[cmsvmom]

Originally Posted by momTOmom

So, I plan to love Florida and hope that we are making the right decision!

You've had a bad one up there this year. Where do you think you want to move?

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by cmsvmom

OK, check out the associated press.

Whatever you are reading about with wind and flooding at the moment, it is here.

The story from channel 12 (didn't realize that was on subscription only) talks about evacuation of the jersey shore today. Seems in 92 they were under 4 feet of water.

I remember that storm. My brother and I wondered if the worst was yet to come after that and Andrew. Unfortunately, we were right!

Point being, everyone gets weather. I've lived in all sorts, and Florida looks pretty good to me out of all my experiences and those of family.

My family did not experience katrina, but we have worked with the ongoing rebuilding. What a mess.

And by moving to the FL coast, you will experience something at least 10x worse than what you experienced in the NJ coast.

FL has a LOT of severe weather... tornadoes (all year long), tornadoes during hurricanes, and after hurricanes go through.

Lightning storms daily from May - Sept.

Flooding in a lot of areas.

Hurricanes... ask anyone in FL during the 2004 - 2005 hurricane season. They will tell you how much it sucked. 2007 is supposed to be a nightmare due to the hot Atlantic waters.

[dreamer1]

hey nirvanaguy, if you hate it so much (from what i keep reading from you)why diden't you move to buffalo with your friend. i'm from buffalo and in OCT (13TH TO BE EXACT)we had a huge snowstrom where people people were out of power for over a week. i don't know if you friend moved back for that but it was horrible. have you ever lived through a full winter? and who says fall is so great. we diden't even get one.

[estelac76]

Originally Posted by oceandreams94

Bundling up your kids so much to go to the car that they no longer fit in thier car seats!!!! Then struggling to get them buckled in while your nose and butt freezes and falls off!!! Arrrg!

Jen

LOL... When my son was small I put so many layers on him that he looked like a little ball.. Atleast he was warm. He did not freeze but he could not even walk.

[vpcats]

I can't wait for Nirvana Guy to leave Florida and go start complaining about another place. At the very least, I wish his computer would crash!

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Actually, isn't the main problem with Florida home insurance companies is that they create special FLorida subsidiaries that detach themselves from parent companies in order to isolate premiums so that they can claim to be "bankrupt" when a disaster DOES strike without having to dip into the parent companies funds (and record-breaking profits?)

But that's fine Crewchief. And when the Northeasterners get their "superstorms" like they're having right now, causing death, flooding, and destruction, we'll be here to absorb the influx of people next year and this summer who have "had enough" while they drive up our house prices and taxes. So thanks a whole heckuva lot for THAT!

I guess you can't get away from the Insurance "shell games" no matter where you live; I just know that our homeowner's insurance premiums have risen 65% since we bought here three years ago (after some pretty bad hurricanes.

Actually, SW Ohio is too far West to be affected by Nor'easters. And we're far South enough to miss the "lake effect" snow above us. It's even been icy and colder in KY, TN & GA than here in OH in recent years. (Our house is on a big hill, too! ) Yes, I suppose I'm (a little) envious as I see those Michigan plates heading South on I-75 when it's snowing in Dayton. But thinking what our house would cost us in any desirable area of FL quickly brings me back to reality. Having lived there during my high school years, I enjoyed a good bit of what I experienced in South FL; but that was in the early '70s and it's a whole different deal nowadays down there...

[Runt52]

Had to weigh in on this one. Spent 35 years in Wisconsin, 2 in N.D. and 22 in N.E. Indiana, I can tell you that I'm sooo looking forward to my move to the Leesburg area. Nothing like sleeping with flannel sheets and a down comforter 6 months out of the year. I'll take the warm weather anyday. Tornadoes, we've got em. Bugs, got those too. (In N.D. the mosquitos are so big, they have landing lights on them for night flying.) Face it, we all have our reasons for moving south. (or wanting to) Don't talk about high taxes, That's why I left Wisconsin. My home here in Fort Wayne has actually depreciated in the 12 years I've lived in it. It's a 3/2.5/3.5 nice subdivision. No H.O.A. Property taxes are 1100/year. Listed at 125k. Comparable place in central Fl, would cost me $350-400k. Let's just be warm... I want a southbound express - soon!

[Juliebw]

I had to jump in here. Although, I cannot compare apples to apples with you guys up North with your ice storms. But I sure can tell you about our hurricanes. The ones that hit in 2005 were bad. We lost our power with every storm. The first one we lost for 8 days. 8 days with no break from the exhausting humidity. No food other than what you have in your cooler which could not last for 8 days. No stores to buy food from because their power was out too and no trucks were coming in due to the tree covered roads. We sent our daughters to a friends house who had electricity, we couldn't go we had 4 dogs. We couldn't lock up the house, they would have died in the heat. You can't leave your house with windows open because of the looters. WE had to sleep in lawn chairs in the porch BUTT Naked. Yes, I am not kinding you here. THe heat was miserable and you couldn't escape it. You had to try to sleep with the sound of your neighbors generator (which we couldn't get because they were sold out). So as stated here, everyone has their miserable natural diasters but please don't discount ours because you prefer the heat over the cold. We haven't walked in your shoes and you haven't walked in ours. Let's just agree that they both SUCK!

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by Juliebw

I had to jump in here. Although, I cannot compare apples to apples with you guys up North with your ice storms. But I sure can tell you about our hurricanes. The ones that hit in 2005 were bad. We lost our power with every storm. The first one we lost for 8 days. 8 days with no break from the exhausting humidity. No food other than what you have in your cooler which could not last for 8 days. No stores to buy food from because their power was out too and no trucks were coming in due to the tree covered roads. We sent our daughters to a friends house who had electricity, we couldn't go we had 4 dogs. We couldn't lock up the house, they would have died in the heat. You can't leave your house with windows open because of the looters. WE had to sleep in lawn chairs in the porch BUTT Naked. Yes, I am not kinding you here. THe heat was miserable and you couldn't escape it. You had to try to sleep with the sound of your neighbors generator (which we couldn't get because they were sold out). So as stated here, everyone has their miserable natural diasters but please don't discount ours because you prefer the heat over the cold. We haven't walked in your shoes and you haven't walked in ours. Let's just agree that they both SUCK!

I agree, it's better to be without power in the winter, than without power after a hurricane. Unless you experience two months without electricity after a hurricane, in September and October heat, you cannot say anything about Florida disasters. I have experienced the lack of power stuck in rural Minnesota at a friend's house. There was plenty of wood in the garage and the wood stove to warm the house. The kitchen uses propane so other than no lights or TV all was just fine. You don't see people standing in line for ice, it's right at your doorstep whenever you need it.

[jhlcomp]

Come on down!!! Thank you for sharing - every so often the memory gets a little fuzzy and needs a little kick in the head. Yes, the birds sing, the sun is out and you don't need a hair dryer to defrost your car lock.