Tropical Storms Bonnie and Charley

[Ischyros]

I watched the time-lapse of that weather cam with it on 5 minute intervals. It looks like all the power was out for a while after dark but then a few lights can be seen along with the Epcot sign over Spaceship Earth. At least we know SE survived!

[Timbo]

They're reporting that Charley is moving off the coast of Daytona Beach now as a Cat 1 storm. Also, reports coming out of Lee County are really bad. According to one reporter, much of Punta Gorda has been flattened. Extensive damage in Charlotte County as well. We'll know a lot more when the sun comes up.

As far as I know, my family members came out of this one okay...most of them were in the path of Charley. I hope all of my fellow Florida Intercotees are okay as well.

[marlyn]

Best wishes for all of you who are having to brave the storm! Pixie dust coming for you so that you all get through with no damage or casualties.

I have been following it on Tv today and am praying for the safety of everyone.

[WDW crazy]

My thoughts are with all of you in Florida wherever you may be! This has been a long and scary day for you all. I hope that everyone is doing well. I've been watching the Weather Channel all day to keep updated. Thank-you Intercot and everyone who lives in the area for keeping us updated.

[Red Randal]

I haven't seen anything posted here for a lil while and there was nothing on the news in the last hour concerning the WDW area, so it looks like we must be out of the woods on that front.

HOWEVER, thoughts and prayers go out to those who WERE hit hard and those who are still bracing for the storm.

They expect it to hit us in PA Sunday morning, but it should be nothing but a thunderstorm by then.

[goofygirl67]

Well it looks like Jacksonville go spared again (I don't know how we get so lucky). [img]graemlins/clappy.gif[/img]
The worst we got from Charley was a couple of rain bands with severe thunderstorms early on, other than than no big deal. We get worse afternoon thunderstorms than that.
I hope everyone else on Florida is allright.

[Dreamin' of Disney]

My heart broke this morning for Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img]

Digger~ glad to see that you are okay, I was so worried all night about you and SallyP. Has anyone heard from her? I know and her and DH had boarded up and were buckling down yesterday afternoon, but I haven't seen any posts from her since. I sincerely pray that all is well. How hard hit was Venice? We are supposed to be in Siesta Key in 6 weeks, should we look for other arrangements, possibly in the Disney area instead?

[WDWdriver]

Good morning all

My electricity came back on 20 minutes ago, so I can communicate again. It was a wild night here, but could have been worse. High winds and torrential rain for about two hours. My electricity went out five or six times and finally quit completely at about 9:00. My building's fire alarm was also going off intermittantly.

It's still dark outside, so I can't get an idea of the damage in this area. But everything is fine here in my building. The local officials are discouraging us from driving, but I need to get to AK to help with the cleanup. If possible we will open the park today.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and pixie dust.

[DicksonGR]

Thanks for the update Ron! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

Glad to hear you are well!

[drummerboy]

Glad to hear you came out allright, Ron. We're battening down now here on the NC coast, but I don't think we'll get the fury they did in Western FL.

[kelley635815]

So glad that you made it through everything Ron. I too have been watching the TV weather and CNN and have not gotten the updates that I have gotten here on Intercot. Thank you so much and God Bless.
Kelley

[disney100%]

Anyone have any information about Fort Myers and damage along the Caloosahatchee River? My parents own a place right along the river, but luckily they are home in NH for now. They are waiting for word from some of their neighbors on the damage. Any information or news reports would be greatly appreciated.

[Donalds Duckie]

I rejoice that so many of you came through Charley okay. My dear friends in Winter Garden came through okay also. I pray all is well with the CMs and guests at WDW.

My heart, however, breaks and my prayers continue for those who were hit so hard and suffered such loss.

There certainly are two TDs forming now and I will pray they spin out away from the U.S.

Thanks to everyone here on Intercot who kept us informed all the way through. I watched Weather Channel once I got home from work but did not get as much specific info as I did here.

Y'all take it easy and drive safely out there today.

God bless!!!

[Mr. Brass Bonanza]

I was just looking at the webcam, and it looks like there is no power at Epcot or the Beach Club. I saw the lights clearly a little while ago...especially on the Epcot sign. Or is it just the light of the day drowning it out?

http://www.aws.com/wxcomm/commercial...id=LKBNV&siz=l

[Nana]

Ron, thanks for letting us know you are ok! [img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img] Hopefully the rest of the Intercot family is doing as well. Keep us updated as you can.

Here is the latest from CNN:
Florida assesses Charley's toll
Hurricane moving toward Carolinas, now Category 1 strength
Saturday, August 14, 2004 Posted: 7:32 AM EDT (1132 GMT)

Several fatalities in wake of Hurricane Charley
PUNTA GORDA, Florida (CNN) -- Florida emergency personnel rushed early Saturday to assess damage left by Hurricane Charley, after the storm came ashore with winds of 145 mph and moved across the state.

More than 1.8 million people were reported to be without power, and widespread building damage and uprooted trees were said to have been sighted from the Fort Myers area in the southwest -- where the hurricane slammed ashore Friday afternoon -- to Daytona Beach, where it moved off the state's eastern coastline just before midnight.

The hurricane weakened as it crossed the state, but it still had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (136 kph) as it churned over the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. ET advisory.

Charley is now moving northward along the Atlantic Seaboard and is expected to make landfall again Saturday in the Carolinas.

Just north of Fort Myers, Charlotte County emergency authorities reported several fatalities in Punta Gorda after what may have been a tornado spawned by Hurricane Charley uprooted several mobile homes, according to the county's emergency director, Wayne Sallade.

"We are unable at this time to get vehicles [into the area] because of downed power lines," Sallade said.

He said emergency workers Saturday morning will try to access the area after daylight.

To the south, in Lee County, the sheriff's office reported one hurricane-related death in North Fort Myers when a man in his early 20s stepped outside during the full force of the hurricane to smoke a cigarette.

A fatality was reported ahead of the storm in Orange County, when high wind blew a moving van into oncoming traffic on a freeway Friday afternoon, killing a young girl and seriously injuring seven others, according to Kim Miller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol.

Charley aims for Carolinas
At 5 a.m., Charley was in the Atlantic Ocean about 115 miles (185 kilometers) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and was moving to the north-northeast at 25 mph (40 kph). Hurricane warnings have been posted from St. Simon's Island, Georgia, area northward to the North Carolina-Virginia state line.

Governors in Georgia, North and South Carolina have declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

The hurricane could strengthen once it is back over open water, but Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, said it was unlikely that Charley could reclaim its former punch.

Late Friday, about 1,400 National Guard troops were sent into hard-hit Port Charlotte, where there were numerous reports of injuries. Search-and-rescue efforts were underway, said Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) spokeswoman Liz Compton.

'Widespread' damage reports
The brunt of the storm destroyed Charlotte County's Office of Emergency Management (OEM), and neighboring Sarasota County's OEM took over some duties for the office, including fielding media phone calls, a spokeswoman for the Sarasota agency said.

Craig Fugate, the Florida emergency management agency's director, said officials are receiving widespread reports of homes and mobile homes that were damaged or destroyed by the storm.

There were also widespread reports of trees being toppled and roofs being ripped from buildings.

The eye of storm came ashore on North Captiva Island just before 4 p.m. with 145 mph (233 kph) winds and a storm surge in excess of 10 feet (3 meters). It then crossed Charlotte Harbor before pushing into Port Charlotte and Charlotte County, and then continuing inland.

President Bush declared the state a major disaster area Friday evening, making federal funding available for individuals and local governments dealing with the storm.

Florida Power and Light spokeswoman Tom Veenstera said at least 858,000 people were out of power in the company's service areas across the state. Progress Energy, which services Orlando and central Florida, reported nearly 955,000 people had lost service.

[ August 14, 2004, 07:48 AM: Message edited by: bradleysnana ]

[Main Street Jim]

Watching Fox 35 News here in Orlando, WFTV-ABC Local 9 News here, and damage along the Gulf coast was pretty bad with 145mph winds. Gusts were reported here in Orlando up to 100mph. Lot of downed power lines, damaged roofs, airplanes at the three local airports (OIA, Sanford, and Orlando Executive). We lost power here last night for about four hours, went out at about 10:30-11 last night and came back on at about 3am.

The storm blew right across Interstate 4 up to Daytona, where it headed north in the Atlantic and toward South Carolina. The parks are reporting some damage, and will be open as normal. Reports are saying that it may be a few hours for them to be *fully* operational, but we're opening up today. Florida AMTRack service is cancelled until Monday.

So we ended up here in pretty good shape. The storm blew through here in about an hour. I think we got just the western edge of the thing. Not any significant damage here at the house; just a lot of water outside still; the lake is filled up right to the top. So we're alright here. Still a few accidents on the roads due to no trafiic lights. Fox News just got a report from the Florida Highway Patrol that traffic lights were *melting* in some areas due to transformers blowing up, and the news guy had to stop and ask if he heard that correctly...LOL...

Anyways...thank God there wasn't a significant loss of life as bad as this storm was; most folks made it through OK. Granted, a lot of residences havebeen damaged, but still, no reports of many deaths or anything like that.

Thank y'all for the support and prayers, and we'll see y'all in the parks!

[Dreamin' of Disney]

Main Street Jim~ So glad to hear that you, your family and home are okay. Thank you for posting for us. We kept you all in our thoughts and prayers...and sent lots of pixie dust *~*~*~*~. Have a wonderful day.

[imported_Melanears]

Yay Ron!!! [img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img] Great to hear from you. Good luck to all of you CM's and the clean up this morning.

[Womble]

Thanks Ron and Jim for the updates! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
Have a safe day.

The news coverage in the UK (Fox & CNN) has been very poor. They’ve had lots of reports from the gulf coast, but none from Central Florida.
I’m hoping this is because it got less damage than expected!

[MauiMouse]

Good to hear from you Ron and Jim. [img]graemlins/clappy.gif[/img] Thanks for everyone's update. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]