TEN YEARS GONE: Hurricane Charley recalled on anniversary date
Ten years ago today, one of the most catastrophic storm events to hit Southwest Florida impacted Fort Myers Beach and those who lived or worked on it.
On Aug. 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley passed by Fort Myers Beach and made landfall at Cayo Costa. According to Lee County records, the coastline endured wind speeds of 145 mph and storm surge measured at eight feet. In all, the County lost an average of 16 shoreline feet, 48 percent of sea turtle nests and $14 million tourism. Estero Island’s shoreline losses averaged 28 feet. The more significant impacts were experienced at the north end of the island.
In 2004, Hurricanes Frances, Ivan and Jeanne also impacted the County coastlines, but not as direct as Charley. That Friday the 13th will go down in infamy for some, but also showed the strength of a collective community to others.
“Since the island hasn’t had a direct hit from a hurricane since Donna, even though Charley wasn’t a direct hit, I think it was a good warning to the community of how to be prepared for future hurricanes or hurricane threats,” said Beach resident Tracey Gore. “I also saw neighbors, whether they were let back on after five days or those who didn’t follow orders to evacuate and stayed, work together as a community cleaning up each others’ homes and working to get life on the Beach back to normal.”
One Beach business that was directly impacted was The Reef Restaurant, known for its all-you-can-eat frog legs and as the late-night community hangout. It never reopened due to building damage.
Then-Town Manager Marsha Segal-George eventually left her post after 10 years. Some believed it was a resignation that had to do with the aftermath of Charley.
“Charley cost a good town manager her job, even though the delay in letting people get back on the island wasn’t her fault,” said Beach resident Jay Light. “We’ve had about 10 town managers since then, all of them turned out to be ‘interim’ for a variety of reasons.”
The day after the storm passed, residents and business personnel were told they were not allowed back onto Fort Myers Beach. The National Guard was called in to provide security on the Beach. Fallen power lines across Estero Boulevard were reported as well as much debris blocking access on the main road. For a few days after Hurricane Charley, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach were restricted to emergency utility crews and law enforcement personnel.
Beach residents were only allowed back on the island five days later, beginning Aug. 18, at 9 a.m. Hostility ensued at the bottom of Matanzas Pass Bridge during the prior four days as cars lined up on San Carlos Pass and people questioned the denial of a re-entry.
“Anger and resentment by the voters for being kept off the island for five days cost us a Town Manager,” said Gore.
Tracey stated she and her family listened to emergency personnel by evacuating to her father-in-law’s house in the River District of Fort Myers. When they returned, they spent the next five days at her mother’s house on San Carlos Island.
“Since much of Fort Myers and San Carlos Island also had no water or electric, I was hoping to stay on our shrimp boat, which has a generator and central air, bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, etc… but my husband offered it to a family who had no place to go,” she said. “So, we joined in with those waiting on San Carlos Island, hosted by those living there, until we could get back home to the Beach. Thank you San Carlos Island residents and business for being such a patient and gracious host to all of your Fort Myers Beach neighbors.”
Jay and his wife, Kathy, stated they took their sailboat up the Caloosahatchee River to Centennial Park and to a place now called Legacy Harbor. Their sailboat was undamaged.
“We bailed out to a really ratty motel in Moore Haven for two nights,” he said. “When we couldn’t get back on the island, we stayed on the boat for five days where we had power, water, a shower, cold beer and an open Wal-Mart just across the bridge. Our house lost some siding and we replaced the roof. Our ground-level apartment under the house had to be gutted and completely re-done. All things considered, we did better than many.”
People who did stay through the storm on the Beach huddled up at places like Beach Theater, which provided food, Red Cross officials set up camp on that property as well.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, Hurricane Charley was the strongest hurricane in terms of wind speed at the time to hit the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Lee County was under a state of emergency at least two days prior to the hurricane making landfall in Southwest Florida, according to a County advisory on Aug. 11, at 5 p.m. The next advisory, on Aug 12, at 7 a.m., stated county officials issued a mandatory evacuation for coastal/barrier islands, including Fort Myers Beach.
When residents were allowed to return to the island, they had to present photo identification with a physical Beach address. FMB business owners were also permitted to return on Aug. 18 to assess the damage to their business. Business owners had to be able to show proof of ownership (i.e. occupational license). Lee County Sheriff’s Office issued a curfew from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m.
Hurricane Charley damaged many Lee County beach areas, resulting in septic system and sewage spills and overflows. Red Cross Shelters were opened on the Beach. FEMA did reports.
On Aug. 20, Town of Fort Myers Beach officials reported that traffic to Estero Island was no longer restricted. However, a swimming advisory was still in effect due to the possibility of a high bacterial count.
The Lee County Visitor Convention Bureau, which collects tourism data on a monthly basis, showed county visitation dropped by 24 percent immediately following Hurricane Charley, compared to the same time period in 2003.
While Light believed the storm brought both physical and political change to the Beach. Gore believes the community spirit remained the same.
“As a whole, I don’t think the community changed,” she said. “The residents of the island were tight before Charley, and remain so today.”
Reaction to how Charley affected, changed the community
Anita Cereceda
Current Mayor
Town of Ft Myers Beach
“The storm had an enormous and lasting effect on the community. As a town, we’d never suffered a storm like that and, though we did the best we could, there were many things to be learned. In my mind of the utmost importance is the need for open and clear communication with our residents. With the progress that technology has made in the past 10 years we should be able to communicate much better to our residents the conditions of homes, businesses, churches and property in general that was, of course, everyone’s concern immediately following the storm.
“The storm changed the community inasmuch as a new generation of islanders were witness to a major hurricane event. Stories of Hurricane Donna were legend, but that was a storm my mother lived through, and now for my generation, so are the stories, and the lessons learned, from Charley.
“I weathered the storm trying to return from Spain just like I am now! We actually got in to RSW (Southwest Florida International Airport) the day before the island was opened to residents. I stayed with a friend in Naples the night we arrived and the drive in from Bonita Springs was chilling. I think i cried all the way from Lovers Key to Times Square. The devastation was unbelievable because, of course, the staging area for debris was there on Lovers Key. The piles were mountains of people’s lives literally it was something I will never forget. Never.
“Our businesses fared better than most, though there was a good foot of muck that had to be cleaned out of the stores and, as usual, all the businesses banned together to help one another get through it. You know who your friends are in those moments, and the guys I’ve done business with in Times Square for more than half my life are more like family.
“I hope our community never has to endure another storm like Charley, but if we do, we’ll manage. One thing is for certain, no one comes together like Fort Myers Beach when the pressure is on. Everyone does what is needed for whomever needs it most. It’s what I’m most proud of and its not just for hurricanes that we pull together!”
Tom Merrill
Beach resident
“Charley was a wake up call. It had been so many years since a major hurricane hit the island that even old timers generally ‘pooh poohed’ the idea that Southwest Florida was at risk. All the rationalizations were wrong.
“Nature slammed us but we were also incredibly lucky. If the storm had not jogged north at the last minute, it would have been a devastating blow. As it was, many islanders lives were torn apart and rebuilt in many ways, physically and mentally.
“I would think many structures are in far better shape than they were or would have been if we had not been tested by Charley. We certainly have taken many things more seriously.
“But at the same time, many of us appreciate each day on our island more fully every day as we understand far more clearly how swiftly it all can be taken away.
“My most vivid memories were the oppressive mix of overwhelming destruction and waste combined with the National Guard and Red Cross representing the fact we were a national crisis. Finding yourself in the cross hairs of a national tragedy really saps your mood even if it is paradise.
“Conversely, strolls on the beach at night were incredibly fulfilling as there were no people, no lights and few sounds our beach was taken back to its natural state as a barrier island for a fleeting few nights. Stars we had forgotten shone clearly as the entire shoreline from Sanibel to Naples was dark.”
Ellis Etter
Director of Sales and Marketing
Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina
“I worked at South Seas Island Resort when Charley hit. I lived in Town and River in South Fort Myers.
“South Seas was pretty much devastated. It was closed for two years and many lost jobs.
“I was without power for four days at home, suffered roof damage, pool lanai damaged and lost several fruit trees.
“Where I lived, there were subtle changes to trees, new telephone poles, street lights, traffic lights, etc. Where I worked, Captiva Island and South “Seas had a total change to the landscape and water ways. There were structural changes to some homes and out buildings
“We drove further inland and stayed at my sister-in-law’s house until the stormed passed.
John Heim
Beach resident
“Fort Myers Beach proved that community spirit can overcome disaster every time. The community came together for each other by providing food, shelter and love for each other to providing comfort and communication and staying in touch. We also saved a manatee which was washed ashore.
“Our community’s people watched helplessly as bulldozers and heavy equipment crossed the bridge and were outraged with the belief that these heavy equipment vehicles were heading over the bridge to demolish what we considered our homes, our livelihood, our pubs and our restaurants. The trust was completely gone. I remember the man with his four little daughters trying to make a break for it over the bridge. He was quickly stopped by the police and National Guard and was tasered in front of his own children by local police. That incident instantly went worldwide on all of the major networks throughout our nation, including CNN. People were outraged to not be able to go home to check on their homes.
“I personally was leaving Fort Myers Beach and going back to Cape Coral to try to hold down the only home in my life I have ever owned. I was driving across the Beach bridge when the storm produced 75 MPH winds and proceeded to the Cape Coral bridge over the river where the winds now were up towards 100 miles per hour. I thought I was going to die. By the time I got to my home in Cape Coral, it was far too late -massive structural damage to the home. I had no choice but to seek shelter in the only home I have ever owned during one of the most powerful fast hurricanes ever to hit our area. It left us with pretty much nothing but a concrete slab in a tent to live on with the aftermath scattered about us as our lives in ruins as our reality.
“I had only been off the island for two months before Charley hit us. I had lived on Fort Myers Beach at that time for over 15 years and my heart was yearning for home.
“Fort Myers Beach rebounded from Hurricane Charley in the past 10 years, yet something is missing. Not only where we devastated by a category 4 hurricane, our basic identity was stripped from us. No one will ever forget the red X. and how the red X changed our identity of Fort Myers Beach forever. “The lesson personally for me is not to be fully prepared for the storm yet to be fully prepared for the aftermath of the storm.”
Barbara Hill
Beach resident
“My mom (Martha Anderson, resident of FMB since 1954) and I were in Norway during Hurricane Charley (and I was living in Naples at the time). “We didn’t hear about Charley until the day afterward when my cousin saw the news online, conveyed the news and photos of the Beach and said Mom’s house may very well be destroyed, to which she responded at age 95, “so be it!” and shrugged her shoulders. No harm to the house little to the landscaping. Same held true for me in Naples. we were both very lucky! At the end of our trip, we returned to the island on schedule the very day residents were allowed. We had to show our ID. I took pics of the national guard, mattresses piled along the street in front of a motel, store fronts with goods outside drying out, garage doors bashed in and one of the guards urging mom off the beach area by the pier.
**On a personal note, I was living on the island and managing a restaurant at the time. My pre-hurricane duties for roughly 10 years was to board up the windows. Charley’s Boat House Grill had 23 picture windows that required full-size plywood boards to go on double-end screws in the wall and fastened by wing-nuts. The trick was to get them up there in windy conditions while balancing on two milk crates due to the canal being just two feet away from the building.
I did not leave the island until Beach Fire made a third passage down Lazy Way on Aug. 12 late afternoon and, by way of bullhorn, told people of the mandatory evacuation. Only then did I drive off the island and stay at a friend’s house.