Contributing Editor Capt. Vince Daniello always provides sound advice, based upon extensive experience, and illustrated with superb photography. As Hurricane Matthew plows over the Bahamas and bears down on the United States, his experience with another Category 4 hurricane is worth considering
I shot these photos on Pine Island the day after Category 4 Hurricane Charley came ashore in 2004. My wife’s grandparents’ home, about a mile south of where this photo was taken, came through with minimal structural damage, as did most of their neighbors. But north from where this photo was taken was like this and worse.
I’ve been through many hurricanes as a professional captain, even one at sea, and I’ve been at the immediate aftermath of more.
Most of my family lives in northern Palm Beach County, with five boats to tend to. My advice to them — board up and tie down what you can, and then head west. You definitely don’t what to be near the center of a Category 4 storm.
