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August 12, 2004: Charley, a category two hurricane, is over Cuba and headed towards the west coast of Florida: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/hurseas2004/charley1315Z-08-12-04g12.jpg People in my town of Punta Gorda refer to everything in terms of “before” and “after” Charley. I don’t. Instead, I choose to focus on those few harrowing hours, in which I had the misfortune and opportunity to experience the eye of a strong category 4 hurricane. I want to share with you what it was like. It is difficult to display the power of wind in any given image, as you have no motion –and the sound (perhaps the most terrifying thing in a hurricane) is obviously left out. If anyone can help me with this, I would like to supply some sound and/or video clips so that people can truly appreciate this great and terrible storm. For now, I would like to present these select frames from the video that I shot that day. August 13 (Friday) 2004: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/hurseas2004/charley2015Z-08-13-04g12.jpg Outer Eye Wall: http://photos2.flickr.com/3655586_bd4c934e02.jpg http://photos1.flickr.com/3657763_79991fb348.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3657759_3f0f119656.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3657758_9926fc0417.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3657760_1f08a023c4.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3657762_5678ec788d.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655689_841bf0d82a.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656071_4f48c73323.jpg Inner Eye Wall: http://photos1.flickr.com/3657761_491e7b620e.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3657806_e5a4aacd7c.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656146_649f54a6a2.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655594_585ae8b256.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655238_921b5e9b9b.jpg http://photos1.flickr.com/3655105_399cee5c78.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655098_f7810b79a2.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3653385_af43cc2269.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3653386_ea155b9aba.jpg Break in: http://photos2.flickr.com/3655236_4ec0c746fb.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655096_6d4dc636fe.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3656068_5b2d0ac3f6.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655825_af9d19f5ae.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3653384_fb6865d971.jpg Eye: http://photos2.flickr.com/3655694_a23f8c8293.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656069_c2d8edfc37.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3657807_b1ec406a60.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655584_840d566405.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655235_6493d6a6e7.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3654448_cef937973f.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3657805_6cda4d36d9.jpg Part II: http://photos2.flickr.com/3655688_41177d104e.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655823_03a845f15a.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3654456_9ea7a72a80.jpg Aftermath: http://photos2.flickr.com/3655687_19259856b1.jpg http://photos1.flickr.com/3654455_ab98e8d4eb.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656144_bc7487782e.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656070_23476cf880.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655237_cf423e5671.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3654449_d376263ffc.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3653382_de1cbe6996.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655829_4eb3fb86c2.jpg The Next Day: http://photos3.flickr.com/3656145_2b9b85920a.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3656149_1aff8ac853.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655822_5fd0904736.jpg http://photos1.flickr.com/3655830_3b94c73f69.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3656073_31ec6c1d1c.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655241_9315ce9ebf.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655583_eb0fa24235.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655242_2f2bb19d15.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655695_86c0a6c394.jpg http://photos1.flickr.com/3655697_8cb82adeaf.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3653392_3f0d40bbf6.jpg http://photos3.flickr.com/3655097_1972d66767.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3654457_256ef0137f.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655828_8e0929f9f7.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3653383_9b270d5325.jpg http://photos2.flickr.com/3655104_fc4e63035f.jpg EDIT: I will add commentary later. |
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Crap. How do I post thumbnails? The clickable url's will just have to do for now. Enjoy. |
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Incredible. Thanks for sharing these pictures. In the last set, the picture of the car on the hoist and the hotel blown to bits received a great deal of national media coverage from a vantage point close to where you took these, but we couldn't see the area surrounding it. You folks have been through a lot and we are all hoping for a quiet 2005 season for you (and us). |
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If you think this is incredible, then you should see the video that I shot (from which all these frames come from). The sound is the most stunning aspect of the equation. It is funny that you mention the hotel. That moment in time has special meaning to me. It is when all the fun and excitement of the storm ended. You see, initially we were worried about storm surge and not wind damage (this is when Charley was only going to be a cat 2) so we booked a room in that hotel. When Charley rapidly intensified, we decided that it would be better to stay at home. When we drove past the wreckage, I couldn’t help but think "wow, I could have died in there." While you can’t see it in the image, there are firemen and rescue dogs looking for dead bodies just off camera. It was then that reality hit. |
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I got my movie up on the FTP server. I am not sure how to direct you guys to it, so If anyone wants to help me in this respect it would be greatly appreciated. |
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Until Mike can figure it out, just direct them to the link on HCW. |
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Here it is: http://flhurricane.com/mcelroy/ |
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Those are some great pics |
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They are all from my film. If you liked these, be sure to take a look at it. |
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I saw it. Great piece of work. |