Hurricane Charley

I flew into Tampa the day after Hurricane Charley struck the western Florida coast. My Dad lives in Punta Gorda, and had the eye of the fierce storm go right over his house. I landed around 11PM and I rented a car and drove the 2hrs down to Punta Gorda. As I neared Punta Gorda, I first began to notice that the mileage markers along the road were bent further and further over until they disappeared entirely. The entire area was without lights, and I didn't know that I was crossing through Punta Gorda until I passed a highway exit that had no signs.

I pulled off at the next signless exit and immediately ran into a National Guard roadblock. A curfew was imposed at 7PM, and at 1AM when I arrived, there was no one on the roads. My military ID got me through the roadblock, however I was unable to effectively navigate through Punta Gorda. Street signs were down everywhere, landmarks were destroyed and of course there were no lights. A drive that usually takes 7 minutes from the highway, took me a full 30 minutes.

My Dad's house and boats suffered relatively minor damage, but there was a ton of cleanup work needed. The power, water, phones and cable were all knocked out, and we lived on the boat instead of inside the house. I spent the next two days tearing up what was left of the lanai, removing shattered roof tiles, and removing some of the plywood and insulation that had been blown over from other houses. We took a few minutes and drove around the neighborhood and snapped a few pictures.

Hurricane Charley

Our House

Before

After

Our Street in Punta Gorda Isles

Elsewhere around Punta Gorda Isles & Punta Gorda