Hurricane Charley's 22-year legacy still shapes how Charlotte County builds

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WINK)—Twenty-two years ago, Hurricane Charley slammed into Charlotte County with 150-mile-per-hour winds.

The Builders Association says 80% of the buildings in Charlotte County were damaged, along with 95% of the buildings in downtown Arcadia. To WINK Weather Watcher Kay Fizell, Charley wasn't a statistic.

"How abrupt it came. We're all waiting for it to hit Tampa. All of a sudden, it did kind of a right turn," Fizell said.

The storm came up the Peace River, right through Fizell's park. When she looks back through photos, she can still feel the devastation.

"Park model homes, RVs, boats. It was just totally upside down. Places that used to have a beautiful immaculate house, everything was gone. You didn't even realize anyone had lived there. The fact there were animals and snakes and everything all over," Fizell said.

Then came the long process of rebuilding Charlotte and DeSoto counties. Zac Extejt was president of the Builders Association at the time, in an area that was already in a building boom.

"As supplies get scarce, they go up in value. As labor gets scarce, they go up in value. And we already, as an industry, couldn't keep up with what we were doing," said Extejt, owner of Charlotte County Seawalls.

Contractors had to triage, fixing the worst damage first. Charley changed more than the landscape.

"The building code has continuously gotten better and evolved. Also, with the height of the buildings. So, if you notice, the buildings are all getting taller. The buildings are also getting harder," Extejt said.

Extejt says those changes can make homes safer, but they come with a cost.

"It does drive the cost of housing because to build a home harder costs more money," Extejt said.

Extejt says every storm carries its own lesson. He said he had little time to evacuate before he turned on the TV and it was too late. He and Fizell say they'll never risk sticking around for another hurricane.