the Dry Tortugas at 1200 UTC on August 13, with maximum winds of about . The strike occurred only 22 hours after Tropical Storm Bonnie made landfall on St. Vincent Island, marking the first time two tropical cyclones hit the same state within a 24-hour period. Then Charley rapidly intensified, strengthening from a hurricane with a minimum central barometric pressure of to a hurricane with a pressure of in just three hours. It continued to strengthen as it turned more to the northeast, and made landfall near the island of Cayo Costa, Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with a pressure of at approximately 1945 UTC on August 13. An hour later, the hurricane struck Punta Gorda as a storm and then passed up through Port Charlotte and the Charlotte Harbor. However, the eye had shrunk before landfall, limiting the most powerful winds to an area within of the center. Charley weakened considerably due to its passage over land, but still retained sustained winds of about as it passed directly over Orlando between 0020 and 0140 UTC August 14; gusts of up to were recorded at Orlando International Airport. It cut a swath of destruction across Florida, also passing near Kissimmee. The hurricane reemerged into the Atlantic Ocean after crossing directly over New Smyrna Beach as a Category 1 hurricane, but restrengthened slightly over open waters. Continuing to move rapidly to the north-northeast, Charley struck near Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina as an hurricane, moved offshore briefly, and made its final landfall near North Myrtle Beach as a minimal hurricane, with winds of . Charley then began interacting with an approaching frontal boundary, becoming a tropical storm over southeastern North Carolina. After moving back into the Atlantic Ocean near Virginia Beach on August 15, the storm became extratropical and became embedded in the frontal zone. The extratropical storm continued to move rapidly to the northeast, and was completely absorbed by the front shortly after sunrise on August 15, near southeastern Massachusetts. Preparations On August 10, two days before the hurricane passed near the island, Jamaican officials issued a tropical storm warning, which was upgraded to a hurricane warning a day later. In Jamaica, the threat of the storm forced the country's two airports to close, and also forced two cruise ships to reroute. The Cayman Islands issued a hurricane warning on August 11, a day before the hurricane