Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area
 [Register]
Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area Manatee and Sarasota Counties
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 08-13-2009, 02:52 PM
 
Location: Sarasota FL
6,864 posts, read 12,002,123 times
Reputation: 6743

Advertisements

Five years since 'Charley' roared through Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda. I remember watching the track on TV and watching it turn from north to east. On radar, it didn't look that big or bad. In Sarasota, leaves weren't even moving on the trees. There was nothing to be concerned about.
About a week later, while driving on I-75 through Northport, I didn't see any damage. But then at around mile marker 172 I started seeing downed trees and signs. Got off at exit 170 Kings Hwy and couldn't believe the damage. Went south, then over the bridge to Punta Gorda. It looked like an atom bomb went off. The devastation was unreal. Drove down U.S. 41 to Rio Villa Dr. and discovered that Windmill Village was GONE. Out of about 450 homes, only about a dozen were still standing. It was surreal. I heard a weather guy call the storm a very large tornado because of its small footprint.
A friend told me that there was thousands of roof tiles flying around like missles. But Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda have come back bigger and stronger. Kudos to those who stuck it out and rebuilt.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-13-2009, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Palm Island and North Port
7,511 posts, read 22,819,850 times
Reputation: 2874
Quote:
Originally Posted by d4g4m View Post
Five years since 'Charley' roared through Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda. I remember watching the track on TV and watching it turn from north to east. On radar, it didn't look that big or bad. In Sarasota, leaves weren't even moving on the trees. There was nothing to be concerned about.
About a week later, while driving on I-75 through Northport, I didn't see any damage. But then at around mile marker 172 I started seeing downed trees and signs. Got off at exit 170 Kings Hwy and couldn't believe the damage. Went south, then over the bridge to Punta Gorda. It looked like an atom bomb went off. The devastation was unreal. Drove down U.S. 41 to Rio Villa Dr. and discovered that Windmill Village was GONE. Out of about 450 homes, only about a dozen were still standing. It was surreal. I heard a weather guy call the storm a very large tornado because of its small footprint.
A friend told me that there was thousands of roof tiles flying around like missles. But Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda have come back bigger and stronger. Kudos to those who stuck it out and rebuilt.
Yeah, I remember Charley like it was yesterday. My little one was just two weeks old. We were living in NP at the time and my in-laws were living in PC. We all thought it was surely going to hit north of Tampa somewhere until it made the sharp right turn. We took the kids and the dogs and had a "camp out" in the walk-in closet for the day/night.

My in-laws (who live on Midway Blvd in Port Charlotte) lost their entire roof and pool cage. It seemed so impossible that we only had a few branches down and they lost their entire roof.

Anyway, I agree with d4g4m. Nice job to all those who stuck it out and rebuilt. Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte have come a long way since then.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2009, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Florida
4,892 posts, read 14,081,890 times
Reputation: 2324
oh, yeah...2004 was constant hurricanes along our coast. We boarded up on Anna Maria & left as they tracked it to us but it took a sharp left instead. God bless and may we remain safe...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2009, 04:57 PM
 
Location: Sarasota, Florida
251 posts, read 1,062,330 times
Reputation: 114
The image that still stands out in my mind is that Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda looked like a giant saw blade took off everything about 20 feet. Buildings, trees, power poles, antennas, etc.... anything above 20' was just gone.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2009, 07:51 PM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
22,584 posts, read 54,033,362 times
Reputation: 13612
The metal light poles on I-75 - the big wide ones that are just huge - were sawed in half. I will never forget that. Our daughter was four and just terrified.

By the time it turned it was too late to do anything.

Lots of people say in a hurricane you have plenty of time to evacuate. Not always. They were telling us to stay put, until it was too late.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-13-2009, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Venice Florida
1,380 posts, read 5,904,172 times
Reputation: 880
I was in my house on the peace river with my wife, mother-in-law and 3 dogs a bird. We had spent days filling sand bags, cause the forecast track was taking the storm north to Tampa as a cat 1.
When I realized that the storm was much worse than forecast it was too late to do anything but hunker down.
My house was in the middle of a remodel, before Charlie it was one of the oldest homes on the river and I was attempting to restore it. It didn't make it, when the roof started to peel off I made the decision to make a run for it. We jumped in my expedition and drove three house over to a newer home we had listed.
I remember coming out after the storm, power poles snapped in half, debris every where. My boat gone. I went around the neighborhood making sure friends were ok. It's been 5 years and the effects still linger.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2009, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Marion, IN
8,189 posts, read 31,147,652 times
Reputation: 7343
Wow, 5 years already?

I was living in North Port right behind the Biscayne Baptist Church. I remember sitting in the house with the hurricane shutters closed and the A/C on the fritz. My one cat was going crazy because she could not see out. I remember hearing stuff hit the house.

We got very lucky. Our power never went out. We had an old growth Jacaranda tree in the back yard that came apart in the wind. It missed my neighbor's pool cage by less than an inch. It missed my roof by less than an inch on the other side. It took us a 3 days with a chainsaw to cut it up & get it out to the street.

Friends who lived on the other side of 41 had no power for a week.

I remember having my husband pick up bread & lunch meat while he was in Bradenton because you could not buy any at our store, the Red Cross was buying everything. We ate a lot of TV dinners in the weeks after Charley because they were about the only food that stayed on the shelves. We did not grudge anyone the food, but I remember thinking it was creepy all the same.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-14-2009, 08:39 PM
 
Location: Greenville, sc
262 posts, read 821,584 times
Reputation: 66
I remember that day. It got so bad we started taking closet doors down and covering windows with them. Flipping mattresses to cover windows. It was a very hard time. No power for 2 weeks. I must say I do remember something special....Going to walmart in venice a few days after. Some lady noticed we were buying batteries and water jugs. She said wait and gave us what she had. They were lucky enough to have power and wanted to help out someone in need. Charlie is what urged us to move away from fl. Still love it there but I was always scared of another hurricane.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-15-2009, 08:56 AM
 
Location: North Port
325 posts, read 1,018,643 times
Reputation: 101
I remember my wife, me and my son crammed in the closet with our dog and cat. Flipping over mattresses to place against the windows. Watching the palms in N.P being blown. And watching my tarp blow off my boat ( never found that tarp). Then losing electric for the Weekend and going to Sarasota to get gas for the generators. Could have been at lot worst though, I truly feel for the People in Charlotte County who had to go through that.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top