I know you can't really see the wind (certainly the effects of)...but, has any of you southeastern guys and gals seen or heard from Charlie yet?

[Edited by RookieDude on Aug 14th, 2004 at 10:21 AM]

He's arriving as I type, although much weaker than he was when he ripped across Florida. The very undefined eye should pass 50 to 75 miles east of my home. Lots of rain, and wind gusts of only 30 to 40 mph. However, there seem to be more tornados associated with these two storms as opposed to past hurricanes.

Charlie passed right over my dad's house. He lives 10 minutes from Disney's front gate near Orlando. Fortunately, he's visiting us in New England at the moment. Unfortunately, we don't have any solid word on the condition of his house.

BTW, 6,000 posts for Tony!! Woo-hoo! Stay safe, man.

My mother and sister live about two miles apart in Sanford and Lake Mary, respectively. There homes on just off Exit 101C of I-4, just north of Orlando and Charlie went right over their homes. My mother rode Charlie out, but my sister was in Atlanta on business; she tried to get a flight back to Orlando but Bonnie stopped all flights between Atlanta and Orlando.

My mother told us that she lost power for a couple of hours in the early evening but that was all. She said there was lots of rain and high winds, but it did not bother her too much. One as to remember that she grew up in Tornado Alley in eastern Kansas so she is use to high velocity wind storms.

With regard to Tropical Storm Bonnie, I live with Hurricane Bonnie (my wonderful better half) 24/7. And when the Weather Channel said the Bonnie had been downgraded to a tropical depression I was not about to touch that line with a 20' pole.

I was in Polk County the last week of July for the YBOA Boys' Nationals and was suprised to see that a nursing home had collapsed in Lake Wales.

Been working in San Diego the past couple of weeks and was supposed to return to DC yesterday (the 13th). My team decided to come home Thursday instead because of the reports of 3-6 inches of rain in norther VA and DC area. My wife said it rained hard Thursday night, but it had stopped by the time I landed at National Aiport -- got home at 2:00 am Friday morning and no rain here until this afternoon. Rained for about 2 1/2 hours and then quit.

I sympathize with the people in central Fla. I was attending college in Mississippi during Hurricane Camille in August 1969. 130 mph winds and lot of damage. We did not have power for 7 days. Hope the death toll stays low.

Hey, Chuck, any news?

A friend did a drive-by of his house and there was no visible damage. The only question is whether there is damage to the roof in the back of the house. Overall, seems like very good news. Thanks for the thought!