Hurricane Charley - A Punta Gorda Memory - Five Years After - Part 1 - The Night We Left

Everyone who lived in Punta Gorda in 2004 has their Charley story.  Many have shared them with me, some-with more dramatic ones- have related them to  local newspapers, some can't talk about them to this day. But given that this August marks the five-year post Charley anniversary, I've decided to share mine.    

While at the time it felt that the period following the storm was a whirlwind almost as powerful as the storm itself, in retrospect, I realize that many positive things have happened as a result of one cataclysmic event.  Some Punta Gorda old-timers will disagree, but the changes brought on since that fateful day in August , in my opinion, were much needed and have resulted in improvements that probably would have never happened had not Charley intervened.  Nonetheless, when viewing the old pictures I had of the aftermath, I sobbed.  

Here's my story:   

Part 1 -- Why We Left   

 We had been walking along the Harbor at Gilchrist Park with friends the night of the 12th of August, which by the way, if you remember, was a spectacular evening.  Warm, but not hot, with one of those brilliant orange and pink sunsets you only see in Southwest Florida.  We joked and planned a hurricane party for the next day. The weathermen at the time were saying we might have a category 1 or possibly 2 pass us by likely to create some heavy rain and wind, but not to worry, just get prepared.  When I first moved to Florida, I was told the likelihood of a major hurricane hitting our area was less than 4% -- and that most just passed by providing the rain much needed to support the dry Florida winters.  (Well, I guess even longshots come in.)

We went home and started packing up some things -- just in case.  We were already prepared in a house with Dade-County standards, hurricane shutters and all.  Plus, we had already stocked up with the storm necessities and finished other storm preparations recommended, which we had done before when tropical storms threatened.  And then I went on the internet and found that the County was issuing evacuation notices for Burnt Store Road.  Also I learned that Charley had become a Category 2 storm.  Moreover, for the first time I discovered NOAA and read the following in a bulletin issued at 8 PM  "STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 10 TO 13 FEET IS ALSO POSSIBLE NEAR AND SOUTH OF WHERE THE CENTER CROSSES THE FLORIDA WEST COAST." 

Well the weather professionals had been saying that the storm was likely to hit Tampa..we're south of Tampa, I thought.  Visions of "Issac's Storm" came to mind and the horrors of the Galveston hurricane and the surge that killed so many people.  I looked out at my beautiful canal frontage, and said to my husband, "I think we should leave." So at 9:30 PM on August 12 I was busy taking last minute photos of furniture and valuables, gathering up docs to take, rousing my mother to her consternation, and putting as much as I thought I couldn't live without into boxes for the car.  

I called friends and neighbors giving them the information I had gathered begging them to leave.  Some promised they would be, others said they couldn't leave their homes.  I told them about the evacuation notices that were being issued by Charlotte County, I warned them that the storm was rapidly accelerating, I mentioned Galveston...but everyone had to make their own decisions.  I exchanged cell phone numbers with neighbors who didn't have ours, helped my husband pack up the car, coaxed my confused parent into our auto, and then around 11 PM we made our trek across Florida.  

Since the predictions were that the storm would head north after it turned inland, we decided that Palm Beach or somewhere south of there was our best destination.  I called ahead to the Embassy Suites, and made a reservation, surprised that there was no problem getting one given the situation on the West Coast.  I wondered if anyone was listening or I was just crazy.  

We drove south to North Fort Myers and across 80 to Clewiston, first stop for gas.  On the way I remember listening to Clear Channel out of Punta Gorda. For the most part, no one seemed that worried.  The highway across was dark, and it seemed that we were on it forever..  I remember how thrilled and relieved I was to arrive at the Embassy Suites in Palm Beach...little did I know how long we would be there.  

Next installment....August 13, 2004