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When these people went to bed on Thursday, Charlie was barely a Cat 1, and predicted to hit Tampa, 75 miles away from Punta Gorda, at a strong Cat 1 or weak 2. At 9 AM Charlie was barely a Cat 2, still aiming at Tampa.

I have never seen anything like this:

I heard that most of those communities didn’t call for a mandatory evacuation of trailers, unlike where I live in the Keys. Then somewhere around noon Charlie increased speed to a Cat 3. Nothing on this page or the weather underground site mentioned that for hours. It was freaking nuts.

Less than a half hour after noon (much less) various media began reporting Charly as a Cat 4 and veering east. By 2:30 it was probably too late to leave many of those communities. Not a lot of roads running east. Those that exist cross rivers and are potential congestion points. Wind and rain were beginning Those people who chose to risk a Cat 1 or 2 just had a couple of hours to get the word and make a decision. This is a retirement community. Many made the wrong decision.

My wife and I looked all around the Fort Myers and Punta Gorda area before buying our house here in Key Largo I was driving around at 4PM yesterday thinking about the above.. Knowing that many there were not prepared for that and were at that moment fighting for their lives.

It's being reported that a sheriff on site at a trailer park ordered 60 body bags.

Water was like glass on Thursday night at the Key Largo marina where I keep my boat.

I tied it up real good and put out some fenders but I was just kidding myself about it being safe if we had a direct hit.

Well, theres always next week.

I was surprised at how far behind NHC was yesterday.

I can't imagine any community not calling for an evacuation of trailers with a storm heading toward their side of Florida. Even a near miss can be devastating for a trailer.

Heck, I can't imagine knowing a storm is on the way, living in a trailer and thinking that a cat. 1 or 2 wouldn't be a big deal, and that I could just go to sleep knowing it's on the way, knowing that it could veer or increase in strength at any time.

When these people went to bed on Thursday, Charlie was barely a Cat 1, and predicted to hit Tampa, 75 miles away from Punta Gorda, at a strong Cat 1 or weak 2. At 9 AM Charlie was barely a Cat 2, still aiming at Tampa. I have never seen anything like this: I heard that most of those communities didn’t call for a mandatory evacuation of trailers, unlike where I live in the Keys.

Wrong. When these people went to bed they were under a MANDATORY evacuation order for all RV and trailer parks in Charlotte County(which includes Punta Gorda.), which had been in effect since 3pm.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1191393/posts?page=324#324