VIDEO/PHOTOS: Two decades ago, Hurricane Charley struck Central Florida, kicking off the busiest hurricane season on record that the region has ever seen.
While far from the most powerful hurricane in the Sunshine State, Charley made landfall in 2004 around 100 miles south of Tampa as a Category 4 storm.
Charley started out small, rapidly intensifying before striking the state’s coast. But while the forecast model showed Charley potentially heading through Central Florida, many residents only looked at the center forecast line, which showed the storm passing through the state away from Orlando.
“Orlando was technically in that cone of concern ahead of Charley. It’s just everyone wanted to focus on that one line and it’s something many people do at this one point 20 years later,” said News 6 Chief Meteorologist Candace Campos.
As a result, many people were unprepared when the storm arrived in Central Florida, according to NOAA.