polk to feel Charley's power. The storm's eye crossed the county line about 6:45 p.m."

SNIP..."``Roofs are gone,'' Blackwelder yelled into the phone. ``Trees are uprooted.

``This storm is wreaking havoc. We're in the brunt of it right now.''

The Blackwelders live across the street from the Fort Meade Mobile Home Park, a badly damaged park that has about 1,000 residents.

``My neighbor's carport just went down the road,'' Ginger Blackwelder said. As she talked, sections of an aluminum roof landed on her car..."END SNIP

Sadly, those who evacuated to our county from the west coast to escapt the hurricane, moved right into its very path. I don't think the coastal areas even lost power. These folks paid for motel rooms and ended up in the eye of a Category 3 hurricane. The article covers it. There are more articles on the right hand column.

[Bluebear]

1. I've been worried about ya. :) Glad you made it through.

[Cleita]

2. Oh dear that is terrible.

Thanks for posting and that you are safe.

[NMDemDist2]

3. glad to hear from you and that you are safe

welcome back :hi:

[madfloridian]

5. Thanks, but I felt so sorry for the guys who evacuated here......

forced evacuation from the coastal areas. They had to pay to sit right in the eye. How very ironic and sad. We had asked some friends to stay with us as they had to leave Pinellas County. They opted for a motel, and they are really quite pissed right now with the whole thing.

I think we were lucky, but it was such horrible feeling. I have not felt that way since Donna.

[2Design]

17. hard to call these things...but if they were at the coast and it

hit as category 4.....being inland it was less...

hard to know...the path made it look like it would go through orland even if it hit tampa.....

[Dudley_DUright]

4. I live in western Volusia

and we really dodged the bullet here. Right now Eastern Volusia (Daytona Beach) is getting hit pretty hard. Amazingly, we did not even lose power in our area. Very close call!

[madfloridian]

6. Just talked to our son in Orlando, and he is catching it.

Our power is back on, but his is off now.

[Dudley_DUright]

8. Orlando got hit pretty hard

but it could have been even worse as the eye seemed to go just to the east of the downtown area. I hope they can get power restored soon, but things are even worse down in the Port Charlotte area.

[Zan_of_Texas]

9. We had a similar call in Texas one year.

Looked bad, and some people skedaddled all the way to the Hill Country, about 3 - 4 hours drive from the coast.

I think that was Hurricane Allen. Durn thing missed the major metro areas, and went straight for the Hill Country, inland.

Hope everyone in Florida and up the coast (watch out, East Coast!) is safe, even if they lose buildings.

[jdj]

10. Reminds me of the couple who during Hugo were to honeymoon

in the Caribbean, but changed their plans because of the hurricane, and went to Charleston instead. Oops.

[Cha]

7. Yes! I'm Glad you're all right, madfloridian.

And your roof didn't go flyin' down the street.

It's so good to get the electricity on after it's been down especially if you have food in the freezer and fridge.

[madfloridian]

14. Neighbors went to friend's house to avoid trees, one fell on them there.

Our neighbors went to a friend's house because they have about 7 huge oaks in their yard. Then a tree fell on the house of their friend.
Isn't that terrible?

[Cha]

15. Yes, it is terrible..It did a lot of damage, huh?

:hug: > to you, madfloridian!

[madfloridian]

26. Smashed the roof. Our neighbors lost home in Andrew, get panicky.

They could not bear to stay in our neighborhood which has huge live oaks. They went to their friends house, with only one tree anywhere about. It split in half and fell.

This couple hid in their bathtub when Andrew hit. Their home was almost totally demolished. They can not even plan when a storm is coming. Hubby goes over to help them get organized, get the pool covered, etc. They just freeze.

I can not say that I blame them at all.

[Katarina]

11. My mom is in Port Orange

and she called a bit ago to tell us she has no power. I know a tornado touched down in South Daytona and tore up some apartments and lightening hit a gas station and started a fire. The eye is just now moving through Daytona Beach and I'm guessing the winds are still pretty strong. The news anchor is 6'4" and weighs 280 pounds and he was almost falling over with the wind swirling.

I'm in Flagler County and really not much at all. A lot of rain and a breeze...that's it. They just announced on the TV that we will be getting winds of 80 mph...we'll see. We've lost power once but it came right back on.

Check in Floridians! Hope everyone is safe and sound!!!

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Just spoke to my husband in Daytona Beach

They're getting hit right now. He can hear things tearing off of the roof of the hotel and rolling around. There's a flag pole that he can see that's bent all the way over. Signs are ripping off the buildings. It's pretty exciting at the moment.

[catzies]

13. Wow, a Donna deja vu. Just like my dad said today (he's in Miami)

I posted this in another hurricane thread earlier:

"My dad is retired from NOAA and I talked to him a little while ago and he said how impressed he is with some of the new modeling, because Charley's path was predicted within 5 miles. That's astonishing.

He said it's following Donna's (1960) track almost exactly so far and will bother the East Coast all the way up to New York before it's done.

Chew on that awhile. :scared: "

[Mika]

18. But Jeb sent them out into harms way

There is really no planning for a proper evacuation considering all of the massive overdevelopment on the Fla coastlines. The near total lack of expansion of the evacuation routes and the lack of a well rounded and complete shelter system is partially a result of the Florida tax system. Without a state income tax the state revenue base relies on reckless overdevelopment and inadequate money is available for creation of infrastructure to deal with the resultant danger to millions of Floridians.

I've been watching the media spin this as an "unpredictable" storm with "a mind of its own", in an attempt to mitigate just how irresponsible and reckless the Jeb admin is, while at the same time trying to suggest that Jeb is on the ball with emergency aid FEMA requests. All the while, it was one of the most accurate models in history.

The two bush bros should be run out of town on a rail!

[catzies]

22. Mika, I thought of your post while watching Jeb tour in a copter today

The remarks he made on the ground were exactly what you said.

And * is going there tomorrow. There are no political depths these two won't stoop to. They're not above standing on devastated ground and making speeches that benefit themselves not their victims.

[madfloridian]

16. And Earl is lining up in the Atlantic....will be a factor by Tuesday.

Yuck.

[DavidFL]

19. Pasco check in

On the east side, where I'm at, we got a lot of rain and wind, but it was like a regular summer downpour. My friend over on the west side,in New Port Richey, said when he was able to return home there was nothing there. He said he couldn't even tell if it rained or not.

[sugarcookie]

20. Was thinking of you all day...

Glad to hear you are alright. :hi: I live on the Texas coast. We have been lucky so far. Take care!

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Well, my husband did fine last night

but our SUV didn't. The windshield is smashed and the inside is soaked.

Now I've got to figure out how to get the darn thing fixed and back to Gainesville. In the meantime, we're at a trade show thru tomorrow and I've got to figure out how to get all the stuff from the booth back home too.

Oh well, as they say, shit happens. Could have been a lot worse. I feel so bad for those poor people down in Punta Gorda. What a mess.

[dsc]

23. My grandmother lived in Punta Gorda until this March

thankfully she moved to North Carolina and is just fine. She figures her old house had to have been totalled. Given she is 92 things could have been very grim indeed.

[Cleita]

24. You must be so relieved that destiny did a good turn for you.

[dsc]

28. Very

Her retirement community was next to one of the hospitals and was a high rise so it probably had suffered major damage. She had made the decision to move in with my aunt pretty much out of the blue, but thank God she did.

[dsc]

29. Very

Her retirement community was next to one of the hospitals and was a high rise so it probably had suffered major damage. She had made the decision to move in with my aunt pretty much out of the blue, but thank God she did.

[Digit]

25. Where is the NG?

I have family in Lehigh Acres, right outside of Ft Myers. I called them Friday night, and although they had lost power about 3pm, they had no damage at all.
I was watching tv all day, worried about them. The one thing I noticed is that the intensity of Charley went rapidly from a 2 to a 4 (within an hour by the tv reports), and reports said it was too late to evacuate. In addition, initial reports saying the tract had jogged to the right were corrected the following hour to show Charley was again on tract to strike Tampa. We all know what happened next, and it was too late, far too late.
I was mostly watching the weather channel.
Watching the authorities down there, they are saying that people are on their own. They say they tell people to have 3 days of supplies/food, but what does that do when your whole house is destroyed?
Oh, and WHERE is the National Guard????

[madfloridian]

27. I heard a local newsguy say he saw miltitary trucks rolling down the road

I guess they are coming. Punta Gorda had nothing at 6 news time. No water, nothing to even wash hands with. No phones, no cell phones. Anderson Cooper and others were using their satellite phones to help them reach their families.

It is so sad.