Chaos Magnet

Memories of Charley

Everybody who knows I live in Florida has been calling or emailing to make sure that we're OK. Actually, I'm north of Tampa, but when it was headed straight for us, I almost made the decision to evacuate to my parent's house -- in Punta Gorda.

My parents are in New Jersey, but my 88 year old grandparents and their caretaker were in the Punta Gorda huse. The house lost its screen porch and a piece of stone tile came through a glass block window, but that was pretty much the worst of the damage, which is a miracle because the eye passed right over them.

But of course, they have no power. I got a frantic call from my mom on Saturday morning so we loaded up a rented van with a generator and some plywood, water, batteries, etc. and we headed on down. I can't begin to describe the devastation down there. You see it on TV, but it's nothing compared to being there. Houses flattened, businesses with missing walls, collapsing buildings everywhere, downed power lines, traffic lights and highway signs missing, freeway lampposts snapped in half with the tops slammed against the ground as though they were made of aluminum foil...

And the people. Watching them trying to put their lives back together. We spent three hours on Sunday trying to find gasoline to keep the generator running. We finally had to go 40 miles up the interstate.

It was really a life-altering experience. It really reminds you how many things you take for granted, and how many of the things that are SOOO important in every day life are just insignificant.

Technorati tags: Hurricane | Charley |

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