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Punta Gorda, Florida - post Hurricane Charley |
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Pictures from Punta Gorda.
These are pictures of Punta Gorda about 2 weeks after Hurricane Charley ripped through. Residents and emergency crews were having a tough time getting a handle on the damage because it was so widespread. Power and phone service was still all-too-slowly being restored.
First, the roads had to be cleared of the trees, limbs and structural debris strewn about by the powerful hurricane. Night and day crews labored in the rains and winds to clear paths for emergency vehicles. Residents, chainsaws in hand, rushed to help. Moms, dads, kids - all were out trying to help clear the rubble.
With power and phone service out to most homes and facilities, relief efforts were stymied. Power and telephone crews worked around the clock trying to restore these basic services. Damage was so widespread to cables and poles that it was soon evident that rebuilding favored repair.
Mobile home communities were especially hard hit although frame and concrete block houses and buildings did not escape damage. Obviously, after viewing the remnants of mobile homes left by Charley, one could make an excellent case against allowing these structures in Florida. However that's not the answer. Certainly no one should ever again think about "riding out the storm" in their mobile home. Charley has effectively dispelled the notion that these structures are safe.
Return to Pre-Charley Pictures. |  |
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| Charlotte High School had its facade ripped off. School was closed.. | Views (above and below) along commercial areas in Punta Gorda. | |||||
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Medical building. |
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| Punta Gorda Shopping Center | ||||||
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| These condos (pictures above) were all damaged by Hurricane Charley. | ||||||
Punta Gorda Downtown Area |
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| As Hurricane Charley raged through downtown, many older structures suffered damage. The beautiful palm-lined boulevards and streets were in shambles. Wooded areas looked as though they had been "nuked." | ||||||
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Roofing |
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| If we might side track for awhile - pictures above and below show steel and shingle roofs that fared well in the storm. Contrast this with the inferior performance of tile roofs shown below in the Punta Gorda Isles section of this page. By far the best roofs for withstanding the higher winds seemed to be newer steel roofs followed by newer shingle roofs. The more expensive tile roofs, used almost exclusively in Punta Gorda Isles, showed minimal to extreme damage but virtually every tile roof we saw had damage. | ||||||
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Punta Gorda Downtown Area Streets |
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These palm tree lined streets provided a tropical flavor to this former fishing village. |
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Punta Gorda Streets |
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| Visible everywhere were the scars from Hurricane Charley: felled and skeletonized trees and vegetation; piles of debris; empty streets. | ||||||
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Burrough's House |
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Pictures at left show the relocated, restored, historic Burrough's House. Though the views differ slightly, it's easy to see that the house exterior did OK in the high winds but the same can't be said for the surrounding foliage. | ||||
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Burrough's House Before |
Burrough's House After |
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Fisherman's Village, Punta Gorda, Florida |
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Condos and shops damaged and Fisherman's village closed. |
Damaged boathouse. |
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Punta Gorda Isles |
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Canals (above) seemed to be clear. |
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Note the tile roof damage throughout the pictures for Punta Gorda Isles. |
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Punta Gorda |
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Emergency Medical building needs some help. |
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Once beautiful wooded landscapes now look like dreamscapes - the nightmare kind. |
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Punta Gorda Mobile Homes and Trailer Parks |
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| Just a casual glance at these pictures tells one about the relative safety of mobile homes in Florida. Charley opened many up like fruit, peeling the outer skin and hurling aluminum, insulation, furniture - and in some cases, occupants - everywhere. Others, the powerful hurricane simply flattened to the ground. | ||||||
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