[Jenny O.]

Not to mention the hundreds of miles inland, that gets the storm....miles and miles of leaning forests, flattened homes, there is nowhere to hide anywhere, fires, tornados ,icestorms with no power..I always say I would rather be in a warm disaster than a cold one....Be prepared, if you are not by the water it is just a mandatory camping trip,,,if you live by the water, thats on you..leave and pray. or stay and pray have good stories if you survive..

[tilli]

Some hurricanes are large and can cover the whole state, while some like 2004 Charley was an oversized tornado.

Charley spun up from a CAT 2 to a CAT 4 in the space of (literally) fifteen minutes. It was a major hurricane, not an "oversized tornado." It leveled the Punta Gorda area and went on to inflict damage across its entire path, including Orlando.

[Nomadicus]

I was in the direct path of Charley, Francis, and Jean during 04. After the rubble was cleaned up it was business as usual. It had been 40 years since a hurricane had hit here.

[Daughter of Ethel B Davis]

SARASOTA IS ONE OF THE BEST KEPT SECRETS...CHARLEY ----- SKIM IT AND IT WAS THE NORTHEASTERN THAT IT FELT BUT LIMITED DAMAGE COMPARED. The only time since I moved there in 1`993.

[Jjwoll]

Originally Posted by Sunday1

Yeah, but...

I always hear that statement when living in areas with big storm issues - tornadoes, hurricanes, noreaster's, etc. "(Stuff) happens everywhere" is just a meaningless and inaccurate cliche'. Bad weather phenomenon does not exist in every area of this country and when one is researching relocation areas, it can certainly be factored.

I grew up in Seattle which is about as safe as it gets. Having lived in tornado alley for ten years, the arctic for a few, and in two areas with hurricanes and 1 with some scary noreasters, I remember how easy it is to live in Seattle when it comes to weather.

There are plenty of (much) safer choices when it comes to comparative "bad weather phenomenon". Florida just isn't one of them.

It's all about risk vs. benefit. Not ignorance as bliss.

The post above was responding to someone who said all areas have their weather disaster concerns, it just depends on what you want to deal with...

This is untrue. FL and the hurricane reality is a far cry from what we in VA or MD worry about. We don't have significant hurricane risks or tornado risks...no major snowstorms... The rare earthquake but nothing major. Virginia is beautiful, particularly central. We're far enough East to get less snow than the 81 corridor, but still get nice seasonal differences. Just saying, for folks who want a safer natural disaster risk, there are plenty of places that have options available.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by Daughter of Ethel B Davis

SARASOTA IS ONE OF THE BEST KEPT SECRETS...CHARLEY ----- SKIM IT AND IT WAS THE NORTHEASTERN THAT IT FELT BUT LIMITED DAMAGE COMPARED. The only time since I moved there in 1`993.

It was a tiny core system with the highest winds only 30 miles from the center. Tampa got nothing out of that back in 04. Been here all my life and never yet had any hurricane with winds over 75mph in my area since 1963.

Last real storm to hit the Tampa area was 1921.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by bgmiami

Remember that Andrew was the first storm to hit Miami in 27 years and look at the devastation it caused.

Anywhere along the coast is vulnerable. I'd say that the center of the state, north of Orlando, is the safest. That being said, if a Cat 4 or 5 hit around Tampa or Daytona and moved inland, it would still be a Cat 2 or 3 when it got there and would do much damage. Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma were Cat 1 when they hit South Florida and did tons of damage.

I would not chose to live in a motor home anywhere in Florida. It's just too vulnerable in a hurricane. I would chose a home with CBC construction, reinforced roof trusses and garage doors and hurricane proof windows or shutters.

That is what we bought, but where I live near the coats there are more MFG Homes /Trailers than I can count and some have been here for 40 years and at worst, some roof damage.

[LKJ1988]

Not much of any homes would take a super CAT5 with gust over 220mph. No place in the state would be safe.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by bgmiami

Even homes constructed of wood frame are vulnerable during a hurricane. Google "Country Walk". It's a development in Miami, very far inland, almost near the Everglades. Houses build with shoddy construction. Lots of wood frame homes. They just blew away during Andrew. It was a Lennar development and there were tons of lawsuits against the developer. In Florida, CBC is the only way to go!

Yes, if a direct hit most any kind of construction can be damaged or destroyed. However such hits are rare as most, though not all, hurricanes drop in violence as they hit land. Flooding becomes the biggest issue then unless you are right on the sea shore.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by LKJ1988

Not much of any homes would take a super CAT5 with gust over 220mph. No place in the state would be safe.

Any State.