Hurricane Charley - A Storm Chaser's Nightmare in Florida 

I'll never forget this storm. I was a kid when this happened living in Punta Gorda. As soon as we got the update that it turned towards us the power went off. Then the windows began to budge. My mom had us run into the bathroom to hide. The sounds of the wind was terrifying. We had to run to my nana's apartment building in the eye of the storm to seek shelter there. Water was up to our knees. It was truly terrifying but I'm happy we survived. My mom was so strong protecting me and my brother.

Hurricane tourists don't have to stick around for the 2 or 3 weeks after the event when there's no power or water in 95 degree, 90 percent humidity weather. That's when true character is revealed.

Who’s watching now that we have hurricane Ian coming to us ?

On high alert for Ian, I remember seeing being sunny outside during the eye of Charley. Never forget.

How tf was that guy able to drive with his front hood up during an evacuation scene with all the cars????? Please tell me I'm not the only one that noticed.

hurricane Ian brought me here...

Who else is here watching this awaiting for hurricane IAN to make landfall SEP 2022.

So we all here before Ian?

I still have this incredible DVD almost 17 years later! I'll never forget that storm, the damage and going 12 days without power in the middle of Summer. Thanks for keeping the memory of Charley going, people need see it to believe it.

When you look at the tracks of Charlie and Ian, it is amazing that the tracks are almost identical right to the landfalls.

2003-05 was quite a time for Hurricanes.

**********Thanks for watching everyone . . . this video is really taking off. It's a storm chaser classic. Feel free to click on those ads too :). **********

Who’s watching after hurricane helene?

my sister survived this shit and lived to tell the tale with the most wild story. she had a neighbor, that neighbor left their jet skis outside, and their dog in the house while they evacuated. which is crazy. your leaving because it’s dangerous and your not bringing your dog with you? anyways, hurricane starts, and those jet skis rip through the house with the dog still inside. my sisters mom has to run into that house DURING A HURRICANE and rescue that dog. my sister says they were huddled in a closet with 4 poodles and a random dog. she thought she was going to die.

2004 feels like a very long time ago, so much has changed for the worst in every way.

Wow! Thanks for posting this, Jim! I had seen small clips of your insane footage, but hadn't seen most of this video. Great job filming as always. What a storm!

Palm trees are like, come at me bro.

I remember this one very well it was the first hurricane out of 3 to hit us in a row I believe it was Charlie, Francis and Gene we had no.power for over a month no gas no ice very little food thank God we all made it but that was a rough season to say the least

That old man walking up to the camera when the wind was going about 150mph and saying "A bit windy today" before walking off had me in tears.

Nobody else noticed the guy driving by at 2:43 with his hood popped open 🤣

I WAS LEAVING IN WINTER PARK FLORIDA AT THAT TIME. THE HURRICANE DESTROYED THAT AREA. MY DAUGHTER WAS 3 DAYS OLD 😪 MY HUSBAND AND I WERE STUCK ON THE BATHROOM. I WAS IN PAIN BECAUSE I JUST HAD THE BABY. IT WAS SO HOT AND SCARY. IT WAS HORRIBLE. AND THEN WE GOT HIT WITH 2 MORE HURRICANES BACK TO BACK 🤦‍♀️

As someone who lived there and road it out, still till this day, exactly 20 years later, I still get goosebumps and chills. Something I will never forget.

That's about as close as you wanna get dude. You guys were lucky on that one. Excellent footage as always. Hope you have many ( safe.) Chases to come. :)

Here I am getting ready for Ian.

I lived in Pinellas County at the time and my whole block was boarded up. My mom lived in Punta Gorda, and at what seemed the last minute Charley button hooked into Charlotte Harbor. I was down there the next morning with all the supplies my neighbors donated to me. It was surreal driving into town. All the landmarks were gone. My step dad boarded up the windows on the new manufactured home at the last minute and that was what saved it. The only real casualty was when I went to hook the TV up to the generator, a tree branch from outside impaled it through the wall. Most of the homes on their block were flipped upside down in the canal. Was down there for weeks helping with cleanup. My mom moved to west TX after that, never wanting to go through that again. I ended up moving to Punta Gorda in 2019 and rode out Ian, with the eye coming directly over. It lasted FOREVER, it seemed like and took quite a bit of damage, but the damage to downtown was nothing compared to Charley. However, the poor folks in Sanibel and Ft. Myers Beach suffered a far worse fate. Praying for some grace as we begin Hurricane Season 2023...

I am thinking Palm trees must be the toughest species of tree. They never seem to uproot. Amazing resilience!

I will never forget the 2004 hurricane season. Just one hurricane after the other. I was in fourth grade when this freakish season happened. So many trips to the shelter. When Charlie was coming through, there was a tornado that touched down right on the roof of the shelter I was in, right in the middle of the night. It was the scariest thing I've heard, just a massive bang, and then strong winds all around the shelter.

****Thanks for watching everyone. This video has really taken off lately****

In 1991 me and my gf lived right on the ocean in a small rented house, sliding glass door opened to a deck that butted right against the seawall in Marshfield, Mass.it was the perfect storm movie storm, the meteorologists didn't realize the systems were going to back up to the coast, usually they go out to sea, my gf wanted to go when the waves started to roll up over the seawall but I was excited, it was so beautiful until the waves started to crash over the house and one wave carried a boulder that crashed through sliding glass doors, time to go, but it was too late, streets flooded on both ends so had to back the car up an embankment across the street from the house, stuck but somewhat safe, elevated just enough to stay out of the water, at the height the waves were going completely over the house, washing even over telephone pole wires, blue sparks running up and down the wires, then the house was completely washed out to sea right in front of our eyes, next morning we got out and walked over to a foundation with only one item in the cellar, our king-size mattress, it was obviously waterlogged and must've weighed 3 thousand lbs, lost everything but still alive.🙏

38:45 150 mph sustained winds and that vans still there

I was living in Orlando at the time of this hurricane, and I’ll never forget when it reached us (it was at night), I couldn’t sleep because the rain bands/wind was beating sooo hard against my bedroom windows, not only was it loud as hell but water was getting in 😟 so I said to hell with sleeping and I go downstairs and find everyone else is awake too, and we all stayed up the entire night huddled in our living room. At the time my dad was a cop so he had to be on patrol during this hurricane, so it was just my mom, myself, and my other two siblings. And unfortunately after a long a grueling night shift, my dad had to come home to a flooded house.

Lived in Fort Myers during this. I remember afterwards going to my neighbors to check her house and she had an gator in her pool, powerlines down everywhere. Parents even drove me through PG afterwards to see if we could help at all. Mom was 8 months pregnant. Was crazy.

Anyone else notice the car driving with it's hood completely open at 2:43? I can't help but picture Ace Ventura style driving, head out the window and all.

This system packed winds of 145 mph at landfall hurricane Ian made landfall with 155 mph winds with gusts to 190

This one reached us in Orlando. Massive winds, huge tree uprooted by this Cat4 landed on next door neighbors house. We were without power for weeks as water surged beyond belief in our home. It was too late to leave as we had no idea I'd be this catastrophic. Trees were down all over the road. We were trapped in our house. It was major. For everyone's safety, heed to warnings of evacuation. Preparedness is vital. Charlie was worse than Ian

I lived in Cape Coral Fl when Charlie hit. OMG the damage was unbelievable. Our home was less than 1 year old and built to all new hurricane standards and our only damage was a couple shingles missing, but our next door neighbors house was left unliveable. But you should have seen how our community came together, everyone helped everyone. We had a huge generator and shared our power with 2 other homes, rather than running our AC and using the power just for our house. We didn't have power or water for 4.5 days, luckily we had a big swimming pool (like so many in FL do), so we could bath and flush our toilets. It literally took months to clean up after that storm. Yet you rarely hear anything about hurricane Charlie. I don't think most people realize how huge it was or how many people died.

I couldn't imagine being out in this. I'm too light in the rearend, they'd have found me a couple counties over

Watching this I now understand why my relative that lives in Florida just spent thousands and thousands of dollars making his house hurricane resistant, roof, windows, shutters and doors, his house is also concrete.This is so scary.

As a Fl. Native, it’s those that tend to venture out when they shouldn’t that are the fatalities. Stepping on a live wire happens too much…

ironically, before moving to south florida, i had done a few in-progress and post-hurricane search and rescue / swift water evac missions as a civilian helping out locals EMS. the hurricanes are bad but what people often overlook is the tornadoes a hurricane will spin off. that’s the only thing about hurricanes that truly scares me, particularly at night when you can’t see funnel clouds or debris, power is out, cell coverage is spotty, and you are exposed. you feel very insignificant.

Wow did anyone catch a view of the guy riding with the hood of his car blocking his view lmao?? That’s how we do in Florida??? It must have been hot af! Flo-Rida 😂

I can remeber driving down 75 towards Ft Myers and seeing the hundreds of FEMA trailers in the fields off the highway. AT the interstate interchanges, all those tall light poles were all bent over to the ground. Downtown Punta Gorta was just devastated. That was a really bad storm. After all these years this is the first time Ive seen vids from inside the storm. I dont know what all you could do to protect your house from a storm of that intensity, just throwing everything its blown apart already along with it. You would need a bunker practically. I feel for anyone that rode this one out. Would make you think twice about getting all excited about hurricane parties....lol.

A hurricane on Friday the 13th is a recipe for disaster.

This was a vicious storm that never seemed to be talked about

Mississippi gulf coast during Katrina! We all still live with that fear every freaking year! God bless and protect our friends from Hurricane Ian! Our prayers are with ya'll!

I was a kid when I went through this storm and man I watch this and feel the same type of knots in my stomach I felt experiencing it. When I saw the tops of the trees hitting the ground in my back yard from my back porch I knew it was bad and shortly after that I was stuffed in a closet with a mattress on top of me with my brother because of tornado threats! Now I live more north and preparing for tropical storm/hurricane Idalia. Good luck to everyone preparing for the storm.

This is by far the best video I have ever seen in my 63-years of life. My wife and I did storm chasing until the time of her death. But we never encountered anything to this degree! Very well done gentlemen.

Went through Charley-Francis (basically the same hurricane. It did a u-turn), Irma, and Ian and patiently waiting for Idalia. Charley and Irma were my worst.

This dude risked his life for Science and no ones talking about it.

Did you come to Panama City or Mexico Beach in 2018 ? And you think that was bad. Seriously, I lived on the east coast of Central Florida in Deltona for Charlie and yeah, it was bad but, Dude, Hurricane Michael puts that one to shame. I rode it out in my 60 year old home with my son, scared the bejebbers outa me. We took a direct hit and went out when the eye came over. We saw the stadium effect and then we realized we had to go through the second half. NEVER want to have another like that. We lost 80% of our trees up here. Like your video. Very dangerous doing that.

I’ve been interested in severe storms sense I was 4 and this video reminds me why I want to become a storm chaser

Watching this because hurricane Ian is only 2 days away from the same coastal area again.

free car wash

So we all going to act like nobody seen the car riding with It’s hood fully propped open 😅

I was in Orlando visiting when this hit. I just turned 20. I am from the midwest and told myself I'd never dare be caught in a hurricane. Well, I did! 😂 it missed Tampa (as it was supposed to go) and hit Orlando. I even had a disposable camera that I took photos in the eye.

This is without a doubt the GREATEST video I've ever seen on Hurricane Charley or on any hurricane, for that matter!! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆I was living in Sebring when Charley struck. Your video brought it all back - WOW❗❗❗❗I also remember the incredible Milky Way we had the following night-into-morning ❤❤❤❤ The condo I lived in was right around the corner from Florida Hospital Heartland, and the neighborhood was on the hospital's generator. As a result, we had our power back on three days after the storm. Everyone else in town had to wait at least a month before getting theirs back. I worked at the time as a mental health counselor in Wachula, and Charley literally reduced the town to rubble and woodchips. MINDBLOWING❗❗❗❗ .

I've honestly never been so invested in a video on youtube! Its very hard for me to sit thru a 10 min vid, buuuut this video here is a TOP NOTCH like these guys need an award! I live in Tennessee so I don't get to see much so I only see what I see online usually and this made me feel like I was right in the middle of the hurricane thank you men sooooo much for what y'all do its truly amazing and I'll honestly be on the lookout for more videos !! Be safe 😘 😘 ❤💯💯

I've watched that video about 5 times by now, and I'm still amaze by it. Charley was a hell of a storm. You guys are Hurricanes Warriors ! Kudos !

2:44 how is he driving with the hood open😂?

this was supposed to be a worst case scenario for Tampa Bay. I was 10. I remember we watched Dennis Phillips and Dick Fletcher the night before and it was upgraded on the track to be a high 3. The forecasts couldn’t have been more wrong, and the people of Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte paid the price.

It never ceases to amaze me how nature's order is pure chaos to us humans. A hurricane is a perfectly crafted vehicle to move tropical/equatorial warmth to higher latitudes. While I'm not a Floridian... much of my family vacations in Sanibel every 4-5 years. We had planned a trip for what would be the winter after Charley hit AND the winter after Ian hit.

My sister and I were in a closet in Port Charlotte. Such a strange feeling, like the house was trying to lift off it's foundation. Things crashing about outside. The house we were in only had minor damage but the next door neighbor lost their roof and back wall. We were amazingly lucky. Port Charlotte look like a war zone afterwards.

I was in Orlando and this rode up I4. Amazing all the trees knocked over by us. I was standing outside leaning into the wind and my wife screamed for me to get in. Then 2 more hit us that year. My first Hurricane since I moved to Florida

Man, imagine taking one of those political yard signs to the face at those speeds.

1:18:00 There WERE MANY embedded tornadoes in Charley! I live in Cape Coral, 10 miles as the crow flies, from the eye. Between my house and the eye, were many spots with damage that was VERY different from the other damage. Near WFTX TV, there was a small forest, that was LAID FLAT!!! On Sanibel, there was another forest LAID FLAT!!! I’m talking TOTAL DESTRUCTION!!! You guys were at “Ground Zero” for sure, but I can take you to places, away from the eye, that still, 17 years later, show evidence of embedded tornadoes! By the way, we were in our house, during Charley! We were all told that it was going to Tampa. They did not tell us of the front that steered Charley into Captiva, Bokelia, and Punta Gorda. We had winds around 100 mph. My house was built in 2000. Built like a tank. Rebar from the foundation goes up through the block walls. Those walls have a concrete tie beam across the top. The tie beam has straps that were put into the fresh poured concrete. Those straps are nailed to the roof trusses every 16”. Of course, that won’t stop a tree from going through the roof. We watched in horror as that happened to our neighbor!

Thank you very much for this information!!

It was interesting seeing the difference in damage after Charley and then Ian. I was surprised that my house was still standing after Ian considering the size, length of time it took to move through and the strength, but the actual damage was much less than Charley caused.

can we talk about that Wind OMG I could not believe how hard that wind was blowing and all the dabree that was blowing around u guys better b careful u dont wanna get hit with ne thing could kill u should def put a helmet on but Great video u guys did am Amazing job capturing this Hurricane this is like the second time I am watching this really enjoyed it thanks for posting n B Safe out their

Came here during hurricane Ian. I was 3 years old when Charley hit but don't remember too much. Stay safe everyone

I watched the radar all day on my friend's computer, over and over again. I finally said that storm is not going to Tampa, it's going to Punta Gorda. I shortly left to go home about 1/2 hr away, when I opened my door my cousin says it's hitting Punta Gorda right now😱 Then a short time later Jeanne formed a giant letter P in the ocean before coming ashore. Since that year I don't trust the reports until the storm is well past my area.

Hurricane Charley - "You wanted wind. You got wind" 😈

The definition of Hurricane - Long "term" tornado; total destruction.

I lived in Sarasota 40 miles away never got a breeze I rather live in Hurricane zones then earthquake or tornado in time to get out of town

Amazing footage and brave of you guys to film it. Thank you all 🫡

Incredible video! Wow! Amazing.

Hurricane Ian said hold my beer

I don't care what certain people may tell us, 'cause fact is Hurricane Charley was really a strong Category Five like Andrew, Camille and Michael. And furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised to see Hurricanes Laura and Ida knocked into Category Five levels alongside Charley. Somewhere over the next fifty to eighty years, it's almost certain Charley, Laura and Ida will get sent to Category Five status. Not even Hurricane Hugo (weak Category 4) will do what Hurricanes Charley, Laura and Ida performed on Florida and central Louisiana; those latter three storms are really similar to Andrew or Michael.

Hearing this AOL messenger sounds takes me so far back.

This guy wrecked my town. We had no power for two weeks. We had three hurricanes come through our county that year. Charley being the first and worst.

Although strong, Hurricane Ian looks nothing like this 👀 34:14 🌍

34:20 gusts like that are all it takes, man.. 😬

I was in Polk County for all 3 storms in 04, Charley, Francis and Jeanne. Never again. Moved back to Georgia.

This video just randomly appeared in my recommended while I was working and I ended up getting in trouble for being distracted for two hours. Best two hours of the day, honestly. Great video

Great documentary and glad you were all safe and ok!

Thankfully Hurricane Charley was barreling at 15 MPH, Had it been like Hurricane Francis that was only going 1 MPH. Punta Gorda would've been blown off the map.

Port Charlotte was destroyed too. It was crazy.

You don't chase a hurricane, it chases you.

I distinctly remember Charlie. I had just moved to Ft Lauderdale & heard a train coming but hadn't noticed any tracks nearby. I stepped out onto my west-facing balcony & if I hadn't grabbed the railing with both hands, I think I would've been swept off. It was "just" an outer band coming all the way across the peninsula as Charley made landfall. My respect for wind increased considerably over the next six weeks. Each one came closer. I moved out of FL in 2005. Babye Charley, Frances, Ivan & Jeanne.

USA got bles you..😞😞 Thx God i leave in Europe.. USA forever❤❤

I was out checking generators in the big bend area of the panhandle when it was supposed to be a maybe hurricane hitting there. Then it made a weird curly cue move and starting heading due east and RAPIDLY strengthening.

Here in Fort Pierce, Florida (South =east= florida coast) the strongest part of a Hurricane that makes landfall here is always the "back" eyewall, so like the 2nd eyewall that comes over after the eye passes which is the right side. It's crazy how it's actually reversed when a Hurricane makes landfall on Florida's west coast in the way Charley (and Ian) did, so moving from West to East. I think it's worse on the East coast cause once the front eye wall passes which can be pretty bad its self and had damaged a lot and weakened most structures/roofs then the eye moves over then BOOOM you get SLAMMED by the most powerful back-side eyewall and that eyewall takes out most everything else already weakened by the front eyewall but with even STRONGER winds. Atleast on Florida's west coast when the eyewall first moves over they know it's already the worst of the worst has passed but for us on the east coast the front eyewall is not the worst we experience since it'll always be the back eyewall. -I went directly thru Hurricane Jeanne when I was 15 years old. Eye passed directly over where I was on Jenkins Rd in Fort Pierce, FL. Went outside during the eye and stayed outside til the back eyewall started coming in and then for the first 5-10 mins during the back eyewall, it was amazing. and fun lol...but yeah, scary too. especially cause it was all at night and like 3am when the eye came over or around that time.

Hard to believe this was almost 20 years ago

Man, the early 2000’s hurricane seasons were a MENACE!!!

Thats insane! I couldn't imagine taking a big tree branch to the face at 175 mph lol

It was pretty cool to hear Stephen Hawking talking about the storm. More than once. Awesome

OK so whats up with 2:44... the car has its hood held up by the hood prop. Did y'all set this up just to see how many folks point it out? I think its hilarious either way, and thank you for the great documentary! Honestly... there were moments in there that got real real sketchy. ML and Blessings all! Honestly... you all are very very lucky nobody was seriously injured or worse. Lucky... Please stay safe everyone! 💪❤🙏💯

i thought all knew that the eye of a hurri was the most dangerous part of the storm but i guess livin in FL/Ga you learn that fast but if it wasnt from our chasers we wouldnt have our data

I moved to Cape Coral Florida from Texas in 2022 just two months before Hurricane Ian came here. Hurricane Ian is the first Hurricane I even went through.

At 3:47 there is a dodge neon literally driving with his hood all the way up lol

Is, was, and always will be my go-to video to get pumped up before intercepting a hurricane. Maybe I'll see you in the field for Idalia Jim. Happy hunting.