Ten years ago Wednesday, Hurricane Charley struck the Florida coast. 

The first of three hurricanes to hit Central Florida, Charley surprised everyone and made a quick turn, slamming into Punta Gorda, crossing the state, laying a path of destruction and exiting through Volusia County.

Much has changed since Charley and his two hurricane companions came through Central Florida in 2004.

Charley's winds caused in Volusia County that remains visible to this day, like the Treasure Island hotel in Daytona Beach Shores.

Then there's Crabby Joe's restaurant on the Sunglow pier in Daytona Beach Shores.

"He took off all the vents on top of the kitchen, took all those off,  threw them on the beach, and we lost several of the other ones. Blew off all the windows on the restaurant," said Crabby Joe's manager, Luke Zona.

But the worst was yet to come. Charley loosened the screws on the pier's pylons. Frances and Jeanne tore 85 feet off the pier.

"Charlie started it all," added Zona.

The pier and Crabby Joe's are still around.

Charley was a wakeup call after years of little, if any Florida hurricane activity.

The 2004 hurricane season drained Volusia County's resources, leaving a $40 million gap in the county's pocket. According to county spokesman Dave Byron, FEMA did not reimburse the county until almost 10 years later.

"We would not be able to outlay $40 million and wait several years for it to get back to us, we don't have that capacity today. So I don't think you'll ever see that again," said Byron.

Because of that, if another hurricane strikes, the county will provide what they call a measured response.

Before they would ask homeowners to have enough supplies to sustain themselves for three to five days. Now it's five to seven days before county workers can clear roads.

The county replaced the bunker-type emergency operations center with a state of the art EOC, and they improved the way they communicate with homeowners during a disaster.

"Now we have Twitter and we have Facebook and the other social media tools available that we add to the instant communication that we need to get people out of harm's way," said Byron.

Luke Zona said he may not replace the 85 feet of pier lost during the storms unless he knows for sure no future storms will strike.

"Or maybe come up with a better way to build a pier on the ocean," said a chuckling Zona.

 Daytona Beach Shores city leaders discussed how to get rid of the Treasure Island condo complex.

In the past, they have given owners ultimatums, but claim progress is too slow. Now they want owners to get rid of that last remnant of the Hurricanes of 2004.

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Hurricane Charley's trail of damage

Click the markers on the map to see photos of damage from Charley in 2004.

Don't see the map below in your browser? Open here in Google Maps.

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Timeline: Tracking Charley