passed near the archipelago. Cuban government officials issued a hurricane watch for the southern coastline on August 11, two days before the hurricane struck the island. This was upgraded to a hurricane warning on the 12th, 13 ½ hours before Charley made landfall. Because of the threat, the government issued a mandatory evacuation for 235,000 citizens and 159,000 animals in the area of the expected impact. An additional 3,800 residents were evacuated from offshore islands, while 47,000 in Havana were transported from old, unsafe buildings to safer areas. The people were transported to shelters provisioned with supplies. In addition, the power grid in southern Cuba was turned off to avoid accidents. On August 11, Florida governor Jeb Bush issued a state of emergency declaration due to the impending threat Charley presented to the state while the storm was still located south of Jamaica. The National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings for the Florida Keys and from Cape Sable to the mouth of the Suwannee River a day prior to Charley's passage through the state, while tropical storm warnings were issued elsewhere throughout Florida. Because of the threat, 1.9 million people along the Florida west coast were urged to evacuate, including 380,000 residents in the Tampa Bay area, and 11,000 in the Florida Keys. It was the largest evacuation order for Pinellas County history, and the largest evacuation request in Florida since Hurricane Floyd five years before. Many Floridians remained despite the evacuation order, as authorities estimated that up to a million people would not go to shelters; instead, these residents boarded up their homes and bought supplies to ride out the storm. However, about 1.42 million people evacuated their homes in Florida, and approximately 50,000 residents were placed in shelters throughout the state. Power companies mobilized workers to prepare for the expected widespread power outages. MacDill Air Force Base, home of U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) and the U.S. military center for the Iraq War, severely limited its staff on base, shifting most of its operations to its forward headquarters in Doha, Qatar. Similarly, Kennedy Space Center, which usually counts with 13,000 on-site personnel, reduced its staff to only 200 people in preparation for the hurricane, and secured all Space Shuttles by sealing them in their hangars. Many amusement parks in the Orlando area closed early, and Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom remained closed. This was only the second time in