How Many Miles Inland Do Hurricanes Affect? (Miami, Orlando: 2014, mobile home)

[hurricaneMan1992]

Small things can help a lot during a hurricane threat. Such as always keeping your car at least half full of gas during the peak of hurricane season (late August-early October), esp. when there's a storm. I went out and got some a few gallons of water and some canned soup and granola bars when Ike looked like it would be a threat in 2008. Things that I can use anyways if the storm misses. In a major evacuation, the surface roads and state highways that go across the state through the Okeechobee area can actually be faster than I95, I-75, and the Turnpike. If you know how to navigate them (most don't, that's why they're not as crowded, I imagine). I wound NOT recommend evacuating to the Keys even if they are outside of "the cone." That said, I wouldn't lose any sleep over hurricanes than I would lose over snowstorms up north.

However, I do lose sleep when I think about how much hurricane insurance costs if I buy a home!!

[hollyinhollywood]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

I wound NOT recommend evacuating to the Keys even if they are outside of "the cone." That said, I wouldn't lose any sleep over hurricanes than I would lose over snowstorms up north.

I've never heard of anyone heading to the keys to escape a hurricane. I remember in 2004 that Jeanne was a tropical storm which meandered south, killed hundreds if not thousands in Haiti, then looped back north to hit the Stuart/Jupiter area. If you go to the keys, and the hurricane pulls a Jeanne, you are totally screwed.

Find out if you're in a flood zone. The worst part of a hurricane is the flooding. Wind is bad, but far less lethal than water. If you're in a flood zone (Many areas east of 95 are) you may want to get out. You can hunker down against the wind, but the water rising is inescapable.

The keys are the only area of South Florida that evacuates large numbers of people-It's completely unrealistic for all of Broward, Dade, and or Palm Beach county to take a Disney holiday-The 1928 hurricane caused flooding which drowned almost 2,000 around lake Okeechobee, so there is risk in central Fl, too. Long story short, if you are living in an area inland that doesn't flood, your house is of sound structure with hurricane shutters and you have your hurricane supplies, you will usually be fine. The aftermath is tough with out A/C, but we manage.

Some experts think we're moving out of a period of heavy hurricane activity. South Florida doesn't take a hit every year, or even every five to ten years for that matter, generally. We saw Andrew in '92, Irene in '99 (which was more of an annoyance, really), and the next rounds of storms started back in '04 and '05, with five years of no hurricanes.

Unlike the Midwest tornados, we usually have a few days to prepare. Get updates from weather.com, not the local Fox affiliate, which does more to incite hysteria than to educate and assure. IMO, the worst part of the hurricanes I have been in to date has been the 24/7 Armegeddon-esque coverage pre storm.

[fauve]

The keys are the only area of South Florida that evacuates large numbers of people-It's completely unrealistic for all of Broward, Dade, and or Palm Beach county to take a Disney holiday-The 1928 hurricane caused flooding which drowned almost 2,000 around lake Okeechobee, so there is risk in central Fl, too.

I don't think fear of flooding from Lake Okeechobee is really an issue for Orlando. For one thing after that 1928 hurricane that caused 2,000 deaths, the Hoover D.ke was built around the lake with a 35 foot berm:

Lake Okeechobee and the Estuaries | Everglades Foundation

The second reason they dont have to be concerned about Lake Okeechobee overflowing its banks is that Orlando is located 107 miles from the Lake's northern rim. Ft Lauderdale would theoretically have more to worry about as we are only 67 miles from its southern banks in Belle Glade.

Also to the first part of this quoted portion, the entire coast east of US1 is required to evacuate if there is a possibility that the storm will reach above a Cat 1...there's most always a chance and they most always evacuate....Certainly people live in greater numbers along our coast than in the Keys.

Finally, if the authorities believe there's no threat to the people of the Keys and they do believe there's a threat to us, Id rather err on the side of caution. Allow me to be the first person you know to have evacuated to the Keys There's certainly time to wait till the very last minute to make this call as there is no traffic to contend with, although honestly, no matter where Ive gone, or which storm (including Andrew with the most hysterical pre-news coverage of any storm), have I hit ANY traffic.

Im just letting you know what has worked for me and what Im comfortable with. I respect that others have different approaches to feeling safe. We must do what feels right for us.

[jhlcomp]

I didn't read the other posts, so please excuse any redundancy.

Until the last several hurricanes, I think we were all under the impression if we lived inland we were safe. Wow, Wilma taught us otherwise and the folks up near Orlando learned that painful lesson as well. In sum, you really aren't safe anywhere.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by jhlcomp

I didn't read the other posts, so please excuse any redundancy.

Until the last several hurricanes, I think we were all under the impression if we lived inland we were safe. Wow, Wilma taught us otherwise and the folks up near Orlando learned that painful lesson as well. In sum, you really aren't safe anywhere.

Wow, we were in Orlando for Wilma. I don't remember anything but some strong winds outside the hotel room (not a park day, lol). When we came home though (once electricity was back on), we discovered 6 trees that were down.

I remember thinking that it was a good thing we hadn't stayed as our car would have been in the path of one tree and if it had fallen differently, our roof would have been hit. That was the storm that convinced me, no matter whether we had a whole house generator at a disposal, we would continue to always evacuate.

[SouthAfrica75]

Originally Posted by Xavier500

What exactly do you guys mean when you say be prepared? When it comes to tornados we can move to basemets, but what do you do for a hurricane? I can't imagine that driving in immense amounts of traffic with nowhere to go would be too good of a plan...and damages to personal belongings/home/car concern me. So, what are your options - go to a hurricane shelter? What do you do to prepare for/stay safe in a hurricane?

Info on what to do etc. for Hurricanes

Miami Hurricane Season 2010, WPLG Local 10, JustNews.com (http://www.justnews.com/hurricane2010/index.html - broken link)

[chi-city]

moving back to florida (currently in chicago and spent all of last year in kissimmee). we were pretty safe with last years hurricane except heavy rain and wind. looking to move back in the summer and didnt want to be central florida but im
looking for a "safe-ish" area. any ideas? so tired of cold and snow

[NowSoFlorida]

The good thing about hurricanes is that you know they are coming days ahead. If you live in a tornado prone area or earthquake zone they are much more dangerous because they can strike without much warning. Trailer parks and homes have been around since the 70s and earlier and many near the beach and haven't been destroyed by hurricanes. They can strike anywhere in the state it's just the bad luck of the draw.

[cfbs2691]

Hurricane's spin off tornados.
Hurricanes Spawning More U.S. Tornadoes | LiveScience

An area of Boca got hit with I think 7 tornados from Wilma.
Devastated an area of apartments/condos in Boca Del Mar.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by chi-city

moving back to florida (currently in chicago and spent all of last year in kissimmee). we were pretty safe with last years hurricane except heavy rain and wind. looking to move back in the summer and didnt want to be central florida but im
looking for a "safe-ish" area. any ideas? so tired of cold and snow

Weston would be it. You still get wind and rain, but electricity/water/cable/DSL seem to hold up pretty well.
Last time during Wilma (2005) we only lost electricity for maybe 40 minutes.