Editor's Note: Gary Panoch is a native of Ionia and attended New Hampton High School. He is a funeral director and owns Gary Panoch Funeral Home & Cremations of Boca Raton, Fla.

His parents' and grandparents' homes in Port Charlotte, Fla., were in the path of Hurricane Charley Aug. 13. What follows are his observations during cleanup efforts.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - On Aug. 15, the second full day after Hurricane Charley left its mark on southwest Florida, a friend and I left the state's east coast loaded with food, water and gas. We set out to help my parents and their neighbors on Magnolia Way in Punta Gorda. We also brought two generators for the Charlotte County Medical Examiner's office.

My parents, Nancy and Ron Panoch, and I moved to Punta Gorda from Ionia in 1986. I graduated from Charlotte High in Punta Gorda, and I wasn't quite sure how (the devastation) would affect me. However, I knew I had to be there for them.

I had been obsessed with seeing pictures on TV of the area that I knew so well. I knew driving into Charlotte County at this time would be the point of no return. There is no phone or cellular service, no electricity and no running water. When you go in, you have to make sure you have enough gas to get out past Fort Myers (30 miles south) or Venice (30 miles north.)

Driving down U.S. Highway 41 through Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda was truly amazing. Debris, including insulation, tree limbs, shingles and trash smothered the curbs. Many steel street lights and concrete power line poles were bent, twisted or snapped in half.

The police, National Guard and other government agencies were doing an excellent job directing traffic at every intersection on U.S. 41. Cleanup crews were already at work. It was clear to see there was a plan in effect and help was there.

When I finally arrived at my parents' house, I found it to be in better shape than most. Three hurricane windows were broken and a few cement tiles were off the roof.

My father was pretty much in disbelief. Three elderly people who lived in mobile homes were staying with them. They were very eager to show me everything. I must admit, I was just as interested in seeing all of it.

My grandparents, Lloyd and Wilma Zubrod of Ionia, own a house two doors down the street. It had a piece of wood blown through its front wall and into a chair; garage door blown apart; and the roof missing on the back side of the house creating a 4-by-8-foot skylight in the master bedroom.

Ronnie said the whole thing lasted about an hour.

"It rained, poured and blew. After about a half hour, it all stopped. The sun came out, and it was calm."

They knew they were in the eye of the hurricane.

"Then, it all started again with rain and wind coming from the other direction."

With a generator my sister Susie had brought to them the day before, I had my father start by vacuuming the water from the carpets and boarding the broken windows while I cut up the palm trees and picked up debris from the front yard and my friend cut uprooted fruit trees in the back yard. The refrigerators were plugged into the generator, and we ran an extension cord to the next-door neighbor, John Fredericks.

Fredericks' house had almost every window broken and his cement tiles blown off. Someone's garage door knocked out his sliding glass doors. His carpets were soaked and littered with broken antiques and glass. I helped him pick up 60-year-old pictures of his children and family while trying to reassure him they would dry.

I asked him how he's coping with the loss of most of the personal effects he had obtained over his 80-plus years.

"You have to be 17 years old, flying in and out of enemy territory, having your plane hit with only two engines remaining on your plane to realize this isn't the worst thing that can happen to someone," he said.

Fredericks is a World War II Army Air Corps veteran who flew as a gunner over England and other parts of Europe.

The friend who came with me to help had volunteered with search and recovery after Hurricane Andrew hit Homestead, Fla., in 1992. He and others who saw Andrew's aftermath feel (Charley) could be worse. It won't be determined until all the damage is assessed.

Later in the day my mom's brother, Roy Zubrod of Coralville, formally of Ionia, and his son, Jake, arrived from Iowa to help. Just before the curfew time, as we were leaving, we noticed many others out cleaning their yards. They were picking up the pieces and moving forward. We left that evening feeling as though we made a difference at least for those on Magnolia Way.