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New Disney Exhibit To Put Visitors In Hurricane's Eye

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The Associated Press

Published: May 18, 2008

ORLANDO - Hurricane Charley, one of the most destructive storms to strike the United States, is getting the Disney treatment.

A new exhibit opening in late August at Disney's Epcot Innoventions will put visitors in the eye of Charley's Category 4 winds using 3-D technology and surround sound.
Disney officials talked about "StormStruck: The Tale of Two Homes," at the Governor's Hurricane Conference on Friday.

Presenters said visitors will be shown how fortifying can change the outcome for the home. Two examples of homes will be used; only one survived Charley.

Designers hope the attraction will motivate residents to construct their homes like Chris Webb, whose home on Gulfview Road in Punta Gorda was virtually unscathed. But neighbor Jim Minardi's house was a "total loss," the retired college administrator said.

The difference was how the roofs, walls and floors of the two homes were tied together.

The exhibit is sponsored for three years by the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, a nonprofit group promoting disaster safety and practices to build homes better suited to withstand disasters.

Charley hit in August 2004 and caused nearly $7 billion in property damage in Florida, the National Hurricane Center reported.

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