My mother described to me how she felt during Hurricane Charley. The center of Hurricane Charley was located about 30 miles west-northwest of Ft. Myers, Florida, and about 115 miles south-southwest of Orlando.

             Hurricane Charley hit landfall on August 13, 2004. My mother recalled the experience of preparing for and surviving the hurricane. Her account echoes descriptions of what victims of other hurricanes, most recently Katrina and Rita, have faced and continue to face.

             My mother, however, was one of the lucky ones. She did not have to evacuate, and our house was not destroyed. Still, she says "the trauma lingers, even now. After Charley, my heart goes out to hurricane victims everywhere." .

             "I felt sad and scared," my mother recalled. "We were all alone in our house, and confused. I didn't have time to board up the windows. I just hoped for the best. We had a two story house. We didn't have family anywhere around that could help." .

             My mother also remembers thinking that our house was would be destroyed by the hurricane. "The wind was so strong that it shook the whole house like a little bowl of Jell-o," she said. The rain was deafening, and came down like a solid sheet of water. "It felt like a river was falling on top of us," she added.

             Today, although my mother hopes never to experience another hurricane of Charley's strength, she feels that surviving Charley changed her life and outlook. She thanks God daily for letting us keep our house. She makes sure she donates money to the needy and this year's hurricane victims in particular, those who were less lucky than us. .

             Hurricane Charley devastated much of Florida. Many Floridians Charley left homeless are still recovering. Charley hit landfall as a Category 4 hurricane. Although Charley did enormous damage, my mother also believes that its devastation brought our community closer together.