Replies

Here were the evac orders:

http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/Emergency/bulletins.asp

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2004 Time: 4:19:31 PM
Mandatory Evacuation of Barrier Islands
CHARLOTTE COUNTY SCHOOLS TO CLOSE FRIDAY. MANDATORY EVACUATION OF BARRIER ISLANDS, RV PARKS, AND MOBILE HOME COMMUNITIES IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY ORDERED AT 3 P.M. TODAY.

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2004 Time: 8:12:01 PM
Low Lying Areas Strongly Urged to Evacuate
Residents in the following areas are strongly urged to consider evacuating their homes by daylight Friday in advance of Hurricane Charley. The strengthening storm is now forecast to produce a storm surge of up to 10 feet above normal tide levels. Those areas of Charlotte County below 8 foot elevation and subject to the worst flooding threat include: EAST PUNTA GORDA AND SOLONA DOWNTOWN PUNTA GORDA PUNTA GORDA’S HISTORIC DISTRICT RIVERSIDE DRIVE, PUNTA GORDA THE EDGEWATER CORRIDOR, PORT CHARLOTTE BAYSHORE ROAD, MELBOURNE STREET & HARBORVIEW ROAD, CHARLOTTE HARBOR BURNT STORE ROAD, PUNTA GORDA PIRATE HARBOR, PUNTA GORDA EL JOBEAN AND THE CAPE HAZE AREA IN WESTERN CHARLOTTE COUNTY Evacuation is MANDATORY for Charlotte County’s barrier islands and for anyone in an RV or mobile home.

Hi everyone,
Well, this is my first time to post to FR. I have been a lurker for several years...but, tonight I finally decided to register.

That said, I am a meteorologist with NASA here in DC. I have to say I am extremely concerned about the damage we may see in the morning in Port Charlotte, FL. And , of course, the possible casualties. Unfortunately, I remember the aftermath of Andrew...not hearing reports from Homestead for many, many hours. While this storm was not an Andrew, it was almost certainly stronger than Hugo.

I also heard the comment by the caller to NBC 2 in Ft. Myers. I felt very bad for their on-air meteorologist. Hurricane intensity forecasts are still a VERY inexact science. Many of you may remember Hurricane Lili last fall before it hit LA. It was a cat 4, but suddenly (and unexpectedly) decreased in intensity to a cat 1. Today, we saw the opposite occur. Hurricane intensity forecasts must always be taken with a grain of salt...we still do not understand fully how the internal dynamics of a hurricane work.

As far as track forecast goes...I have to say I am not pleased with that either. However, Hurricane warnings and mandatory evac orders were put in place for the Ft. Myers/Pt. Charlotte area on Thursday morning. This is done, again, to account for known error in track forecasts. All research meteorologists know this...I just wish that broadcast ones would emphasize this more than they do...I honestly believe they are afraid to do so because it would make their station not look as "accurate" as the others in the market.

Sorry for the long post...especially for a first one...but just wanted to vent a bit. God bless the residents of FL.