Hurricane Charley

15 Aug, 2004
Posted at 14.02 PDT

Being a native Floridian, hurricanes are something I’ve always taken in stride. Or perhaps more accurately, the threat of hurricanes was always something I took in stride. It’s been over 40 years since Donna swept through Central Florida, not a bad track record for an area ostensibly in the bullseye of hurricane season.

Now hurricane Charley has broken that run of luck. And it was with considerable relief that I found out friends and family had emerged unharmed from the storm. All day Friday I was glued to my computer at work checking up on the storm’s progress with enough frequency I’m sure I was driving my co-workers nuts. Having seen the aftermath of Andrew in 1992, I was a bit disheartened to see the storm track further South than originally predicted, putting it on a direct path for my former hometown, Orlando.

I found myself Friday wishing I were back home. Not through some desire to experience the storm firsthand, mind you, but out of a perverse sense that I’d somehow deserted those I care about. But having now seen the photos of its aftermath, I think I’m happier to be here in Seattle. What a mess. The photos available at the Orlando Sentinel’s website—many from local residents—show a city mired in debris. It was especially sad to see photos from my former neighborhoods of College Park and downtown Orlando’s residential district. Now the city of Orlando is not particularly beautiful, despite its self-appointed moniker of “The City Beautiful.” In fact much of it (and here I’m thinking of the neverending strip mall culture of the town), is the ugliest I’ve ever seen, but there are parts of it that still recall how nice it must have been to live there before the 900 pound gorilla called Disney moved in next door. Old houses, brick streets, and 100 year old laurel oaks dripping with Spanish moss define the older areas of town, and are the sole reason I remained there for over ten years. One thing I always found amazing about the area was that viewed from a few stories up—high enough to get over the tree tops—what downtown Orlando most resembled was a forest. The canopy was so thick that streets, houses, and even streetlights, disappeared from view.

It was those same oaks which appear to have caused most the damage. Downtown Orlando and College Park were laid out over a hundred years ago, and the tree-lined brick streets were used as a selling point to encourage people to move to what was at the time a rather smallish sleepy Southern town. Unfortunately, the city could have used a little more foresight. The trees they planted to shade the brick streets of which the city was so proud were Laurel oaks. The only problem is, Laurel oaks only average an 80 year life-span. Most were planted over a hundred years ago. You can see the problem. Orlando is a city filled with dying trees.

To its credit, the city of Orlando has been replacing the trees as they die with longer-lived varieties. Unfortunately, they still have a long, long, way to go. Though maybe not so far now. When hurricane Charley blew through town Friday, it no doubt cleared out many of the old and dying trees. I dread seeing what my old neighborhoods look like when next I visit. The pictures I’ve seen, many from within only a few blocks of where I used to live, show massive oaks toppled across streets and houses all over the place. I do not envy them the clean up.

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