[PCO Profile] Hurricane Charley Journal: DAY ONE

Editor’s note: The following journal entry is the first in a series of  articles written by Jeff Ahrens, owner of Ant-Ser Termite & Pest Control, which is located in Port Charlotte, Fla., one of the cities that was most devastated by Hurricane Charley in August. In the days and weeks that followed, Ahrens and staff responded to the challenges of providing pest control services in the wake of this natural disaster. In the following journal entry, Ahrens describes how his company prepared for the storm.

Friday, Aug. 13

8:00 a.m. — My office manager Patty, our salesman Jay and myself are at the office going through routine preparations for Hurricane Charley. I say "routine" because at this time he is about 85 miles south and 65 miles west of our Port Charlotte, Fla., office churning in the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 1 — expected to strengthen to a Category 2 — and brush on by us. We prepared by wrapping our computers, printers and fax machines in plastic and then elevating them to higher ground. I remember thinking, "Is this really necessary?"

Two days ago at noon I decided that we would finish our Thursday routes and bring our paperwork in that night and let all route employees stay home Friday. I did not want to be responsible for any injuries caused by working in a "tropical storm" atmosphere. Jay advised me he thought I was a little too quick to call off work so soon, however, I felt comfortable with my decision.

10:00 a.m. — We have completed our preparation and sit around and comment how surreal it seems to look out and see U.S. 41 deserted at this time of day. U.S. 41, which passes in front of our office, sees about 29,000 vehicles. The weather is also calm and tropical, which is normal. We are the core of our company and as such feel weird about sitting around without working on a Friday.

12:00 p.m. — I make the five-minute drive to my house to meet with my wife, Karelle, who also has the day off. I ask how the storm is doing and she says it is tracking to hit the Tampa area. Karelle also informs she has a feeling that Charley is going to come up the harbor. I jokingly tell her to pray that it moves on up the coast. I have been praying for it to move up the coast, for if it must hit I do not want it here. We have not had a hit since the 1960s and that was a Category 3 storm. We don’t feel like the "big one" is going to hit us. As humans, we love to complain about the weathermen "crying wolf," for maybe having some ulterior motive to help line the pockets of the stores. Little did we know that the wolf was at our door.

1:00 p.m. — Charley is suddenly turning east. I decide to reinforce the screen on our lanai so we can watch the action. I buy 10-mil plastic and screw it in with metal lath so we cannot get wet while the wind blows. We are now watching the news, as the new coordinates indicate it will make landfall between Port Charlotte and Tampa. This is not good news.

2:00 p.m. — Charley is not cooperating with the forecast track and it looks like it is going to hit south of us, Ft. Myers, we think.

3:00 p.m. — The weatherman now gives us the worst news we could ever expect. Charley is a Category 3 storm and expected to strengthen to a 4 and hit us directly. We are glued to the TV watching this monster suck the ocean water away from the coastline. They show us pictures of coastline over two football fields wide where water was just covering. We watch pictures of this storm destroying houses and bringing the storm surge. That means that the entire coastline that was exposed is covered in 9 feet of water in about seven minutes. At our home there is a small breeze beginning. Our home is about 40 miles northwest of where the storm is.

3:30 p.m. — The new forecast is 145 miles per hour sustained winds and expected to make a direct hit on our town. They warn us not to evacuate at this time and just "hunker down" where you are.

3:36 p.m. — I bring out my camera and take pictures to document some of this as it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I hope.

3:45 p.m. — The Doppler radar shows it is only 30 miles from our house. The sky is gray and the clouds are moving extremely fast. We are now experiencing 30-40 mile an hour winds. As we watch TV, I comment to Karelle how this is happening and we still have power.

3:50 p.m. — We lose our power and now are forced to sit and wait as we have about 20 minutes before it starts cranking. I cannot begin to explain the anxiety I feel as I thought this cannot really be happening to us.

4:15-5:45 p.m. — We are now feeling the fury of this monster and the wind is more than 100 mph as it hits from the south. The wind rotates around our house out of the south then west, north then east. As the wind comes from the north I estimate it to be at 135 mph because trees are bending over 20 degrees off center. We watch the wind pick up and it shreds bark off the trees. They then begin to snap like toothpicks.

I now know that the wind was sustained at 145 mph with 177 mph gusts. All the trees’ appendages over about 40 feet snap and fly through the air like twigs. I am talking about solid oaks and strong pines. Finally we look up and see light coming through the black clouds; it is the edge of the eye.

5:45 p.m. — We venture outside with our two Rotweillers, Katej and Angel, whom I will say weathered the storm quite well, and we all four stop in our tracks and say out loud, "This is not our neighborhood."

I have never been in a war but it looked like a war zone, toppled trees everywhere and our neighbor’s complete roof in the next block. I surveyed our home and saw only minimal damage to the soffit and fascia. We did not lose a shingle.

We started to look for anyone in need as our family is in tact and not harmed. We thank and pray to God for our good situation. What we find are impassable streets and electric poles with wires still attached strewn about. I run into a friend in his vehicle and we are just looking for anyone we can help as we make our way to my office. The trip that just took five minutes this morning now takes more than 30 minutes. As we pull up to the office I ask Karelle to look at the damage because I cannot bear to look. Unbelievably all our doors and windows are intact and I again thank God.

Karelle’s office is the next stop. Karelle has her own full-time job with an investment company. As we pull up, we realize her building is not so lucky. Chunks of stucco the size of a car are missing; the AC compressors on the roof are pulled off their frames with only the copper lines holding them from falling off the roof. Sections of complete roof parts about 6 feet in diameter are pulled out of the roof and just laying haphazardly.

Stay tuned for future installments of Ahrens’ hurricane diary in upcoming issues of PCT.