The stress of preparing for a hurricane is just as bad as going through the hurricane. Remember, hurricanes can turn at the last moment. This means that if the hurricane was headed for your coast, your prepared for it.

If the hurricane hit 20 miles north, more than likely you still felt the wrath. And as I am sure everyone either heard on the news or personally went through one (or two or three), the aftermaths were equally horrendous. Anywhere from power outages, flooding, leaky roofs, and huge surges of new inquiries and rentals, just to name a few. We are proud to say that our facilities did not miss a beat.

As everyone knows, the 2004 hurricane season in Florida was a monster! Needless to say, none of our properties in Florida went untouched. Storage King located in Ft. Myers, managed by Michelle Dale, was the first to get hit. Her facility is located about 20 miles south of where the eye of Hurricane Charlie made landfall. Storage King had roof damage, but faired well compared to the facilities in the eye located in Punta Gorda, FL. Both the Tropicana´s were affected as well with only minimum damage. From Charlie that is. Tropicana · Clearwater sustained major damage to their awnings when Hurricane Ivan came through, the last hurricane of the season.

But let´s not forget the east coast of Florida. South Congress Mini Storage in Boca Raton, FL suffered gate damage, trim damage, and landscaping damage from Hurricane Frances. They also had yet another scare with Hurricane Gene. Our newest addition to the family, Vista Self Storage located in Orlando, FL, was hit by two of the hurricanes as well. Both Charlie and Francis did minimal damage to the facility.

Having said all that, we want to thank all of the Florida managers for a Job Well Done! If nothing else, we all are wiser and more experienced in what to do when a natural disaster strikes. And with the prediction of an equally busy hurricane season in the mix for 2005, we are going to need it!