"The reason i get so upset with people saying stuff like that is last year people on these sites said Its coming to tampa better evac now when charlie came.....Now when they posted that on here some people with no clue got scared and left a safe location in tampa for a spot in Orlando where they were killed.

-- edit -- 2 folks lost their life in Orlando from Charlie and neither of the two were folks who evacuated from another area."

I agree with the original poster's intent if not complete accuracy. I obeyed a mandatory evacuation order from coastal anna maria island for Charley. I boarded up my home and headed inland to Arcadia, well above sea level and not predicted to be within the hurricane wind swath.

Several hours later I found myself hiding under the staircase of my parents' home and praying very loudly. Charley changed direction at the crucial last hours and we suffered hours of terror I would never wish on another human being.

As the eye of Category 4 Charley passed within a mile of us, the floors of the thankfully well-built old home rose and fell with the gusts. My stomach would flip-flop as the floor literally breathed below us. The closet doors upstairs began slamming open and closed and continued without ceasing. One magnolia and 7 huge old oaks crashed down around the house, with one large limb peeling a large section of roof open like a sardine can.

Water poured down the hall and pooled around us as we held cushions, mattresses, and anything we could find over our heads. Judging by the noise we agreed we had lost the entire second story of the home.

Debris flew in all directions and continually slammed the walls near us. We sat in the big old home in a huge puddle of water and prayed for deliverance from the monster storm. It eventually grew so loud, we couldn't even hear each other, only the slamming of objects into the home, the scream of the wind, the rattling of windows, the crashing of trees and the odd wailing sound of pine floors as the wind lifts them ever so slightly before letting them settle again.

We were delivered, but the world outside the walls of that home was not the same as the one we had left to take refuge from the storm and won't be for many years to come. Power was not restored in many areas for six weeks. The entire area remains a sea of blue tarps on roofs and all trees were stripped of their leaves and limbs. Many homes and businesses collapsed entirely and the roof over the only open shelter also blew away. The church where I was married was demolished. Our barn was blown 1/4 mile away.

I can't beging to describe, although I've tried, the devestation or the fear, or sorrow that comes after experiencing such an event.

The lesson here isn't to ignore warnings. But rather, to think for yourself and take precautions even after you have heeded warnings because a pin-point simply isn't possible with a hurricane.

We returned to our home on the coast after the hurricane to find that not one old palm frond had been disturbed in our absence. And our windows remained safely boarded. The contrast was shocking and remains so in my mind.

My prayers and thoughts are sincerely with all of those who are facing this storm. Think carefully and take every precaution to protect yourself and your family. And pray.

-Bev