On Aug. 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley had Tampa Bay in a bullseye. A major shift to the right put former ABC Action News reporter Don Germaise and photographer Tim Jones, where they never expected to be in the eye of the storm.
Charley made landfall as a major category-four hurricane with winds at 150mph near Cayo Costa, just west of Fort Myers.
Charley archive video 2004
Germaise became well-known as “hunker down” Don for his coverage of Charley. It was also the beginning of Denis Phillips’ signature look: his suspenders.
Looking back on twenty years, many viewers may not know that chasing hurricanes was not Germaise’s favorite part of the job, and through all the coverage, they got lucky “dodging a lot of bullets.”
Don dodged bullets
For most of the forecast, this was “Tampa’s storm,” according to Phillips.
Tampa Hurricane Charley forecast
Then, about six hours before landfall, Phillips made the call on live TV; Charley was making a significant turn to the East.
Hurricane Charley path change