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August 12, 2004
"Would you like Diablo Sauce with that?" Ned, the Assistant Manager at Bueno Nacho, asked.
Ron Stoppable smiled and replied, "Yeah." Ned handed him the sauce. "Thanks, Ned." As Ron walked to his table, he heard Ned say behing him, "Have a Muy Bueno Day! Next!"
As he slid into his seat, the girl across from him said, "Let me guess. You ordered a naco, right?" Ron didn't need to answer; he handed his best friend, Kim Possible, her naco and took his. Rufus, Ron's pet naked mole rat, got the burritto.
"Guess what?" Kim said. She didn't wait for an answer. mainly because Ron's mouth was full. "Bonnie's parents cancelled her trip to Tampa, Florida."
"Really?" Ron asked, his mouth still partially full. He swallowed. "Why?"
Kim sighed. "I dunno. It's no big, really. Just some tropical storm... They were leaving Saturday, and it was expected to hit tomorrow. Everything would've been fine by then."
"Mmmm..." Ron wasn't interested in the weather. The Weather Channel, in his oppinion, was the most boring channel out there. He knew that Kim didn't care for it either.
This tropical storm was just one of the less important things in life.
Kim shot up in bed at 11:00PM, awoken by the beeping of her Kimmunicator. She sighed, thinking it was Drakken, and picked up.
"Hey Wade. What's the sitch?" While saying this, Kim half yawned.
Wade grinned, and said, "You've got a hit on the sight from a Mr.Smith Johnson. He wants you to be his camera man. Or woman, in this case. You see, his camera man got sick, and he's going to Punta Gorda, Florida to have live coverage on Hurricane Charley."
Kim frowned, confuseed. "Hurricane Charley?" she asked. "I've never heard of it."
"If you watched the weather, Kim, you would have. Its a Catagory 2 hurricane headed for Tampa. In Punta Gorda, you should just get some outer bands. I've got you and Ron a flight into Tampa. You'll drive down and meet Mr.Johnson at Charlotte Bay, ok?" Wade stopped, and sighed. "I'll get Ron. You're flight's at 2:30AM. Get ready. Bring rain gear, and a hat. Wade out."
Kim stared at the blank screen. Now she understood why Bonnie couldn't go to Tampa. A hurricane was much worse than a tropical storm.
Well, Kim though while packing her stuff into a backpack, at least we won't be in the middle of this hurricane.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Kim and Ron arrived in Charlotte Bay, Punta Gorda, Florida at 6:00AM, having stopped for breakfast and weather updates.Ron had left Rufus at home, afraid his pet would get hurt. Charley was still headed for somewhere near Tampa, but all of Southwest Florida was on alert. Punta Gorda hadn't been evacuated much; only some people had left. The residents weren't expecting much.
Kim and Ron found Mr.Johnson clad in a nice shirt and pants. The sun was only just rising. "Hi, Mr. Johnson," Kim called out. The meteorologist turned and smiled. "I'm Kim Possible, and this is my friend Ron Stoppable." The two teens shook hands with him.
The next hour was spent with both Kim and Ron learning hor to work the camera both on stand and, if they had to move, off. The hours after that passed in a blur; Kim filming while Johnson gave updates. Then, shortly after noon, something happened. Johnson had gotten a call, and he turned, his face serious, to Kim.
"Turn on the camera," Johnson said. Kim did so without hesitation, while Ron stood by watching. Ron, on the sidelines, didn't know what had happened. Neither did Kim.
Johnson started talking into the camera. "Our latest update shows that Charley has strengthened into a Catagory 4 hurricane, with winds at 145 miles per hour. Also, Charley's path has changed, and its moving more towards the east then before. Charley has stayed on this new track for awhile now, and he's expected to keep to it. Therefor, residents in the Fort Meyers and Punta Gorda areas should take shelter immediately. This hurricane is a Catagory 4; a major hurricane. Do not try to get out on the roads. Stay where you are. Its no longer safe to leave your homes."
Kim and Ron stood, jaws dropped, and Kim with the camera, staring at Johnson. Johnson just shook his head, and said, as the wind started to pick up, "I'm sorry. The worst is yet to come." Soon after that, the three of them donned their rain gear. Everyone's new point of interest became Punta Gorda, the hurricane's new target. As Kim stood there, filming as Johnson gave broadcasts and it started to rain, she felt an odd feeling. Kim Possible, teen hero, felt scared.
"I advise you to stay in your homes. Get your hurricane kits and go into the most interior room in your house with no windows, like a closet or interior bathroom, and stay there. Take the radio with you and listen for updates on Charley."
Johnson's frequent warnings now had the teens scared. The wind and rain had picked up, and was now "tropical storm force". There were no more breaks between the rain where the sun peaked through. There was no break. Kim, Ron, and even Johnson were starting to have trouble standing straight.
"...The worst of Charley is yet to come. Right now we are under complete cloud cover. The winds are now," Here Johnson held up a small, wind mill like device to the wind, "hurricane force at 80 miles per hour. The eye wall should be nearing soon..."
Kim and Ron looked at each other, wondering why someone would take such a job. Kim ws beginning to regret having thought that Charley wasn't important yesterday.
"...This is certainly something to prove that Friday the 13th is a very unlucky day. I'm sure that this 'Friday the 13th' will be remember by plenty of people..."
The winds were slowly growing stronger, and seemed to remain sonsistantly at one speed after awhile. Both Kim and Ron were starting to think that this would be ok. That was when all hell broke loose.
The wind speeds suddenly seemed to double, and Kim found herself struggling to stand. Her camera was shaking, and hard rain pelted them sideways. Johnson was yelling, "Here we have it! The eye wall. No one should be out...I'm even going to take shelter...Back to you in the studio!" Kim kept the camera on, even though they weren't broadcasting. She filmed a house, and the roof, all of it, flew off into the air. Trees were literally snapping like twigs.The same though went through Kim's and Ron's minds: We're going to die.
Johnson yelled, "We're going to that building!" He was running towards a concrete building. Kim and Ron, side by side, followed.
As soon as they entered the building, the rain stopped pelting them. The wind could be heard clearly, howling. Then Kim and Ron heard glass break. They ran into the next room, Kim and Ron more scared then they had ever been before in their lives.
"The wind broke all of the windows," Johnson told them. He led Kim and Ron into an interior room. The teens were too shocked, and scared, to speak. They just sat there over the time span of a few minutes, stiff and scared, waiting. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, everything stopped.
Johnson motioned Kim and Ron to follow him outside. To their surprise, it was sunny. There was no rain, and barely any wind. It was surreal. "This..."Johnson whispered, "...is the eye of the storm."
The three of them took a moment or two to survey the damage. Some houses were leveled; trees were propped up against buildings or were laying flat on the ground, uprooted.Kim turned on the camera again.
"We are currently in the eye of the storm, but I urge anyone who's gotten out to get back in. The second half should be arriving any moment now." As he said this, Kim and Ron edged towards the concrete building with Johnson. Kim looked up, and saw towering clouds ahead; the eye wall was fast approaching.
They were back in the building when the second half hit, winds tearing at Punta Gorda from the opposite direction now, at 140 miles per hour. There was a lot of creaking. Ron leaned over and said, "Hey KP, do you think this building will stay up?"
"Let's hope it does, Ron, "Kim said shakily. "Let's hope it does..."
"And the damage Charley caused here is extensive. There were 4 deaths, total. Remember, weather is not a force to be reckoned with. When dangerous weather occurs, stay as safe as possible and always listen to weather updates. Safty precautions have saved lives. This was Smith Johnson, now back to the studio."
Kim smiled and turned the camera off. Now she knew exactly why Johnson had taken this job; to help people. He was just like her. Johnson had told people what to do during the monster storm, and by doing so had saved lives.
Ron was also having this same realization. The Weather Channel isn't so dumb after all. These heroes risked their lives just to tell people what was going on, and what to do.
"I'm just happy to be alive," Kim said. "Wanna go home?"
"I think we have to clean up first," Ron replied. "But you know what? When we do we can watch the weather.Oh, and eat Bueno Nacho." Both teens grinned and, hand in hand, walked down the street to help clean up the mess that Hurricane Charley had made.
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