Tell me about hurricane evacuation for Orlando (Cape Coral, Naples: hotels, mobile home)

[Abirdinahand]

Hi can you tell me what it’s like evacuating for a hurricane?

When I spoke about it with my realtor there, he said he actually did not evacuate (he lived in Orlando 10 years) for hurricane Micheal. He described the shaking he felt the house doing and his wife worried but he was not. Listen he also described approaching alligators to touch them so I’m not going to take his sense of adventure for the best thing to do!

I will not likely evacuate because I’m a nurse but I’m asking because my mom will be alone. She said she’s worried about the process and would be worried about her house. Can you share evacuation stories please or describe your process such as when you decide to leave, is it difficult to get out etc.

Hope you don’t mind the showbird question!! Tia

[Liverpool1960]

Only reason to evacuate is sea surge so not a problem here.

[bmw335xi]

Unless you live in a mobile home next to a giant rotting tree, you don’t need to evacuate. It’s more about not wanting to deal with possible power outage. You’ll know plenty in advance so you can decide but it’s not like a mandatory thingn in Orlando unlike some of thr coastal towns near the water.

[kyle19125]

While evacuations aren't normal as mentioned some will due to the very real possibility of not having electricity in 90+ degree weather for a week or more. Areas with above ground power (still a considerable percentage of the homes in the area) and significant mature tree cover are prime for extended outages due to falling tree branches taking out wires/poles. Regardless of location it's still probably wise to evacuate if the area is ever under threat from a direct hit of a Category 4 or 5 storm on either coast given what has happened to other places in the state as far inland that have been impacted....examples most recently in the panhandle in towns like Marianna. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/ne...on/1617013002/

[Traderboynh]

I would echo what Kyle said.

Hurricanes in CENTRAL Florida are not the hair-on-fire event they are for communities along the coast. We are generally far enough inland that storms that hit either coast as Cat. 4s or 5s lose most of their energy before they get to us. For example, Hurricane Irma hit in the fall of 2017 as a 5 or high Cat 4 in the Naples area and by the time it made its northerly track through the peninsula, it was only a Cat 1 when it passed overhead just west of Orlando.

The thing to keep in mind is that almost all construction since 1975 has required a far more stringent set of guidelines and building codes to mitigate wind damage from storms. The newer the home, the more preventative the building codes. In Lake County where we live, all homes in our neighborhood have cinderblock first floors and complex hurricane strapping in the roof structures and second stories. We experienced 80mph gusts/sustained winds from Irma and we never worried about the integrity of our homes.

Also, almost all new neighborhoods have underground infrastructure so the likelihood of service failures is lessened in these locations. We were fortunate never to have lost power at all during that storm.

As others have said, how you feel about your own situation is dependent on what kind of structure you find yourself in. The local meteorologists and state authorities will beat the drum incessantly about evacuating from mobile homes or older manufactured homes. But for the vast majority of people living outside a 25 or 50 mile buffer from the coast, there is very little sense that evacuation is a necessity.

Also as others have said, there are other considerations, such as regional power outages that go on for days, or other conveniences that you may lose during hurricane clean-up, but one thing you learn when you move here is to plan ahead and create for yourself an environment where those deprivations and inconveniences are lessened. Also, there are very few states that have the experience and skills to bounce back from catastrophic storms to the extent that Florida can/does.

This is a completely different discussion if you iive within striking distance of the coast.

Hope this helps.

[lovetotravel15]

Thank you all for you feedback on the issue of hurricanes around Orlando. As someone looking at Orlando for future semi retirement, your comments are appreciated!

[brinkofsunshine]

I’ve been through Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne back in 2004 and Irma in 2017; never have needed to evacuate. I don’t even think going to a shelter would have been an option for us as we weren’t in a mobile home. If you truly feel unsafe in your home during a hurricane, the only option I can think of is staying at a hotel. During Irma I will admit I was scared- I could feel the walls moving and the constant alerts of tornados and green flashes of transformers exploding outside is unnerving.. but we never even lost power during that storm!

[Psychoma]

I used to live on the coast many years ago and was under a mandatory evacuation once. There was the general nervousness in the air as you have days to hear it may be coming and endless news coverage, then when mandatory evac notice gets announced it's kinda strange as it's nice and sunny and maybe a day or two for things to change still. Then run on gas starts, then supplies, and you realize real quick those saying buy a little bit extra here or there to build you a backup food/water stock in the months prior were right. We didn't evac because we knew our subdivision was higher then most of the nearby areas and our house was up on a slight hill several feet above the street level. And we were fine in the end as we knew our elevation vs storm surge flooding risk. Was nerve racking at a point when surge came in and street storm drains worked in reverse helping spill the surge onto the streets flooding them, but house stayed dry on it's hill. We had parked the cars against the house on the grass so they were fine as well. Odd feeling to see yourself end up on an island! Reasons to evac though include storm hazard risk as others mentioned (storm surge along coast, inland flood potential, tree issues, mobile home, etc.). We did leave 3 days after one came through because of no power in summer (no a/c!!!) and as on the 3rd day in a city....ya people who didn't prepare or run out of supplies start to find ways to get there's. So we left for a few days when boards started to be ripped off businesses and police were too busy with other things. There's a general lack of information after a storm once cell towers go out (typically have a 24hour backup battery). Also during a storm 911 typically won't respond until storm conditions die down. For those leaving could be traffic depending on location/timing. And hotels further inland / up the coast can be booked solid so may have to drive quite a ways up the coast to find something available.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Psychoma

For those leaving could be traffic depending on location/timing. And hotels further inland / up the coast can be booked solid so may have to drive quite a ways up the coast to find something available.

Timing is everything and for those who wait until several hours before landfall finding hours long traffic jams on the FL Turnpike, I-95 and I-75 is inevitable. The old US highways (US301, US441 and US19) can be a good alternative if late in getting out of town, and finding hotels off of them versus the major interstates a bit easier too once up into South Georgia.

[FLKitties]

Our home in Cape Coral is roughly 3 miles from the water as the crow flies. We were in an evacuation zone but were on the fence as to whether to stay or go until with Irma until about Friday night when they were suggesting it would be a category 5 making landfall here whereas they initially thought it was going to impact the Atlantic side of the state. It ended up making landfall south of us in Marco Island on Sunday as a category 3 instead. Had it just been the two of us, we would have stayed but we didn't want to risk it with the cats so we left. To this day I regret that decision. It took forever, even taking US-19, and I felt more like we would die in the car while driving. Then we ran into issues of no or limited gas in places, full hotels, etc. It was terrible and the trip took like 2-3 times longer in both directions than under normal conditions so we were super stressed and exhausted with a bunch of terrified cats. We would have been safer and more comfortable at home like some of our neighbors did. Our neighborhood never lost power and the only "damage" we had were some obliterated bougainvillea bushes. Tree in the backyard and several palms outside all perfectly fine and well. Our neighbors said the winds were pretty scary sounding but that it was really only a couple of hours and then it was calm again. I've already decided that unless it's another monster storm and 100% definite that it's going to wipe us out that we will just shelter in place rather than go through that nightmare of evacuating again.

Also, if you will be working at the hospital, most hospitals seem to allow you to bring family with you to shelter at the hospital so you should have that option with your mother and would not have to leave her alone. Like everyone else said, though, storm damage in Orlando is limited compared to the most coastal areas and generally flooding. I think everyone panics about the idea of living in Florida because of hurricanes when in all reality you have plenty of warning. With a tornado, there's no warning and generally the housing is not built the same way homes in Florida are now built. If you look at storm damage from Irma and Michael, there were a lot of wooden houses, older homes, or trailers that were destroyed. Most newer housing stock has been built to withstand stronger storms because of the devastation that has occurred in past storms which is why most homes are now built with concrete block, have roof straps, and have doors open outward so you're not getting your doors blown wide open to just let wind wreak havoc through your home. Plus, Irma was not your typical storm. It was a monster in width the covered a wide area of the state which is generally not the case.