Posted on 08/14/2004 12:04:05 AM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
FORT MEADE -- Polk County's 44 years without a major hurricane ended emphatically Friday when Charley roared in from the south.
Roofs disappeared, lights blinked off and trees crashed to the ground as the storm's eye moved in a northeasterly direction across the county. Charley was a raging mix of howling wind and blowing rain.
Even for veterans of Hurricane Donna in 1960, Charley was a storm to remember.
Fort Meade was the first community in Polk to feel Charley's power. The storm's eye crossed the county line about 6:45 p.m. Bert and Ginger Blackwelder of Fort Meade spoke by phone to a Ledger reporter for about 10 minutes as the hurricane ripped through the town.
``Roofs are gone,'' Blackwelder yelled into the phone. ``Trees are uprooted. ``This storm is wreaking havoc. We're in the brunt of it right now.''
The Blackwelders live across the street from the Fort Meade Mobile Home Park, a badly damaged park that has about 1,000 residents. ``My neighbor's carport just went down the road,'' Ginger Blackwelder said. As she talked, sections of an aluminum roof landed on her car.
Initially, Bert Blackwelder, 65, a Frostproof native, said Charley didn't compare with the strength and speed of Hurricane Donna, a Category 4.
A few minutes later, Charley converted him. ``In all my life, I've never seen anything like this,'' he said. ``It's got me worried.'' The strong winds carried away the roof of their barn.
Charley came ashore in Charlotte County packing winds of more than 140 mph, a powerful Category 4 storm.
Over land, Charley lost some punch but still pummeled Lake Wales with gusts up to 101 mph and sustained winds of 95 mph for about 45 minutes, according to the Lake Wales Fire Department. That wind speed would make it a category 2 storm.
The Grove Center nursing home in Lake Wales lost part of its roof, but the residents were safe in part of the building that has not been damaged, said J.T. Torrence of the Lake Wales Fire Department.
Lake Wales lawyer Robin Gibson said Charley's winds wrenched limbs from trees and sent the them flying throughout his yard. ``I've got more limbs down than I do connected to trees,'' Gibson said.
One of the limbs, 18 inches in diameter, crashed through Gibson's closed garage door, just missing his vehicles, which are now trapped inside by other limbs.
Gibson, who rode out several hurricanes while growing up along Miami's Biscayne Bay, said Charley was as intense as any storm he'd ever experienced.
In his role as chairman of the trustees for the newly formed Lake Wales Charter School system, Gibson also helped improvise an emergency response as the storm took its unexpected midday turn toward Lake Wales.
City officials asked Gibson to approve opening Lake Wales High School as an emergency shelter just four hours before the storm hit.
High School Principal Dave Lewis said the facility was opened in less than an hour after an evacuation order for mobile home dwellers was issued about 3 p.m.
In Bartow, high winds ripped down the facade of the western edge of the Publix shopping center facing Broadway Avenue at State Road 60, destroying signs for a Subway sandwich shop and several other businesses. The Publix store itself suffered damage to its roof.
Further south, David Ullman of Highland Park lost his floating dock to the storm. ``We've gotten hammered pretty good,'' said Ullman, an accountant who took shelter with his wife and four children in a closet in their home on Lake Easy.
``We have a floating dock that I think became a flying dock. We've got somebody's truck liner in a tree in our front yard.''
Frostproof residents and officials scrambled as Charley appeared to paint them in the center of his bull's eye.
From the Emergency Operations Center in a police station shuttered by plywood, rescue workers and city officials prepared to wait out the storm.
``It's not looking pretty right now,'' Frostproof Police Chief Neal Byrd said from the EOC, which was actually the combination locker and fingerprint room for the Police Department.
As the storm turned toward Polk County, police and firefighters went door to door in mobile home parks to inform residents of mandatory evacuation orders.
``They told us to get out,'' Ken Goertz of Frostproof Trailer Park said from a lawn chair in the Frostproof High School gymnasium. ``I had thought about staying.''
In downtown Frostproof, Bob O'Hara of O'Hara Restorations, sardined 52 of his vintage vehicles into his building, which was once a Ford dealership. ``We don't even know what we're preparing for,'' O'Hara said. ``I hope everything is good (this)morning.''
City Manager Jeff Brown said crews would clear roads after conditions eased Friday night.
But no major cleanup would be done until today, he said. City crews were scheduled to assembly at first light to begin assessing damage.
Many people from the Gulf Coast sought refuge in Polk County only to find themselves in the storm Friday. At nearly 1 million people, it was the largest evacuation in the region's history.
``I feel like the biggest fool,'' said Robert Angel of Tarpon Springs, who was staying in a Lakeland motel. ``I spent hundreds of dollars to be in the center of a hurricane. Our home is safe, but now I'm in danger.''
Charley was in the county for less than an hour. By 8:20 p.m., the eye of the storm moved on, headed northeast toward the Atlantic, but considerable tree damage and widespread power outages remained to be dealt with Saturday.
I have family in Mulberry/Lakeland and have not been able to contact them since yesterday afternoon. This was before it was upgraded to Cat 4 and they were clueless then as to the path of the storm.
The phones were acting funny this afternoon. I tried calling my parents twice and got nothing but hiss. Then my dad called back and said that I didn't let the phone ring long enough. I told him I didn't even hear it ringing!!! (At least they have caller ID and knew it was me calling ;-).
My mom was actually born in Lake Wales, after her parents moved down right after the big Crash of 1929. He lost his shirt in the commodities market and heard about this City Clerk job in Lake Wales. So they moved. But when my mom was a little older, they moved back to Illinois because the schools were so crummy (even back then). Then my grandparents moved back down there in the 1960's and we used to visit them every summer. I've shopped at the Publix in Bartow mentioned in this story :-).
Aftermath report: My folks lost a huge 100 yr. old oak tree in their front yard....... but it blew over into the neighbors' yard. My dad reports they lost a couple of screens, but that was about it. Thank god for the sturdy stucco construction ;-). My dad said no power since 6:30pm last night - still don't have it as of Noon today. He's only got phone service in his downtown storefront office - nothing at home - yet. But at least he was able to call me from there.
Hurricane Charley ping!
I know this is a grave subject, but that line just had me blowing Sam Adams out my nose.
Luckily the "dawg" apparently wasn't resting on that truck liner! ;-)
"A portion of the outside lane of east bound SR 60 just east of the City of Lake Wales has been washed out due to Hurricane Charley. East bound traffic will be reduced to one lane and will be shifted to the west bound side of SR 60. West bound traffic will also be reduced to one lane in this area. Motorist can expect minor delays."
From State Emergency Operations Center in Florida: http://floridadisaster.org/eoc/Charley04.asp
(I am a sister of NotJustAnotherPrettyFace)
You signed up today and post to a thread that is dead to tell me about the glorious phone service...get a life
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