1. Hurricane Charley
Orlando, Florida
Friday August 13, 2004

3. BEFORE
AFTER

5. A picture is worth a
thousand words!

7. We lost power for 48 hours – a relatively minor inconvenience!
Two Blocks Away
We Were Lucky!

8. Two Doors Away
Lucky Again!

9. CHARLEY'S PATH OF DEVASTATION ACROSS FLORIDA SHOWS NO ONE IS SAFE
At the beginning, along the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, I walked with motel owner Judy Thomas through the ruins of her life. In the end, in a partly blacked out and heavily disrupted Daytona Beach, I heard Chris Paspalakis wax stoic in the shards of his shattered oceanfront store. After two long days and over 200 miles, I had finally taken in Hurricane Charley's full Florida breadth. In between, I saw too many shredded roofs, crumpled mobile homes and frazzled faces to count. Too many bruised businesses, snapped trees and scattered electric lines. Too many uprooted and upended lives. I saw people lined up for relief supplies distributed from the back of semi trucks in parking lots, and cows chewing their cud next to toppled power poles as if nothing had happened. I saw places named Little Willie's RV Park and Bill's Auto Body torn to tatters. I saw shirtless children playing on the fallen trunk of a huge oak tree, and countless McDonald's golden arches turned into spaghetti gibberish. The idea was to retrace Charley's path across the state, from Gulf coast to the Atlantic, from Punta Gorda to Daytona Beach, from furious opening salvo to weakening -- but by no means weak -- parting shot. The band of the worst devastation wasn't especially wide, ranging about miles as the storm went northeast, but boy, did it run complete. That, even more than the astronomical price tag and the tragic body count, is the truly mind-numbing thing about this storm. This monster had one eye, huge lungs and legs that wouldn't quit. As horrific as Andrew was, its obliterating blow was relatively contained, packed in a compact swath south of Miami to Homestead. But this was a rampage that went on and on. And on. Charley's path seemed rash and unpredictable on Friday, but in retrospect it was as precise as a car with On-Star. North on U.S. Highway 17 from Punta Gorda to Sanford, about 170 miles. Then east on Interstate 4 for the final 35-mile dash to the coast. Charley barreled across Florida in 8 1/2 hours.
To see Charley's devastation, all you had to do was drive these roads, through Fort Ogden and Arcadia, Zolfo Springs and Wauchula, Fort Meade and Haines City, Orlando and Lake Helen. Highway 17 runs through small, forgotten towns that residents now fear might be overlooked during the massive rebuilding effort. But some of those towns looked every bit as destroyed as the bigger coastal communities, a shock considering how far inland they are. And it was just as surprising seeing such damage in a landlocked city like Orlando, where the airport Crowne Plaza hotel sported a shattered glass atrium and a sheared side wall running 10 stories up the length of the building. 105 mph winds rocked the Orlando airport.
There are huge pockets around Orlando without power, leading to a ghost-town feeling. Power poles are toppled, with wires snaking across streets. Tree limbs were the big menace here, with fallen branches causing damage to homes and cars. Along the U.S. 92/441 corridor, hotels and motels that would usually be teeming with tourists are closed. Getting from Point A to Point B is a nerve-jangling mess, as broken signals make for backups at gridlocked intersections. (We lost power at 9:13pm on Friday the 13th and it was not restored until 9:03 pm on Sunday the 15th. Many were still out on August 24th!)

10. We must be ever mindful that a hurricane is a powerful force.
Even one that is a hundred miles
inland is one to be respected
with proper preparation.

11. Hurricane Frances
Orlando, Florida
Saturday September 4, 2004

12. ORLANDO

13. Nearing the Bahamas Thursday September 2, 2004
By late Wednesday and early Thursday in Orlando (long before the storm), items like batteries and gasoline were nearly impossible to obtain. Water was in limited supply and grocery store shelves were thinning. In the picture on the right, the size of the storm can be seen – much larger than the state of Florida!

14. Infrared Satellite at 1:15pm EDT Friday September 3, 2004
This represents the first time since 1950 that two major storms -- defined as ones with top sustained winds of at least 111 mph -- have hit Florida so close together. On Aug. 13, Hurricane Charley caused billions of dollars in damage to homes, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and killed 27 people when it tore across the state.
With its imposing size -- the cloud cover was about as big as the state of Texas -- Frances had the potential to ravage the state with its slow movement. Forecasters said the slower the storm moves, the longer its winds and rain could linger, increasing the possibility of serious damage.

15. Preparation was
required this time!

17. Infrared Satellite at 8:45am EDT Saturday September 4, 2004
Ivan
At 10:00am this morning, the calm is very eerie. The sun is out but no cars and very few people can be seen. We know what’s coming but, at the moment, it is difficult to comprehend. And now, we learn about Ivan heading in a nearly identical path!

18. 124 MPH Peak Winds at Port Canaveral!
The initial outer band hits Wekiva at 11:25am on Saturday September 4, 2004
124 MPH Peak Winds
at Port Canaveral!

19. The satellite picture told the whole story: From the Florida Keys to Jacksonville, the behemoth called Frances smothered just about every one of Florida's 65,758 square miles. To have a hurricane this large and this strong covering an entire state is almost unheard of," said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center near Miami. "It is a rare event.“ Its so rare, forecasters searched their historical bible, Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, for comparable storms but came up with few candidates. "It's like a mule: stubborn, slow -- and it kicked hard," he said. And it wasn't done kicking Sunday. As Frances slogged its way to the Gulf of Mexico, leaving 5 million people without power and 2.8 million under an evacuation order, it churned toward Florida's only untouched coast in the Panhandle. Few weather-watchers can remember a hurricane ever shrouding the state's more than 400-mile length after striking the east coast, exiting the west coast and taking aim at the Panhandle. For its broad impact, then, Frances may be one for the record books. Hurricane Frances crawled across the Florida peninsula Sunday, leaving a record 5 million people in the state without power, damaging homes, flooding roadways and prompting the governor to divert gasoline supplies to rescue agencies. Florida's second major hurricane in three weeks was slower and less destructive than anticipated, but it made up in sheer breadth of impact what it lacked in deadly depth, touching nearly every county from Key West to Jacksonville. Frances set several records. It cut power to more residents than hurricanes Andrew and Charley combined and triggered the largest evacuation in state history with 2.8 million people ordered inland and more than 86,000 moving into 233 public shelters. A record force of 8,000 Red Cross volunteers and FEMA workers assembled to help in the aftermath. Hurricane Frances battered Florida's east coast on Saturday with 90-mph winds and torrential rains as the slow-moving storm took aim at the heart of the peninsula. For much of Saturday, Frances, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, parked itself about 60 miles east of Palm Beach County, ratcheting up the angst of a state already on edge from days of waiting. A record 2.8 million residents and tourists were ordered to evacuate as the storm approached, and 71,000 were huddled in shelters Saturday. "We're going to see a large swath of strong winds moving across the state. That means a lot of downed trees and massive power outages," Mayfield said. "Also, with that slow movement, we're going to have a lot of rainfall, and that's going to cause widespread, very significant flooding.“ Residents have been preparing for the storm for days, boarding up windows, sandbagging homes, filling gas tanks, stocking up on ice and water and checking flashlight batteries for the second time in three weeks -- first for fast-moving Hurricane Charley, now plodding Hurricane Frances. "Charley was a sprint," Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty said. "Frances is the equivalent of a marathon.“ The approaching storm pretty much shut down Central Florida, from supermarkets and malls to the major theme parks.

21. A lull in the storm on Saturday evening

22. One more time, we were really lucky!
Next door, the Crowe’s weren’t!
Only 3 houses away

23. Bud next door: “Now what?”

24. (the ceilings in 3 rooms collapsed)
2 houses away
(the ceilings in 3 rooms collapsed)

25. Jim and I preparing to cleanup!
Another 30 hours
without power –
but so what?

26. Some of the local sights!

27. Infrared Satellite at 8:45am EDT Tuesday September 7, 2004
Ivan
Infrared Satellite at 8:45am EDT Tuesday September 7, 2004
Remnants of
Frances
It is hoped that Ivan does not become Chapter 3 of this story!

28. more than a month after Charley struck!
Two blocks away –
more than a month after Charley struck!

29. Hurricane Ivan
Almost
Orlando, Florida

30. Orlando
As of now, Ivan is unfortunately tracking very much the SAME as Charley except for a more southern entry point into Florida!
Ivan is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph. This motion is expected to bring the core of Ivan to near Jamaica tonight or early Saturday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 145 mph, with higher gusts. Stronger winds, especially in gusts, are likely over elevated terrain. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next 24 hours.

31. Keep moving West: PUHLEEZ!
Infrared Satellite at 2:45pm EDT Friday September 10, 2004
Keep moving West: PUHLEEZ!
Infrared Satellite at 6:15am EDT Saturday September 11, 2004

32. Infrared Satellite at 9:45am EDT Sunday September 12, 2004
Looking better!
Infrared Satellite at 9:45am EDT Tuesday September 14, 2004

33. Thank God!

34. Hurricane Jeanne
Orlando, Florida
Sunday September 26, 2004

35. Infrared Satellite at 3:15pm EDT Friday September 24, 2004
At 6pm Friday September 17th, Jeanne lost strength and was downgraded to a tropical depression.
Off came the boards, windows cleaned, holes caulked and frames painted. All yard “stuff” was put back!
Infrared Satellite at 3:15pm EDT Friday September 24, 2004
Oops,
here
we go
again!

36. This is when the boards came down from Frances!

37. A picture is worth
A thousand words!
ORLANDO

38. After getting
ready
the day
before!

39. Here in Wekiva, we had 80-90 mph winds! Some Beach Scenes
So much for privacy!
Lake Monroe in
Sanford – just
north of us!
Why one and
not the other?

40. Two Doors Away!

41. We lost power for another 39 ¼ hours! Some ceiling damage this time!
After torrential
rains and hurricane
force winds from
three storms,
a very big tree
must be cut down –
hopefully, before
it falls down!
Some ceiling damage
this time!

42. Great supervision for the job! FINALLY!
The tree came down October 12th!
beaucoup $$$$$$$’s
(at least no one was hurt and no serious damage to house.)

43. Timber!

44. This tree had a
45 inch diameter
and was more
than 60 feet tall!
Are we done?
I sure hope so!

46. We used to be here, but….