I lived in Port Charlotte, 8 miles from Charlie when it unexpectedly turned west into Charlotte Harbor and the Peace River. We spent hours in our interior walk-in-closet as the wind and rain howled. As strong as Charlie was fortunately for us it was not an expansive (wide) storm so the damage path as devastating as it became, was relatively narrow. Our damage was minimal. We believe many mini-tornadic events caused the most damage in our community (Riverwood) as lanai's were destroyed, damage from dislodged roof tiles, and endless number of downed trees littered the community. The next morning we drove 8 miles south on Hw 41 into Punta Gorda. It looked like a bombed out city. Strips malls destroyed and I remember one old style Service (gas) Station with only one wall standing yet atop a hydrolic lift was a car standing all alone. Returning we took I75 north over the Peace River Bridge. Dozens of the very tall light poles that lighted the bridge were all sheared off about 20 feet above ground. The storm should be buffered a bit before it hits inland here in The Villages but it could still be damaging. We purchased a resale 11 1/2 years ago and our previous owner had the foresight to purchase lightweight portable storm shudders (Storm Stoppers/ as seen on Shark Tank) that I will put up Saturday if needed.
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