Henry's report of being in the eye of Charley, last years Catagory 4 Hurricane that hit Charlotte County, FL. Originally published in "Summer of Storms" by the Peace River Center for Writers.
It was cheaper than a cruise ship and also more exciting. Charley?
Look at it this way. Only a few deaths and few injuries resulted from Charley. Property damage galore-yes, it looked something like a war zone, but without casualties.
Thursday, August 12 at three PM our rec hall in our trailer-RV park went into lock down as an Emergency Shelter. Some 47 people had assembled with their food, bedding and supplies. We each had our little assignment in the 60x60 foot dance hall area.. We had the patio pool lounge chairs to sleep on and keep our gear under.
There was a young family, with two small children. Flight cancelled. A young woman visiting her father was with us, her flight cancelled. There were park residents who were just down for a few days with their friends, they were with us. But mostly we were the summer residents who had not fled to East coast, Georgia, Myrtle Beach and other places.
Charley arrived Friday 13th afternoon. First rain, then wind, the power went out, the standby generator went out. The wind picked up. The rain picked up. The generator restarted, the TV went out. The double doors in front started to puff in and out. The guys were pushing on the door. The bookcases from the library and the sectional sofas were piled up against the front doors. They held.. The wind weakend, strengthened, and then started a slow decline.
The roof began to leak. People had to move beds and gear. Place buckets, empty buckets. Our small kitchen still worked enough and the kitchen crew served some food. We had made it. But we were still locked down. We made plans to stay put. Those who had some brought their toilet paper and paper towels to the front of the room and piled them up. We would keep our two toilets supplied as long as we could.
By now we were one big family. Most were happy, some were bitchy. The young couple hooked a late Saturday flight from Tampa. The daughter visiting got a Sunday flight.
The word came the lock down was ended, but there was no power or water in our park. So we all went home just to check out our property and bring back our freezer contents and refrigerator contents. We pot-lucked for days as the kitchen crew cooked up whatever and did three meals a day for many days.
We started receiving help. Volunteer people began coming by with bottled water, ice, cooked food. It all got piled on tables. We each took what we needed when we needed. The three meals a day kept coming. Volunteers came by offering work. Help us pick up our property and pile along the side of the road. The newspapers started being delivered in bulk. Plop. Have a paper.
By the next Friday things were going fairly smooth. We had a routine. Some people had left, other had returned to the park but couldn’t live in their homes, they moved in. A hose was hooked up to the men’s and women’s showers fed by a small force pump feeding out of our pool. Showers, yea..
I was a new comer to the park, having only lived in the park two and half years before Charley. Now I knew a lot of people. I had actually been in the eye of a Category 4 Hurricane. I had an outstanding experience, at no cost to me. It just happened. This is my summer vacation story.
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Reviewed by al mohseni
8/24/2007
if you go to Tijuana Mexico
please hide your money.you will be stop by Tijuana police and they will rob you .hide your money.
me and my 2 friends had been robbed by police and they told us if we say anything they will arrest us.be careful and have good trip.
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