Hurricane Charley

Hurricane Charley

Hurricane Charley was a strong storm which caused a lot of destruction. Grand Cayman Island, Cuba, Florida, and South Carolina were the places affected by hurricane Charly. Charley developed from a tropical wave that moved off the coast of Africa on August 4, 2004. On August 9, while located 115 miles southeast of Barbados, the system strengthened to become a tropical depression. It continued into the Caribbean Sea and became Tropical Storm Charley the next day. A strong ridge of high pressure caused the storm to turn northwest on August 11, about 90 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica. The hurricane intensified to Category 2 strength after passing 15 miles northeast of Grand Cayman Island. The hurricane further strengthened to Category 3 status just before making landfall over western Cuba early on August 13 with winds of 120 mph. The storm went from a hurricane with winds of 110 mph to one with 145 mph winds in just 3 hours. Charley then turned more towards the northeast and continued to strengthen, reaching Category 4 status with winds of 150 mph. Hurricane Charley made a lot of destruction. The hurricane did about 16.3 million dollars in damages and about 11,000 houses were damaged or destroyed. Hurricane Charley made landfall in Florida within 24 hours of Tropical Storm Bonnie this was the first time two tropical cyclones made landfall in one state within a single day.