KUA Marks One-Year Anniversary of Hurricane Charley

To communicate detailed information about disaster preparedness while capturing lessons learned from the 2004 hurricane season, Kissimmee Utility Authority has developed a free printed hurricane handbook for area residents.

Kissimmee, FL (PRWEB) August 13, 2005 -- Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Charley.

Charley, the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history, made landfall August 13, 2004 on the southwest coast of Florida near Punta Gorda. The storm continued north-northeastward across Central Florida before moving offshore near Daytona Beach. The aftermath left 10 people dead and approximately $15 billion in damage.

Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) was the hardest hit electric utility in Central Florida, having lost electric service to 100 percent of its 58,000 customers in Osceola County. Fifty-four percent of utility customers had power restored in the first 72 hours; 85 percent were restored within one week. Service was restored to all customers on August 28.

Hurricane Frances followed on Sept. 5 and Hurricane Jeanne on Sept. 26.

To communicate detailed information about disaster preparedness while capturing lessons learned from the 2004 hurricane season, KUA has developed a printed hurricane handbook for area residents. The 36-page guide is packed with important information on hurricanes and floods, plus helpful phone numbers, a disaster supplies checklist and a hurricane tracking chart.

Since its debut on May 18, the handbook has been distributed by KUA to more than 38,000 individuals and families.

In addition, 4,450 electronic copies have been downloaded from KUA's Web site, www.kua.com/hurricane.

Founded in 1901, KUA (www.kua.com) is Florida's sixth largest community-owned utility providing electric and telecommunication services to 170,000 residents in five Central Florida counties.

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