Five years ago today, Hurricane Charley veered from its long-forecast target of the Tampa area and rammed into Charlotte County as a Category 4 storm.
Charley crossed the Florida peninsula, maintaining hurricane-force winds all the way to Orlando and exited the state that night. The hurricane season would go down as one of the state's most destructive, with Frances, Ivan and Jeanne all causing plenty of damage.
Still, Charley was the worst hurricane in a bad storm season, as the numbers attest:
145 mph
Charley's top wind speed when it hit near Punta Gorda
10 miles
The width of Charley's eye
$5 billion
Insured and uninsured losses in Florida caused by Charley
18 million
Cubic yards of debris
$286 million
Cost to remove the debris
100,000
People sheltered by the American Red Cross in the weeks after Charley
4,700
Temporary housing units provided by FEMA
182,000
Houses inspected by FEMA to determine assistance
3,800
Patients treated by FEMA medical teams after the storm
$624 million
Payments to cities and counties by FEMA for recovery projects
Source: Federal Emergency Management Administration
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