(meteorobs) Re: Charley the nuisance

[Norman W. McLeod III]

Joan and I made it just fine after a heavy brush with Hurricane 
Charley.  Power was off for 26 hours -- we got it back just in time to not 
lose the freezer food.  Don't open the refrigerator unless absolutely 
necessary.  Still having water and phone made the blackout period 
bearable.  I showered with cold water a couple of times and sprinkled with 
water as necessary to stay cool while the air conditioning was off.  There 
is no excuse for dying in a heat wave if water is available; how often are 
people found dead in heat all bundled up in clothes?  We are fortunate to 
remain intact when so many people up the road don't have anything left.

As best I can tell now, the eye of Charley passed 10-15 miles west of 
us.  It looked like winds at 75-80 with gusts to 90, plus 8 inches of 
rain.  We have the strongest rolldown shutters available for all windows 
and even the exit doors.  Each shutter is fastened on the outside of the 
opening in concrete block with 32 screws.  No water got inside.  I kept 3 
shutters up for viewing on the lee sides, and was watching for almost 3 
hours straight.  One window I also opened to hear the roar.  Saw various 
trees break up and uproot.  An early gust knocked over all of our largest 
banana trees -- just one big splat sound.  There was no house damage in our 
neighborhood, an old one and built well.  We are also shielded by two 
2-story apartment buildings in the back and a 1-story house on either side, 
plus the elevation at our spot is 12 feet -- critical for storm surge.  The 
river is only 3 blocks away.  Living in a mobile home on low ground near 
the water is not the wisest thing to do.  It may be less costly but it can 
come to an end in minutes.  Our yard is pretty well trashed and will need a 
couple of weeks to clean up.  The water had already sunk into the ground a 
day later.

This was Joan's first hurricane, and my first in the daytime.  All others 
back to 1950 came at night.  I was able to see black clouds with heavy 
squalls coming.  It was unusually still until quite late when a squall came 
suddenly and took us to 50 mph.  I could hear the roar in the trees 
approaching with a curtain of rain.  There were people caught in the open 
by that -- mad scramble to get to safety.  At no time was I concerned with 
a strong house to hide in.  The tune might have changed if we had gotten 
the 145-mph winds here.

The sudden strengthening just before landfall reminds me of the 1935 Keys 
storm that was a category 5.  It only did a short hop from its origin in 
the Bahamas as a small storm but quickly developed the lowest central 
pressure on record in the Western Hemisphere, 26.35" of mercury.  Hundreds 
were trapped in the Keys and died in a 20-foot storm surge with winds at 200.

Last night the sky over Fort Myers was LM 6.5 with so many lights 
out.  Tonight it is barely 6.0.  Can't consider going out of town for 
observing, roads are cluttered with debris and traffic lights are out.

I lived in Punta Gorda, 26 miles north of here, for the school years 
1973-75.  A delightful place to live, and a couple of great years for 
meteor observing.  Punta Gorda was ground zero for the hurricane.  Towns 
never look the same after a storm like this one.  They have to be 
completely rebuilt.

Norman
Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod at peganet.com