Hurricane Charlie

[Dick Brown]

Henry               Tomorrow ( 8/14 ) marks the 8th anniversary of that Category 4 storm that inflicted the second largest damage costs in SWFL history. It was heading up the West Coast as predicted by all the forecasters when it took a 90* right turn up the Peace River , roared through Punta Gorda around 4 pm and continued on through Arcadia  on a NE route , crossing the state to the East Coast. Punta Gorda was devastated , but rebuilt within two years via FEMA money , together with other assorted significant funding . Today it is a town filled with new buildings , lots of new roofs on those houses that survived and many new businesses .
The Condo that we live in is located on the Peace River , built high enough to withstand a 15' storm surge ( we hope ) and we are entertained consistently in our third floor unit overlooking the river by Ospreys , Eagles And Dolphins , even though Punta Gorda is located 10 miles from the Gulf. When we decided to move here last year, we considered the past history and decided to take a chance that Charlie was indeed the storm of the century for this area. As you would guess , the papers today are filled with info about the storm , interesting reading indeed.
I truly miss Vermont and Franklin County , especially Fairfax , but am happy with the location and will work hard to get well enough to enjoy it's attractions .
Probably , however I am the only Democrat in town , so want to be sure to cast my ballot in the November election !!!!

[Chris Santee]

I can almost taste the orange juice.

[Dick Brown]

Chris.........One piece of info that we found living in this state is that different months produce different species of oranges ...and it's coming up to the Naval Orange season now, I believe. On the other hand , they're all tasty and I'm not apt to turn any down .
To add to the August 14 , 2004 story , Nancy & I had already sold our home in St. Albans and had a closing date set for late August  . We had put a down payment on a house in Dade City ( next to her cousin ) and had an August 30th closing date for that one so the storm really caused some concerns on our part . However , Dade City is 120 miles north of Punta Gorda , so we decided not to worry about it and came anyway . Nancy enjoyed 18 months in that home before she passed and she & her cousin enjoyed each other ( once again ) like sisters .
Charlie was the first of 4 hurricanes that fall but none of them affected the Dade City area ( and haven't since ).

[msm]

Dick and all,

More on Hurricane Charlie --  As Dick has already indicated,  the path was projected to move due North -- along the western coast of Florida with a projeccted landfall at Tampa Bay .. moving straight up the bay and into Town-Down Tampa ...   At the time, Tampa was targeted as a direct hit,  but only certain coastal locations were given mandatory evacuations.   My home, 9 miles North of Town-Down,  was not in a mandatory evacuation zone.   If Charlie had proceeded as forecasted,  the city of Tampa would have devastated, my home would have been desrtoyed.   The total monetary damage, within the Tampa Bay region,  would exceed those incurred by Hurricane Andrew.  I've lived in Tampa for 20 years now,  this has been the only 'scare'  in the area,  Tampa continues to dodge the 'Big-One'.  Charley was the 'Big-One-  that turned east.......

Mike M -- BFA Class of '77   

[Dick Brown]

Mike     Your posting yesterday repeated the feelings of numerous others ( that I encountered during the 7 years that I lived in Dade City)  and is an accurate assessment of the potential damage to the Tampa area if the storm had followed the predicted path . Certainly hope that no such storm pops up in the future , this year or any year.