Hurricane Charlie Up Graded to Disney

Disney tackles Hurricane Charley

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 5:13 a.m.

ORLANDO — Hurricane Charley, one of the most destructive storms to strike the United States, is getting the Disney treatment. A new exhibit opening in late August at Disney's Epcot Innoventions pavilion will put visitors in the eye of the storm's lashing Category 4 winds using 3-D technology and surround sound.

Disney officials talked about "StormStruck: The Tale of Two Homes," during the recent Governor's Hurricane Conference. Presenters said visitors would be shown how fortifying a home against a storm can change the outcome for the home. Two examples of homes will be used, one that survived Charley, and another that did not.

Designers hope the attraction will motivate residents to construct their homes like Chris Webb, whose home on Gulfview Road in Punta Gorda was virtually unscathed.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080518/NEWS/805180626/1661

When we were arranging to come to Florida from Massachusetts, all the homes we wanted to see were in Central Florida. We were told that hurricanes hardly ever hit here and the last one was 30 years before our planned move. It was one thing to put up with Nor'Easters, blizzards, bone chilling cold and sweltering heat in the summer, but hurricanes were something I really wanted to avoid.

We moved in June of 2004. We were greeted with daily rain coming down so hard we had to pull over to the side of the road because visibility was actually worse than driving in a snow storm. I felt lucky these downpours did not last very long and we needed the rain.

By August, I was not happy with the move at all. While we were still meeting the neighbors, we were to be introduced to a bully named Charlie.

CHARLEY MAKES LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE NEAR
CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FLA.
Aug. 13, 2004 — At 5 p.m. EDT, the center of Hurricane Charley was located near latitude 26.9 north, longitude 82.2 west or about 30 miles west-northwest of Ft. Myers, Fla. This position is also about 115 miles south-southwest of Orlando. Charley is moving toward the north-northeast near 22 mph, and a gradual increase in forward speed is expected Friday night and Saturday. The forecast track moves Charley across Florida and off the northeast Florida coast overnight, according to the NOAA National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla. (Click NOAA satellite image for larger view of Hurricane Charley taken at 4:15 p.m. EDT on Aug. 13, 2004, after making landfall around Cayo Costa, just north of Captiva Island, Fla. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2293.htm

The wrath of Charlie was hard to imagine. We were all walking around our subdivision as if some giant decided to bash around trees and beat up some houses. It seemed as if we had just cleaned up from Charlie, put the blue tarps on most of the roofs, when his sister Francis decided to pay a visit as well. Then came Jeanne. Three hurricanes! I called my Mom (as we spent most of the time on the phone because they were all frantic) back home and said she was right again. She said bad things always come in threes. Ivan must have gotten the message because he at least missed the Orlando area. While the Charlie attraction may be helpful to some people, I think it's one I am planning on missing. We still have our plywood all cut in the garage and ready to go back up. My husband treated the wood so that we could save it for when we needed it again. It's dusty but it will do.