CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (SNN TV) – Today marks the 19th anniversary of Hurricane Charley.
The Category 4 hurricane made landfall August 13, 2004 at Mangrove Point, just southwest of Punta Gorda with maximum sustained winds of 150 miles per hour. It was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It was a Category 2 hurricane by the time it reached Orlando International.
The storm caused at least 27 deaths in Florida — 4 of those in Charlotte County and 1 in DeSoto. More than 2 million people were without power. Because Charley had a small wind field, hurricane winds were confined to Charlotte, DeSoto, and Hardee counties, with some in the North Port area in Sarasota County getting Cat 1 hurricane winds.
Charley was the first of four hurricanes to hit the state in 2004 — the other three being Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. Charley was the strongest of the four.
FEMA says most structures built to new building codes established in 2001 suffered little to no damage.