[CFC__VRWC]

Arcadia and it's outlying areas are still reeling from Charley, even two years later. That whole area was dirt poor to begin with, and Charley just devastated them. About 20 percent of the citrus trees down there were blown away. That means five years at a minimum before fruit production can even begin to return to normal.

Whenever I started feeling sorry for myself after Charley, I just thought about Punta Gorda, Arcadia and Wauchula, and that set my head right real quick.

[NautiNurse]

I had to drive through Arcadia multiple times in 2004 following Fran and Jeanne, both of whom made landfall in Stuart where my mother lives. Eeesh, those were some precarious trips because of the unknown gasoline situation enroute. The trip takes the better part of a full tank one way in the truck. Topped off the tank virtually any time I saw a gas station with electricity, not knowing when there wouldn't be an opportunity.