Hurricane question?

[stargazer]

DAMN - What a differance a Hurrican can make, you made the wise choice.

All the pine trees on our street were stripped, our last trip back, I see that they are starting to recover and regrow.

We feel that was the best thing for us.. we could have had several fall on the house and people were shocked they didn't. We had a 93 foot sand pine ( measured it) fall on an angle and landed in our front yard 18 inches from the front porch.. It took out 5 of our 35 foot wide oaks..

Many stayed in the neighborhood but I felt we needed to leave and glad we did..

[homey]

If it was meant to be it was meant to be I guess, we moved up here and we are going to move back to FL, just can not take it here anymore.
We had Oak in front of house, snapped it off about 4 foot up and fell on neighbors house, with out that shade the house was hotter in the summer. Everything is for a reason I guess.

[stargazer]

How frightening that the tree did that... you learn to respect a hurricane and it's power once you have encountered it... when Frances came, several people opted to go to a hotel in the neighborhood... debris from the trees was still on the ground, causing to roll around...
If you are happy going home, I understand. That is how I felt when we were there, we wanted to come home to what we knew and understood.

[mrskim_32901]

I have lived in Florida 10 yrs. If you are prepared for hurricanes life is simpler. Sometimes you are in your house for 24 to 36 hours with the winds beating at the windows which if more than a cat2 are covered with plywood or shutters. No daylight shines in if you want to be safe. Make sure you have batteries, candles and flashlights - a good book, wine, your radio and your partner - sometimes you can't get to work for a day or 2 ENJOY!

[kevin_1975]

LOL

I think after the worst of the storm has passed, most are wanting time off work.

[ConeyIsBabe]

I survived Hurricane Andrew, August 23, 1992 when I was living in downtown Coral Gables, in my 75-year-old CBS home; we were hunkered down at an inside hallway with no windows. The old house must have experienced other hurricanes during its lifetime and there was no major damage, only some roof tiles blown off. Luckily, Andrew did not directly hit The Gables but there was widespread devastation from downed trees all over The Gables. My power came back on after one day because it was the downtown area but I'll never forget scenes of Homestead, Cutler Ridge, Florida City....... all flattened!

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by oceandreams94

WOW! Thanks for the replies! I just wondered what it was really like to ride one out in your home!

Jen

Not too bad, really.

Hurricane Charley ripped the roof off the home I was living in in August 2004. The next day I was up on the roof, nailing it back down. It literally peeled the roofing material OFF the top of the house.

There's a product by Gardner that can be used to seal up the roof, very black, asphalt tar type stuff.

[sunrico90]

Originally Posted by oceandreams94

Hello! If you decide to stay put in your house during a hurricane, how long do most hurricanes take to go through your area? Or do they just stay put for a long time? How many days? (I am used to tornadoes, lol)
For those of you that have stayed in your homes, please tell me how long the cane lasted for, what did you do the whole time, etc

Jen

Depends on the strength/category of the hurricane and how fast is moving. The process can take 6 to 8 hours (night time is worst). We are normally packed with all the supplies and a generator. We played games, tell stories, lots of thinking about if something goes wrong, lots of praying, and listening to radio....

After the hurricane we check around the house and around the residential area to help others. I set-up the generator and power up the house and wait for everyhting to be back to normal.

[SunshineState]

Originally Posted by oceandreams94

Hello! If you decide to stay put in your house during a hurricane, how long do most hurricanes take to go through your area? Or do they just stay put for a long time? How many days? (I am used to tornadoes, lol)
For those of you that have stayed in your homes, please tell me how long the cane lasted for, what did you do the whole time, etc

Jen

As a Florida Cracker I have been through several hurricanes. They usually pass in hours, anywhere from 3 hours to 12 hours is what I have experienced. Our family has been very lucky and through all the hurricanes we have been through have only had a few trees damaged and some shingles blown off our house. In the storms of 2004/2005 we sat on our back porch with a houseful of friends who were in evacuation zones had a great picnic and watched the trees sway in the wind.

Not that I like either but give me a hurricane any day over a tornadoe...they scare me!! NO BASEMENTS here in Fl