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If there's anything I've learned from all my years of living in floreeduh before I was through with it, it's that when a hurricane is coming, you GTFO. And I highly suggest that any new resident does exactly that.
You may be a hot shot and think you're brave enough to live through it. I've been in Andrew as it was peeling the roof off above our heads and smashing windows as we were pressing up against doors to keep them shut. That wasn't supposed to be that big of a deal up until it was too late to leave. And I've been in cat ones and no-name storms... no name because they weren't supposed to even be a storm that did a lot of damage. Even if there's no damage they are just as unpleasant coming back to 90 degree weather and no air conditioning and no food.
My advice is this... if you are in the "cone of death".... GTFO!!
Have an evacu-cation!
It's not being a wuss, it's being smart.
.
We've been in Florida for 40 years now. And our rule is - tropical storms we stay - hurricanes we leave. Not that tropical storms are always benign. We had 14 inches of rain from TS Debby - and areas to the north of us got more. Had the winds from Debby been just a touch stronger (they were only in the 20 mph range or so) - thousands of trees would have come down (instead of hundreds). It's really not much consolation if there's a hole in your roof because a tree fell on it - as opposed to a hurricane ripping it off. FWIW - most parts of NE Florida have had 30-50 inches (including Debby) in the last couple of months. It won't take much additional rain or wind to make a real mess of things.
Note that Andrew passed over our last place as a decent cat 3 storm - and the damage was pretty bad (although not as bad as the damage our neighbors to the south suffered). Took us 4 weeks to get power back (and that was only because we were on the same power grid as a hospital). We stayed in a hotel with power during that time. It is good to check your insurance policy to see if it covers temporary relocation costs. Robyn
If there's anything I've learned from all my years of living in floreeduh before I was through with it, it's that when a hurricane is coming, you GTFO. And I highly suggest that any new resident does exactly that.
You may be a hot shot and think you're brave enough to live through it. I've been in Andrew as it was peeling the roof off above our heads and smashing windows as we were pressing up against doors to keep them shut. That wasn't supposed to be that big of a deal up until it was too late to leave. And I've been in cat ones and no-name storms... no name because they weren't supposed to even be a storm that did a lot of damage. Even if there's no damage they are just as unpleasant coming back to 90 degree weather and no air conditioning and no food.
My advice is this... if you are in the "cone of death".... GTFO!!
Have an evacu-cation!
It's not being a wuss, it's being smart.
What worries me is the folks that go through hurricane alerts that turn out to be nothing. This can happen for years. And then the big one hits. It comes out of nowhere, often not predicted to be bad, and it is all over.
I seriously had a 25-year-old co-worker from Florida tell a room full of people that I was exaggerating and hurricanes are "nothing." People like that worry me, especially because they tend to tell other people this stuff and newbies won't know any better. I could see it with Charley. Southwest Florida hadn't had a bad hurricane since Donna in 1960 or so. There were so many folks that didn't take it seriously and of course it was predicted to pass on by anyway. By the time it turned it was far too late for anyone.
And the aftermath, with no electricity and brutally hot and humid conditions, is not something I ever, ever want to experience again. That was eight years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
I seriously had a 25-year-old co-worker from Florida tell a room full of people that I was exaggerating and hurricanes are "nothing." People like that worry me, especially because they tend to tell other people this stuff and newbies won't know any better.
There's a certain subset of the population that gets a weird sense of pride from saying "Ha, I'm not doing anything to prepare." I don't know if they think it makes them tough or 'seasoned' or whatever but I'm glad to see that most posters in this thread aren't like that and they've provided some excellent advice.
If i got the evacuation notice i think i'd strongly heed the advice As footage in this video shows winds of 100mph, think your house can withstand 12+ hours of this then another 12+ hours of the wind coming the other way.? In a cat 5 winds will be over 150mph with gusts approaching 200.
Although this hurricane (Ike)was a cat 4 over Cuba it was downgraded to a Cat 2 when it made landfall in Galveston where i presume the video was taken.
What worries me is the folks that go through hurricane alerts that turn out to be nothing. This can happen for years. And then the big one hits. It comes out of nowhere, often not predicted to be bad, and it is all over.
I seriously had a 25-year-old co-worker from Florida tell a room full of people that I was exaggerating and hurricanes are "nothing." People like that worry me, especially because they tend to tell other people this stuff and newbies won't know any better. I could see it with Charley. Southwest Florida hadn't had a bad hurricane since Donna in 1960 or so. There were so many folks that didn't take it seriously and of course it was predicted to pass on by anyway. By the time it turned it was far too late for anyone.
And the aftermath, with no electricity and brutally hot and humid conditions, is not something I ever, ever want to experience again. That was eight years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
When I talk with people who think like this - I tell them the following. If you live near the coast - and/or in an area that is prone to flooding - you will probably have to leave your place X times if if you live here long enough. And coming back after a "false alarm" will give you a big sigh of relief. I have always lived on/near the coast in Florida - and IIRC - I've evacuated perhaps about 8 or so times in 40 years (of which 4-5 were mandatory evacuations). And the only evacuation that made me sad was the one before Andrew - because I came home to find that the area where I lived was a scene of total devastation.
I will also tell them another story. After we first moved to a high rise condo on Key Biscayne (Miami) in 1973 - we were threatened by Hurricane David. And we had a national news crew at our condo. We asked them what they were doing - and they said they were taking the "before" pictures.
FWIW - when Jeanne (I think it was Jeanne) came to my neck of the woods (St. Johns County) as a TS in 2004 - we only lost power for 12 hours. But quite a few people in south St. Johns County lost power for over a week.
And if I'm talking to a real jerk - I'll tell them that if they're in an area that is under a mandatory evacuation order - good luck if they stay and anything goes wrong. Your HOA/condo association won't help you - nor will any local law enforcement people. Everyone who has an IQ over 50 will be gone. My favorite story along these lines deals with a famous artist who refused to evacuate Captiva before Charley. After Charley - he wanted out. So he rented a private helicopter:
Now maybe you can afford a private evacuation helicopter. I guess I could if necessary - but I'd rather pay for a much less expensive hotel/motel room.
If you look up where I live - you'll see it's a barrier island. About 90% of the people who live here don't realize we live on a barrier island - or even understand what a barrier island is.
I guess I'm just used to dealing with this stuff. The hardest times we ever had (logistically) were when my late FIL was in a nursing home here. He was pretty sick - and we had to learn about the best evacuation plans for us if we had to evacuate with him. A distant second was before Andrew - when we lived in Miami - and my folks lived in Broward County. They begged us to come to their waterfront house to "help them if necessary". Right <rolling eyes>. I said thanks but no thanks - but I will make a hotel reservation for you in Orlando. We left early for Orlando - took us normal time to get there. My parents left late. Took them 6 hours to get from Broward County to Orlando.
And I guess if people want to be jerks - they're going to be jerks. Unfortunately - most of these jerks don't realize that if they wind up in a pickle as a result of being jerks - that they'll basically be out there fending for themselves during a storm. Robyn
P.S. In case anyone is interested. In terms of most storm paths - we found the best place to go with my late FIL was Shands Gainesville. The people there said we'd be welcome to camp out in the ER. And if my FIL needed any medical stuff - they'd admit him. We have evacuated to Gainesville on several occasions - but - knock wood - not when my late FIL was still alive.
There's a certain subset of the population that gets a weird sense of pride from saying "Ha, I'm not doing anything to prepare." I don't know if they think it makes them tough or 'seasoned' or whatever but I'm glad to see that most posters in this thread aren't like that and they've provided some excellent advice.
There's a difference between hurricane preparation in terms of the place you live - and being a moron in terms of evacuation and the like. When we moved to NE Florida from Dade County in 1995 - we built a house. Built it to 1995 Dade County Codes (125 mph). The codes here in NE Florida were totally pathetic then - and still aren't great. We have a block house with no gables - impact windows - hurricane garage doors - good roof tie downs - etc. We get more than a $1k discount on our windstorm coverage/year.
Still - after Hurricane Andrew - I realize that most building techniques will only help you when it comes to cat 2 or lesser storms. Cat 3 or higher - all bets are off - no matter what you do (I'm talking here about wind - not flooding). Our high rise condo in Miami got hit as a moderate cat 3 in Andrew. Normal windows without shutters were gone (as were most of the interiors in the units with those windows). Our lobby imploded. Metal balcony railings were pulled right out of the concrete. Etc. The condo we used to live in before then - about 10 miles to the south - was hit by Andrew as a cat 4. When Andrew got through with it - it looked like a building that was under construction (just about everything other than the shell disappeared).
In any event - regardless of property stuff - I would never risk my life - or the life of my family or any children I had in terms of a hurricane. After Hurricane Andrew - we lived at the Residence Inn in Boca Raton for a month. But spent a lot of time driving down to Miami to help friends who needed stuff. And a lot of it was pretty basic stuff - like ice - and garbage pickup - and chain saw work. One thing you have to remember about Andrew. Almost all the damage was in residential areas in south Dade. I had friends in south Dade whose neighborhoods were decimated - but they were expected to show up at work in downtown Miami a few days after. Note that I am a lawyer and most of my friends were lawyers. I have rarely encountered such despicable uncaring employer behavior in my whole life.
But sometimes people are just oblivious. When my late FIL was in his nursing home near where we live - well we were friends with the CEO - and had lunch with him about once a week. And during the storms of 2004 - he said a lot of the employees (generally a great bunch of people) seemed down in the dumps. And I said - don't you know - a lot of these people who live in some areas don't have power or hot water. They have to come to work without a shower in the morning. Much less a hot cup of coffee. He hadn't realized the situation at all (he lived in a different part of town). And he made arrangements for staff without power to shower and change before their shifts. Morale improved considerably. Robyn
Once when my son was an infant, my DH was working out of state, so my mom and I evacuated to my grandmother's in central FL. We couldn't reach her, so just headed out. Turned out my grandmother evacuating to Jacksonville! Then the hurricane changed course and hit central FL. There we were- my mom, an infant, my dog and I. She was concerned about all the frozen food, so started cooking. All I can remember is having all this cooked meat when the power went out. My dog ate well!
In Jax a few years ago, I took the kids and dog to Atlanta. We stayed in a Holiday Inn that accepted dogs that was located across from a hip hop festival. It was a surreal sight in the lobby and elevators- all these weary-eyed, middle-aged white folks with dogs and black hip hop artists and fans dressed to kill. My kids loved it BC they could walk across the street and hear the music and they could get signatures of the artists in the hotel!
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