Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management

Crisis and Emergency Management

Newsletter Website
return to mainpage

April 2005                                                                            Volume 8 - Number 3

Perspectives...

Hurricane Charley: A Weatherman’s First Encounter With a Hurricane.

By: Matthew Briston

I have been studying weather for the majority of my life. Like most meteorologists, I became interested in the weather at a very early age and have been fascinated by it ever since. While studying meteorology I was taught about the extreme power of a hurricane and the devastation that is caused by its storm surge. However it wasn’t until I experienced the imminent threat of a hurricane that I truly appreciated its power and effect on society.

Having lived in Western Pennsylvania most of my life I never had the opportunity to experience what happens before, during and after a hurricane. It was always a dream of mine to experience the power of a hurricane in person but was forced to do so vicariously through television. Whenever a hurricane threatened the mainland United States, the media coverage would kick in like clockwork. Before the storm we see the major networks airing live shots of people in long lines to purchase bottled water and batteries and even longer lines of people at Home Depot attempting to purchase plywood. During the storm, we tune in to The Weather Channel to watch Jim Cantore as he reports live from the hurricane. Finally, after the storm we switch back to the major networks to see the aftermath of the storm. This was my only reality of a hurricane until I moved to Tampa, Florida in 2004…

My apartment in Tampa was right on the shore of Old Tampa Bay. One might think that having a background in meteorology, I would’ve chosen a location away from the water in case a hurricane did strike. However, this was not a factor as I signed my lease for the apartment that was 8 feet above sea level.

As hurricane season arrived, I would routinely monitor satellite photos of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. There was no tropical activity throughout most of the summer… until August. The first two storms, Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Bonnie didn’t pose any real threat to Tampa so I went on with my daily routine.

As Bonnie made landfall on the Florida panhandle August 12^th, my attention was poised on another storm in the Caribbean. Hurricane Charlie was gaining strength and was forecast to make landfall on or near Tampa. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the Tampa Bay region and it was at this point that I decided to alter my daily routine and make preparations. Later in the day, the Hurricane Center upgraded the watch to a hurricane warning, which by definition means hurricane conditions will occur within the next 24 hours. In addition, local officials ordered mandatory evacuations for those living on or near coastal areas, which included my apartment.

My sense of “it won’t happen here” which was shared amongst most people who lived in the area was gone. As I drove back from the grocery store with supplies, I still wasn’t sure if I was going to heed the evacuation orders or ride out the storm. I decided to wait until the next day to see if the track or intensity of Charlie would change. On the morning of August 13^th, I was awoken early in the morning by police sirens in my apartment complex ordering us to evacuate. After checking the latest forecast models, I decided that I had better evacuate. As I drove from my apartment on the shore of Old Tampa Bay to my boss’s house in an inland county, it was an extremely eerie sight. All business had closed, houses were boarded up and there was virtually no traffic. The excitement that I once felt from watching hurricanes on television was now one of worry and fright. It was at this point that I began to understand the true power of a hurricane.

As I monitored Charley throughout that day, it appeared that he was going to hit to the south of Tampa. As we watched Charley make landfall near Fort Myers, we all felt a tremendous feeling of relief. As I drove back to my apartment later that day and listened to damage reports on the radio, I realized just how lucky I was to be spared from getting hit by this category 4 storm.

It was this experience that truly made me understand the impact of hurricanes on a region and understand that they are a very real threat. It’s my belief that until we experience something with such great power firsthand, regardless of how educated we are on the topic, it is just another story on the news that his happening to someone else, somewhere else.