Hurricane
Charlie 2004
Punta Gordia, Florida
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| Friday, August 13th, 2004 |
Group 2 - After the Storm (Punta Gorda, Florida)
Group 3 - After the Storm (Arcadia, Florida)
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Now the storm is pretty much over and we
venture out to find others in our group. |
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Chris Collura takes some video of the destruction.
This storm left damage very simular to tornadic damage in some details.
However it was a much wider and longer path. |
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There's all type of debris. Metal,
wood, plastic, glass. The town of Punta Gorda will be rebuilding for
some time. |
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Here you can see the courthouse building
in the background. That building had almost no damage. Just a
spandrel panel and a a window broken. I'll likely do a study of that
building in the future. (Marion Avenue looking northeast at Nebit Street) |
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There's Chris Collura's Ford Focus with
the Weather Lab IIIb up on top of the car. My truck is to the right. |
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Many parapet walls brick or not fell victum
to the wind. This damage was common around these parts. It makes
for a great structural survey of way some areas of building fail and some
succeed in staying together. It also points out that just because
you see brick doesn't mean it's sturdy. |
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Here more damage from Punta Gorda. Hurricane
Charlie mimics Hurricane Andrew in damage, although I could see where lessons
learned helped some of the more modern structures (such as the courthouse). |
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Again you see the nearly 100% intack courthouse
building beyond, with the massive destruction in just a few blocks. The
hospital that measured 173mph wind gust is just few more blocks away. |
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Debris was slammed so hard it penetrates
even the most bizarre places. |
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The WeatherLab IIIb provided us with essential
data and recorded a "lower than official" 943mb air pressure. We
are working on having this recorded as the official low. |
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Of course then the media rolls in. This
is KFOR, CBS of Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida. They rode the
storm out and faired well too. They were also one of the first crews
we saw in the area. |
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More parapet damage. These bricks
were not reinforced, and hence didn't take much to fall down. May
have even had some large debris impact to weaken the wall then bring it
down. |
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We start to venture out a little further
to see the surrounding areas of damage. Some buildings were completely
destroyed, yet others, like this one that had larger windows and openings
seem to allow the wind to travel through, limiting the pressure build-up
and hence less destruction. This is just a guess though, I will be
waiting to see Tim Marshall's anaylsis of the damage after his survey. |
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Here's an office building theat didn't do
to well. This is a perfect example of how windows play a large part
about keeping a building secure. Don't you think a $200,000 investment
in better windows would have reduced or eliminated the much higher cost
of damage that will now include most all interior surfaces, HVAC, and possible
even some structural systems. I don't think this building is a total
lose. |
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Some debris just seems funny the way it
lands, and what can be made from it. It is also important to realize
that this object when picked up by the wind is such a dangerous projectile.
|
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My truck looks at home amongst all the debris.
My truck has seen so much action and been so good to me. I
know I'm coming to the end of the relationship with my truck, but she's
been good to me. She also held up very well in the Cat 4 hurricane
(although well protected) |
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I love palm trees, and one reason why...they
never break. Only thing is they do have a weak root system as shown
in this picture. Palm trees develope in tropical areas and are designed
to withstand the punishment of high winds. Not only from tropical
systems but the frequent strong thunderstorms experienced during the rain
season. |