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Dade City, inland north of Tampa. Frances and Jeanne in 2004 came across the state. Large oak tree fell on our roof, had to replace the whole thing. Both hurricanes we were out of power, water and communications for a week. 2004 was a very depressing year for us. We since bought a second home in the mountains of NC - was planning on doing it anyway, just got us doing it a bit sooner. Just a part time vacation/retirement home, but we got a place to go, just in case.
I am in downtown Orlando currently, but I have lived in Florida for the past 25 years. Charley in 2004 was the worst I have ever seen. The downtown core saw significant damage for that one.
Lots of people lost roofs, but the worst problems I had to deal with directly were the number of trees that came down and no electricity. So many trees came down downtown that a good 60-70% of roads were impassable, and (in some cases) it took three to four weeks to get them cleared out. The friend I was living with at the time had a 40 foot Live Oak sitting in his front yard for over three weeks before FEMA picked it up. The city looked like a war zone the four or five days right after the hurricane
We went without power for around nine days, I think. Thank goodness for good friends, because the first people I knew who got their power back after a couple days let us stay with them until ours came back on. Before that, though, it was COLD showers, shaving with COLD water, and eating a lot of PB&J sandwiches.
The business I work at was closed for around four days I think. Before Charley, my company didn't have a compensation plan for this type of event, but they ended up reimbursing us about 80% of our lost wages.
Wow Seth it seems like we went through the same thing during Charley - we were without power for 12 days and it was pretty rough.
Charley hit on my 5th wedding anniversary and it will be one that I will never forget. I had a brand new baby and it was very scary. It was like one huge tornado hit the entire town (I live in Kissimmee). We were without food for a few days and thank god I was stocked up on diapers and formula or I don't know what would happen.
We walked the neighborhood (which is the same one that I grew up in) the day after and it was like a bomb hit the place. Roofs blown off of 75% of homes and 80% of trees (huge oaks) were blown over. But it was the weirdest thing, none of the trees had landed on houses. It was like the storm pushed them away for the houses - otherwise the damage would have been much, much worse.
Overall, the experience made us grow as a community and brought our neighborhood together and also taught me to head the hurricane warnings (which I did not do for my 26 years here in Florida).
How does the Jacksoneville/St. Augustine area fare in these hurricanes? My biggest concern would be the extended loss of electricity. I would be interested in hearing frome anyone living in this area or who just happens to know.
It's hard to say how Jacksonville/St. Augustine would fare in a worst-case scenario because none of the recent storms have made direct hits at peak strength on the area. Climatology helps protect northeast Florida from the Cape Verde storms that come in from the east -- if strong high-pressure systems influence steering currents, the storms head toward South Florida; if high pressure is weak, the storms tend to veer north toward the Carolinas or recurve out to sea. And anything that came in from the west coast of Florida and headed toward northeast Florida would lose a lot of its juice as it moves over land. I think the hurricane risk for that area is still there, but less than for most other coastal areas in Florida, at least based on recent patterns.
Also, all new construction up there is subject to the same building codes that have been in place statewide since the aftermath of Andrew, so anything PROPERLY constructed should hold up OK.
How does the Jacksoneville/St. Augustine area fare in these hurricanes? My biggest concern would be the extended loss of electricity. I would be interested in hearing frome anyone living in this area or who just happens to know.
Thanks.
Dave
Not sure how they would fare. But I can tell you this, they get hit the least for some reason in the state, the storms just traditional don't hit Jacksonville straight on.
Wondering what Florida residents have incurred with hurricanes, as far as damage. loss time from work, going to shelters, problems from vandals after your home was damaged? What about traffic for evacuation routes, is this logged jammed for hours? Do you go to shelters or ride it out in your house?
Wonder what expereinces Floridians go through when this happens?
When Charlie hit in 2004, that was the first time I had sustained damage since I moved here in 1979. We had roof damage that required replacement and lost a couple of oak trees. Went without electricity for 6 days. Pretty miserable for a while. Now, it's a matter of being prepared. Have the generator, canned foods, water, etc when hurricane season approaches.
I was in the Jax area during Francis and Jeane and the biggest problem was no power. I was without power for 9 days with the first storm 5 days with the second. I live in the rural fringes so I was last priority for the power crews. Homes in the city were only without power for a day or two.
The biggest problem after the storm for me was the heat inside the house with no AC or no fans. When it is a steam bath with the nite time temp inside the house around 90, it is hard to sleep much.
A battery powered fan or a small generator to run a small fan and some lights would have been nice but I wasnt prepared because I figured that Francis was hitting south Florida so it was too far away to effect us but I was wrong.
Francis weakened and unwound but that caused some strong feeder bands to move up into my area and do considerable damage. We never got hurricane force winds here but had 12 hours of tropical force winds which can tear up the big oaks and uproot others in the water logged ground.
This was the first problems with a hurricane we have had here since Dora hit St Augustine in 1964.
Also, all new construction up there is subject to the same building codes that have been in place statewide since the aftermath of Andrew, so anything PROPERLY constructed should hold up OK.
Not true. We just spent two afternoons last weekend with a realtor from Eagle Harbor because we someday might want to relocate to northern Florida. We were surprised to learn that this award winning development does NOT adhere to any hurricane codes. No cement block construction, no reinforced garage doors, and no builder supplied hurricane shutters. The homes are wood framed and though they do have the proper roof trusses, that's about it. If a hurricane were to hit JAX, it would be nothing but a pile of sticks. Let's hope Mother Nature keeps protecting it from hurricanes.
Wow Seth it seems like we went through the same thing during Charley - we were without power for 12 days and it was pretty rough.
Charley hit on my 5th wedding anniversary and it will be one that I will never forget. I had a brand new baby and it was very scary. It was like one huge tornado hit the entire town (I live in Kissimmee). We were without food for a few days and thank god I was stocked up on diapers and formula or I don't know what would happen.
We walked the neighborhood (which is the same one that I grew up in) the day after and it was like a bomb hit the place. Roofs blown off of 75% of homes and 80% of trees (huge oaks) were blown over. But it was the weirdest thing, none of the trees had landed on houses. It was like the storm pushed them away for the houses - otherwise the damage would have been much, much worse.
Overall, the experience made us grow as a community and brought our neighborhood together and also taught me to head the hurricane warnings (which I did not do for my 26 years here in Florida).
Wow ... what a fun way to spend your anniversary, huh? Glad to hear no one was hurt, and now you'll have a great story to tell your kid when s/he grows up.
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