Personal Narrative: My Experience With Hurricane Charley

In 2004 there was a category 4 hurricane that swept through a number of states and islands in the Atlantic and caused horrific damage. Leaving families were without shelter, food, water, and power for days. Roadways were flooded, houses were crushed by trees, and the most tragic outcome of all lives was lost. Yet somehow I managed to make a pretty good memory of it. My experience with hurricane Charley was challenging, but surprisingly fun. In preparation for the storm my mom puts cardboard and tape on the windows, flipped over the couches, unplugged the appliances, and brought out the flashlights and candles. She also turned on the radio to keep track of the storm. While she prepped inside the house, my dad was outside making sure the

I remember thinking how gloomy it looked with no kids running around outside, no one driving their cars, and the grey skies it may as well had been a boring black and white film. But it did feel wonderful outside. There was a nice cool breeze and the sun was hiding in the clouds. Although it felt nice, it didn’t look nice. There was not much damage, definitely not would expect from a category 4 hurricane, especially with winds up to 150 miles per hour. However there was some leaves and limbs in the roads, minimal flooding, and one thing that I found most disgusting is the mushy dirt from all the rain but still nothing major. Shockingly the power was still on in my area, but not for long. While processing the clutter from the storm all of a sudden there was a loud explosion. The fuse box on one of the light poles had blown. Personally, I was so scared, to see the sparks falling and the flames starting I thought for sure this uncontrollable fire would break out and everything was going to burn down. As if it was yesterday I remember hearing my dad say “well there goes the power” as if he wasn’t bothered by the fire. Apparently there was nothing to be worried about because shortly after the explosion the flames died down on its own. Luckily we had a generator to live off or else it would have been a necessity to move to move to my grandma’s house and that would not