I lived in Pinellas County in 2004. Hurricane Charley was aimed right at us. Work closed several days ahead to allow us to get our homes ready and evacuate if required/needed. I got ready and stayed in place, (foolishly in hind sight based on the damage done in SW Florida). Then stayed glued to the weather channel and any updates. I was so tired and tense from getting ready that as soon as the storm turned east, I fell asleep and did not wake up until the storm rolled through Florida.
My kids, who were in Orlando, lost power and tried to come to my house driving on I-4. They were on the road four hours and got less than 10 miles. They ended up checking into a hotel. Their power was off for a couple of days. They never made it to Clearwater.
We had two more storms come close in 2004. Both storms, the kids arrived at midnight, as soon as the weekend came, (they all seemed to be coming up with a weekend), or when their jobs closed for the weather. I lost power for a short time during both, but Hurricane Jeanne left me with a gift. She split a large 40 ft. oak tree in the front yard and it landed on the garage. We had the cars parked outside on the street, so we didn't even realize it had happened until we opened the garage door.
My future sister-in-law did not fare as well. She lived in Polk County, completely inland. Her home was destroyed one storm after another, after another. The three, Charley, Frances, and Jeanne, managed to total the beautiful lakefront home. It has since been rebuilt, but it took a couple of years to finish.
It was quite a summer. Everywhere you went there were blue tarps on roof tops. That lasted a very long time.
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