Hurricane Charley

Post Landfall 1 | Summary
Posting Date: August 14, 2004, 10:30:00 AM

While the process of damage assessment and clean-up is only just beginning to get underway in Florida, Hurricane Charley is about to make its second landfall, this time as a Category 1 storm, near the border between South and North Carolina. As of 11 a.m. EDT, Saturday, August 14, Hurricane Charlie is centered about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Forward movement is in a north-northeast direction at near 28 mph. This motion is expected to continue over the next 24 hours, which means that Charley will likely travel just inland up the coast. Maximum sustained winds are currently 75 mph, with higher gusts. Minimum central pressure is estimated at 990 mb. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center. A hurricane warning is in effect from the South Santee River, SC, north to the border between North Carolina and Virginia. Tropical storm warnings now extend from the North Carolina/Virginia border all the way to the Merrimack River in Massachusetts, including New York Harbor and Long Island Sound. Storm surge of 4 to 6 feet is expected along the North Carolina coast and 2 to 3 feet along the Northeastern U.S. Two to five inches of rain are expected to accompany Charley as it makes its way up the eastern seaboard. Charley strengthened suddenly and dramatically shortly before yesterday’s landfall, which was further south than had been forecast. The Category 4 storm came ashore at North Captiva Island, near Charlotte Harbor and Fort Meyers, at around 4:00 p.m. EDT. Lee County, which lay just to the east of the eye, seems to have taken the brunt of the storm. As expected, woodframe homes suffered extensive structural damage, many losing their roofs. Buildings in this part of Florida conform to the Florida Building Code, which means they are designed to withstand peak gusts of 120 to 130 mph. The design wind speeds were clearly exceeded in several locations. Such high wind speeds can create tremendous suction on the roof, and unprotected windows can be breached by the impact of windborne debris, exposing the contents to wind and rain. There are reports of several thousand buildings damaged in Lee County. Heavy damage is also reported to have occurred in the retirement town of Punta Gorda, Charlotte County, where mobile homes were leveled. Fifteen fatalities have been reported thus far, but many more are still missing. Several fire stations were also destroyed in Charlotte County, and damage to the county’s airport was extensive. Reports of damaged or destroyed homes and other structures are widespread. More than half a million people across Florida are still without power. Using the most recent information about the meteorological parameters of this storm, the AIR tropical cyclone modeling team has run new scenarios representing a variety of assumptions about the storm’s future track and intensity. Five of these are now posted on the scenarios page of this web site, where clients can view wind speed and loss maps. Please note that the loss estimates provided are for the U.S. only. In addition, event sets representing the full range of simulated scenarios are now available for download. Please note that there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding Charley’s track up the coast of the eastern U.S. AIR will continue to monitor Charley and will post additional information as warranted.

Post Landfall 1 | Downloads
Posting Date: August 14, 2004, 10:30:00 AM