Hurricane
Charley 2004 On Friday, August 13, the Center for Great Apes was
slammed by the
eye wall of a category 4
hurricane (Charley) packing 145 mph winds. The 7 humans, 14
chimpanzees, 5 orangutans, and 6 dogs who were at the sanctuary
during the storm are safe and
unharmed. While the ape facilities (indoor and outdoor)
appear to be intact, 
.... the human houses have a few holes in the
roofs, (due to huge trees laying on top
of the houses), ....front and back patios
smashed.... the pump house was crushed under an oak tree... camera
and water lines were unearthed by
uprooted trees...our 8' perimeter chain link
fence is down in a number of areas felled by oaks... wood fences
around the ape habitats are
down.... and some sections of the chute system were damaged
by huge trees falling on top of them.
Each of our staff and interns bunkered down in one of the ape
nighthouses at 5 p.m. with the
apes, our provisions, and our walkie-talkies. The brunt of the
storm hit 
us at 6
p.m.
and didn't let up until 8 or later. While trees were
crashing around us outside, we fed the apes, talked to them, and
tried to calm them. (For nearly
3 hours, Christopher made "stress-calls" ...Mari
hid
under her blanket ... and Grub appeared to be very frightened.
Many of the apes wanted to touch
our hands frequently for reassurance after they peeked
out the windows. 
Knuckles slept throughout the storm!) While
we were euphoric to have all the people and animals safe... and
the facilities intact, it's
heartbreaking to see the devastation
of our once beautiful tropical
wooded sanctuary. Many of our largest oak trees are toppled...
some with root systems sticking up in the air 15' high. While
many trees are lost, there are more
trees looking like they're going over soon.
And, we've
lost most of our shade-cover for
the ape habitats and the chute system running through the woods.
While
we were told our power would be out for more than 2 weeks, we were
so happy to have it back again
within one week! During that time, many wonderful
friends brought us water, food for the apes, gas, and generators
so we could hook 
up our water pump and
our walk-in cooler. We have months
and months of work ahead to clear the property of trees and
debris.... especially to limit the fire
hazard in the dry season. Volunteers from
all over Florida have been coming daily to our aid to help with
this back-breaking and
sweltering work. We are so grateful for this help and such
wonderful kindness!
Volunteers
have made a huge dent in less than a week.... The first days
after the hurricane, we couldn't even
find 
the paths or reach all the apes without
climbing over trees. Today, most of the paths are cleared and all
the apes are finally able to go 
outside
into their habitats. (However, until
we assess the
damage to the chute system, they cannot walk out in the chutes
yet.) We still must remove hundreds of dying trees...&
thousands of dead limbs. Much of
this volunteers can do, but most of the heavy tree-removal
will have to be done by a professional tree removal service.
Some of the repairs will be covered by
property insurance, but funds are needed
to pay for other repairs, clean up, and major tree removal that
insurance will not cover. A special Hurricane
Recovery fund started to help
with this expensive clean-up.
We
are very thankful for so many wonderful caring friends and
members. This experience
has been a bit overwhelming, but it's been helpful to remember
that the real beauty of the sanctuary is the apes, the staff, and
the supporters who help the apes. We
may have lost the lovely landscape (for
awhile)... but the apes are safe, and our friends are
wonderful.