Tropical Storm Irene is Born (Miami, South Miami: real estate, construction, living)

[FlyMIA]

This thing might a monster when it hits the Carolina's on Sunday. Hope for the best for everyone there hope they are preparing now! As for Florida so far and it looks very certain that we have dodged yet another bullet. Hope everyone in Nassau does well too. Wont be as strong and they are very good with dealing with the storms.

[perry335654]

Looks like it might bypass Miami with a westward rain band and head for New England while possibly hitting my hometown of Jacksonville on the way as it is way overdue as Dora was the last major hurricane back in 1964.

[JackTheRipper]

By the time it hits the Carolinas it'll downgrade to CAT 2. Nothing to worry about.

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by ♥♥PRINC3Ss♥♥

Silver lining let's see higher insurance rates? More foreclosures? Millions lost in businesses? How about those corporation who just get tired of the down time and move their business to other cities? If you want to meet your neighbor isnt it easier to knock on their door or go to church?

I don't care if they enjoy their hurricanes or have a crush on the Cantor guy, if they want to, they can go and chase their storm to the cook islands with Mr Wilson, but wishing for a hurricane to hit a populated area is no different than wishing for an earthquake, tsunami or fire.

Silver lining: construction workers back to work, the back bone of the real Miami economy. People spending and earning money again.

Hurricanes scoruing the Glades, Florida and Biscayne Bays. They clean out old growth and allow for new growth to move in.

Speculators who came to turn a profit in paradise are sick of the inconvenience and expense of hurricanes and stop over inflating the real estate market.

You get to have better interpersonal relationships with your neighbors. This never happens unless people are forced into this type of situation.

It looks like your the negative nancy now Princess LOL.

Just because a hurricane brings bad things doesn't mean it doesn't all balance out in the end. It's like going to California and falling in LOVE with hiking, skiing and the mountains. Well none of that would be there without earthquakes. So to begrudge everyone who enjoys skiing or mountain climbing because they enjoy things that COME from earthquakes, is the same as hating on people who enjoy the thrill of a hurricane. Remember Princess, no one is wishing a hurricane destroy or kill people. And many people would much rather see a hurricane in Miami than in Haiti because here we CAN handle it. Also, since you are from here, you should know that a Cat 1 is relatively benign and those weak storms don't tend to cause sturcutural damage.

No one is wishing Miami's end or massive death tolls. You are missing the point because you don't have the same understanding or itnerest in this topic. That is fine, but just as you have a right to dread hurricanes, others have a right to enjoy them.

[catt6]

there's a serious lack of reading comprehension going on around here....

i'm a 'big weather' junkie too and i love witnessing the natural phenomena of hurricane, tornado, blizzard, etc.....

but being interested in, and in awe of, these incredible forces of nature is NOT AT ALL the same thing as 'wishing' a hurricane will come and hurt people. SMDH.

[cixcell]

"many people would much rather see a hurricane in Miami than in Haiti because here we CAN handle it."

AMEN. kinda worried about some missionary buddies i have down in haiti in tent cities. post quake they cant even handle floods down there.

about clearing out the everglades. one of the things that most ticked me off about the natl park service was they wouldnt let anyone into everglades natl park after wilma. they closed the place and its the point I MOST wanted to see it because i wanted to see what its like out there immediately following a hurricane. in a national park environment so molded by hurricanes its a shame we cant see it.

[theredsnowman]

I find hurricanes to be quite annoying, but I would not put any effort into convincing people who find hurricanes to be fascinating that they should not have these thoughts, because their interest is actually an extremely positive thing. This interest leads to discoveries improving hurricane knowledge, which translates into people not dying in hurricanes.

Even if somebody is cheering for a hurricane to wipe Miami off the map, these cheers will not influence the hurricane. Hurricanes, unlike the Miami Hurricanes, are not motivated by cheering fans.

[Chelito23]

Well Cixcell I can't say I have been to the Everglades immediately after a hurricane...but as the cycle goes, the older tree canopies topple over in the hammocks and this allows new growth to have direct sunlight and take over. Everything came back after Andrew...but in general, you know how the US micro manages everything and tries to sanatize life in general as to avoid lawsuits or anything that isn't PG rated.

I don't think you were in Florida for Charley (I was on vacation that week) and when I came back I drove to Port Charlotte. It was just like Andrew driving north from Ft. Myers. At first it was trees down, then trees snapped in half and then trees totally torn apart and stumps pointin into the air in all directions.

For as bad as Andrew was here, South Dade is similar to what it was before the storm vegetation wise. It never was a forest so to speak...and of course now it is less rural...but Kendall for example, is similar in that regard. Never heavily shaded...but it was defoliated and almost everything came back. If you go to Country Walk today, you would never imagine what Andrew did to it.

PS: I am not referring to sturctual damage, only to begetation.

[cixcell]

no, for charley i was sitting on my bed in california unemployed (mass indian outsourcing of IT jobs) while watching florida get bombarded with hurricanes on the weather channel and desperately wishing i were there. finally in october of that year we took a vacation to scout it out over here, drove all over the state and actually saw alot of the damaged areas firsthand.

"South Dade is similar to what it was before the storm vegetation wise"

thank you. ive been wanting to know the answer to that for a very long time.

[Chelito23]

The Redlands are essentially the same...and even after Katrina and Wilma did a number, you can se how fast things rebound. After Andrew, South Dade took maybe 5 years to be back where it was vegetation wise. It was always devoid of foliage in the urbanized areas...

To see a massive Banyan tree (like the ones on the Coral Gables golf courses) reduced to stumps is horrific. But look at them today. Banyans rebound and come back. Most everything does. It is man that hat racks and tears out or that prevents plants from taking things back. Even look at Key Biscayne which had AUstralian Pine forests, they cam back in 5 years and they are now gone (due to man).

Miami has never been a tree city. Only Coral Gables, Pinecrest and Coconout Grove, along with other select areas, have been tree oasis. I will never understand why other people don't try to replicate their beauty. I think using hurricanes is a convenient excuse as to not plant trees, since there are trees all trhoughout the hurricane zones of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central America, etc. I think people are just lazy and don't want to rake...or trim. Life is too comfortable here for people to get outside and break a sweat or have someone else do it for them. Sigh.

It's amazing how many coastal plantings survived. Royal Poincianas, Royal Palms, etc that were exposed to storm surges and salt intrusions rebounded. I have come to accept that hurricanes are the price we pay to live here, as are earthquakes in Cali or blizzards in order to have "4" seasons up north. SO you just have to adapt and enjoy it for what it is and roll with it. Those of us who adapt are happier. All the people that get hysterical and crazy at hurricae threats are the only thing they really scare or bother me lol.