Virginia Reber still wears a white bandage around her foot — a reminder of the damage Hurricane Charley inflicted on her Punta Gorda, Fla., home more than three weeks ago.

Today, she and her husband, Marlin, wait at their son’s home in Irmo for word on whether Hurricane Frances has finished what Charley started and destroyed their dream condo, nestled on a seawater canal.

Already, the retired couple is considering leaving coastal Florida and its tropical troubles behind for good — making a new home in Irmo near their son, Bill Reber, and his family.

“They say (Punta Gorda) could get as much as 15 inches of rain,” said Marlin Reber, 86, as he sat in his son’s den Sunday afternoon. “That takes care of everything else” in their condo.

The retired Air Force colonel flew 25 raids over Germany and faced death many times, but he’d never heard anything like the screeching wind and rain that pelted his condo like BBs when Hurricane Charley blew through.

A blast of wind ripped the back door off its hinges. A glass window shattered, badly cutting the foot of Virginia Reber, 80, as she paced anxiously in the den.

Marlin Reber, disabled by a stroke five years ago, was not able to help out much as the lights darkened.

“I worried for my wife’s safety,” he said.

The couple had considered evacuating before the storm hit, but their neighbors were staying. And because Marlin Reber is in a wheelchair, his wife wasn’t sure if she could successfully maneuver him to a shelter.

They chose to weather the storm, staying on the phone with Bill’s family in Irmo when Charley came ashore.

When the phone line went dead, panic set in back in Irmo.

“You talk about stress,” Bill Reber recalled Sunday. He, his wife, Patricia Reber, and their son, Lonnie Reber, frantically drove to Punta Gorda.

Luckily, his parents were fine.

Now, they’re staying at Town Place Suites in Irmo. Even before Frances hit, their insurance adjuster had told them it was going to be as much as six months before they could move back into their home.

As they left town, they were able to grab a few belongings including Marlin Reber’s war board — a frame of his many military medals, ribbons and a black-and-white photo of the handsome young pilot.

“Hopefully, they’ll stay in South Carolina,” said Bill Reber, who has been trying to coax his parents into building a house across from his in Chestnut Hill Plantation.

In the meantime, they’ve built a ramp to their house’s door for Marlin Reber to use.

“That’s what we’d love, to have them here with the people who love them,” Bill Reber said.

The Irmo Rebers are becoming old hands at being there for family. Already, Patricia Reber’s parents, Peggy and Sammy Shirah, live with them.

Upon hearing that yet another storm — Hurricane Ivan — could have Florida in its sights, Virginia Reber shook her head, thinking of people who would surely lose their homes if Ivan comes ashore.

“It’s not easy being homeless.”

Reach Smith at (803) 771-8378 or gnsmith@thestate.com