Eighteen years in the past, Kevin Doyle rode out Hurricane Charley in his Punta Gorda pub and watched as Class 4 winds blew away the roof above his head.
“It was harrowing,” Doyle mentioned. “It was terrifying.”
The Aug. 13, 2004, storm destroyed half of Celtic Ray Public Home. And the remainder of Punta Gorda didn’t fare any higher, taking a direct hit and struggling the worst harm in Southwest Florida.
Doyle remembers strolling round downtown Punta Gorda afterward and seeing the destruction. The storm prompted $3.2 billion in harm in Charlotte County and left about 11,000 of Punta Gorda’s houses and 300 of its companies destroyed.
“You didn’t know which road you have been on,” Doyle mentioned about downtown Punta Gorda after Charley. “No landmarks, no road indicators, no visitors lights. Cables mendacity throughout the highway — dwell.”
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Now, as Hurricane Ian bears down on the west coast of Florida this week, Doyle hopes he received’t must undergo all that once more. Hurricane Ian made landfall Wednesday afternoon close to Cayo Costa alongside the southwestern coast of Florida, in response to the Nationwide Hurricane Heart.
After Charley, each he and his son Max Doyle rebuilt their bar with storm home windows and a brand new roof made to Miami-Dade hurricane requirements. Plus they plan to interrupt out the generator and board up just a few extra of the home windows Tuesday.
“I’d say I’m involved,” Max Doyle mentioned. “I simply wish to get every little thing ready and prepared. However I wouldn’t say I’m anxious or scared.”
Punta Gorda: A metropolis rebuilt after Hurricane Charley
The excellent news: Punta Gorda is taken into account to be in a lot better form than it was in 2004. Like Celtic Ray, a lot of the town was rebuilt to stricter requirements designed to resist hurricane-force winds.
“Half the city bought worn out,” Kevin Doyle mentioned. “Most of it was garbage. It bought changed by stronger stuff.”
Now Punta Gorda — which took a direct hit from Charley — is taken into account a mannequin for the remainder of the world for find out how to rebuild after a devastating hurricane.
“Punta Gorda is an instance of doing the best factor within the wake of a storm,” mentioned Jim Beever, a retired local weather change planner who lives on Pine Island. “They did the primary coastal local weather adaptation plan for a metropolis in Florida, and that is as a result of the group was very clever, and knew that they needed to construct safer, higher.
“They have been doing nice. They’re acknowledged internationally and worldwide.”
Nonetheless, that reassurance solely goes thus far. And as Hurricane Ian rekindles reminiscences of Charley in Southwest Florida, nervousness is beginning to rise for some.
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Krissy Chenault may go at a bar known as Hurricane Charley’s, however she mentioned she’s in no hurry to repeat 2004 once more.
“I’m a praying lady,” Chenault mentioned Monday afternoon on the downtown Punta Gorda bar, “and I shall be praying this night and tomorrow.”
Recollections of Hurricane Charley
The Port Charlotte lady noticed firsthand the devastation that Hurricane Charley — the storm, not the bar — did in Charlotte County. So she’s not taking any probabilities with Ian.
“In the event that they inform us to go away, I’m out,” she mentioned. “I’m not losing any time.”
Chenault was in Tampa along with her daughter when Charley hit, however her Port Charlotte dwelling survived the hurricane remarkably unscathed. She hopes Ian will spare it, too, and has been watching the spaghetti fashions and forecast cones for days now.
“I’m anxious,” she mentioned. “It’s days and days and days of the unknown. And my children are up in Tampa. I fear about them.”
Like many different Charlotte County companies, Hurricane Charley’s shall be closed Tuesday and Wednesday after workers soak up chairs and roll down the storm shutters, Chenault mentioned. Then she’ll go dwelling to Port Charlotte and trip out Ian.
Stephanie Stewart plans to do the identical factor at her Punta Gorda Isles apartment. However she feels safer this time then she did in 2014, when Hurricane Charley ripped a gap within the roof of her former home and almost took out her sliding-glass doorways as she and a few home friends braced them towards the wind.
“It was scary,” Stewart mentioned. “The wind was blowing, and you possibly can see them bowing somewhat bit. However they didn’t break, so we have been protected. It’s fairly a reminiscence.”
That reminiscence retains popping up this week as Hurricane Ian targets Florida as a serious Class 4 storm, however Stewart mentioned her new apartment was constructed to stronger hurricane requirements. So she’s not too anxious.
“The apartment has hurricane home windows, so I hope they’re in a position to stand up to any winds,” she mentioned. “That’s why we bought it. Time will inform.”
At Celtic Ray, co-owners Kevin and Max Doyle are watching the climate forecasts carefully and hope the hurricane spares them this time. Now it’s only a matter of watching and ready to see what Ian does subsequent.
“It’s like ready for a turtle that may cease by,” Max Doyle mentioned and smiled.
Kevin Doyle mentioned he’s not too anxious, although. Their bar was rebuilt more durable than ever, and nearly any hurricane feels much more manageable after Hurricane Charley.
“I’m principally aggravated,” he mentioned. “As a result of it’s an interruption of enterprise — and life.”
Contributing: Chad Gillis, The Information-Press
Comply with Charles Runnells on Twitter @charlesrunnells.
