Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Trapped In Tampa
Friday
August 13, 2004
5:18 PM Eastern. The good news: Hurricane Charley took a turn to the east in Charlotte Harbor, which is well south of the Tampa Bay area. The bad news: Southwest Airlines canceled all flights out of Tampa International Airport today, so I'm stuck here for the weekend.
Watching the coverage on TV has been fascinating. Punta Gorda appears to have been blasted. The phone reports out of there (in particular on ABC 28) gave me chill bumps, especially one I heard just now of a family who were in a closet with high winds shaking their home and rising water surrounding their home. The beachside areas took strong precautions, but unfortunately many interior counties were a bit more relaxed. Polk County in particular (the area between Tampa and Orlando) is where many people evacuated from their homes went to take shelter -- and now the storm is heading their way. Hurricane Charley should lose its Category 4 power now that it's over land, but it's moving very fast, which is not a good thing for those in its immediate path...
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