|
 |
2004 was a busy year for hurricanes. Tampa Bay, where we live, was set to get hit dead-on by Hurricane Charley. Many folks evacuated as the storm made its way North from Cuba past the Keys, a lot of them heading east to Orlando and thereabouts. The day he was set to arrive, Charley took an unexpected turn inland, to Charlotte Harbor. Some of those people had evacuated, but some were not expecting the hit, and it was a serious hit. Then the eye cut roughly a NNE path across the heart of central Florida. Ironically, many of the people who had left Tampa Bay to get out of the path were now stuck in Orlando-area hotels without power due to Charley, and along with the local residents had to endure a massive amount of wind and rain.
Francis came in from the east, and again for the longest time we were smack dab in the middle of the projected course. Luckily hurricanes lose strength over land, so when they approach from the Atlantic Ocean, the Florida penninsula tends to slow them down to spare us from winds at category 3 and above. Francis seared a line across the state that intersected Charley not too far from Disney World. |
Charley |
Francis |
Ivan came up through the Gulf of Mexico, much like Charley but further west. But even when a storm of this magnitude is 300 miles away, in the Tampa Bay area you know it. It made for some serious problems for the Florida panhandle and the Alabama coastline.
Hurrican Jeanne was the worse of all, taking a course quite similar to Francis, but with more bite. Again, it looked like we were along the path, and the eye and its dangerous periphery was perilously close, but we missed a direct hit. There were several nervous hours, but other than some small branches, house and yard remained intact.
|
Ivan |
Jeanne |
|
