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As the poster of the comment re the flat blue-green water, I stick to my comment but isn't it great that Florida has something for most everyone? It's very diverse that way. I feel about the gulf coast the same way I felt about Lake Michigan when we moved from the New England coast to Chicago which was bleh. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
There is a need to prepare for one-and you will have plenty of warning.
Yes you might have to evacuate.
If this is your overwhelming concern then Florida is not right for you. No part of the state is safe from hurricanes.
I realize one gets warnings days ahead and it helps to be prepared. I also know that the entire state is exposed.
What I'm wondering is -- where do all those people go in an evacuation? I read that during the 2004 hurricane season, about 2 million people were evacuated. Where to? Does everybody just hit the interstates and keep going til you find a motel (Georgia? Alabama?) Do you all crowd into the high school gymnasium (if that's any safer) and sit around in the dark? Have you been thru one of these?
Tampa is a much older city. JAX is a lot like Chicago where some streets will lead you from downtown to the beaches. It just worked for us, that's all I can say.
I like JAX, especially because Amelia Island is not far away. However downtown on I-95 is one of the worst areas, especially heading south. I am familiar with it, but to those who are not, it is easy to get off 95 by accident. There are a couple of areas you do not want to get off near. Plus I've seen a couple of fender benders occur just because the road bifurcates several times in a short span.
Also JAX needs to get a football team, as they have not been good since Brunell.
Everyone doesn't leave all at once although it IS chaotic and crowded.
Many go into shelters most of which are better-MUCH better-than your house but you have to be self sufficient. The dark? Well if there is no generator it will be dark at night, thus be prepared with a flashlight. Unless your house has major damage or is destroyed you won't be in a shelter more than a day or two. Even then you will need to figure something out as the shelter won't stay open just to house you-unless there are MANY displaced residents.
Some evacuate and try to get motel reservations out of the danger zone but that is a crapshoot. Before 2004, when the hurricanes went through the center of the state, Orlando was considered a safe spot and people headed there. Not anymore.
My job requires I work during hurricanes. I have been through all that hit the west coast of Florida since 1986. Wilma caused no damage to my house but my power was out for six days.
I realize one gets warnings days ahead and it helps to be prepared. I also know that the entire state is exposed.
What I'm wondering is -- where do all those people go in an evacuation? I read that during the 2004 hurricane season, about 2 million people were evacuated. Where to? Does everybody just hit the interstates and keep going til you find a motel (Georgia? Alabama?) Do you all crowd into the high school gymnasium (if that's any safer) and sit around in the dark? Have you been thru one of these?
Evacuations are very rare, especially if you live inland. My parents have lived in the same house I grew up in in Miami for 60 years and have never been near an evacuation area. Some people in the direct path of a hurricane might just need to "evacuate" to a friend or family member's residence a little further away. For example, if Miami Beach was ordered to be evacuated, I might head over to my parents' house. For others who need to evacuate for whatever reason, the government runs evacuation centers in hurricane-resistant buildings that provide food and shelter to those who need it.
As for the whole state being exposed, I suppose you could say that the entire Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. is exposed - - - not to mention the entire Gulf Coast of the U.S.
i have been through about 15 hurricanes in my life, they are not really that bad if you understand the basic facts. 90% of the damage is within ten miles of the coast, those are the pictures you see on tv over and over again. flood area, creek, bays, and where they water is a stupid place to be. Trailers, stupid. well built home, not much damage. although you here about 150 mph winds, that is usually open areas like airports. Most wind is thirty feet up due to trees, hills, other building.
the main problem is everybody on the highway and then you run out of gas 200 miles away. everybody runs out of gas, there is no gas, and you stuck on a highway during a storm.
get you a well built home, away from the water, on high ground, and you be fine. most damage is done by the storm surge
As the poster of the comment re the flat blue-green water, I stick to my comment but isn't it great that Florida has something for most everyone? It's very diverse that way. I feel about the gulf coast the same way I felt about Lake Michigan when we moved from the New England coast to Chicago which was bleh. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
And my comment wasn't meant to imply I doubted you at all--many people have described it as such since we started our search process. Just a matter of preference, it seems.
Coming from Montana, for me a beach is pretty much a beach. I can see the difference in the water and sand in different locations, certainly, and I have my own preferences, but it all beats what I have up here so I am not likely to be picky.
One of our daughters fancies herself a surfer, though, so we've been told in no uncertain terms that the Atlantic coast is the only thing that will work...
As with every decision we are trying to make to set up retirement the way we want it, there are just so many variables involved. A few years ago we might have thought the decision would simply be "Florida" or "Arizona," but when it gets down to brass tacks there's an overwhelming number of specific decisions to be made for those of us who didn't just happen upon our place in the world and know it when we saw it.
(Who knew...Florida has A LOT of coastline, lol.)
I'm still looking, still hoping I'll find it though!
Since this thread is about Florida, permit me to share an experience I had there last summer.
In late June 2014 I went down to St. Petersburg to vacation and visit my older brother who lives in Tampa. I did not stay in a hotel, but rather in a bed-n-breakfast guesthouse. It was a 1920's Mediterranean-style mansion that was once the home of a former mayor of St. Pete, in an older, shady, historic neighborhood near the Central Ave. restaurant and shopping district. Anyway, late one afternoon I drove my rented car to a parking space behind the guesthouse I was staying at and the sun was setting. The sunset was an indescribable display of coral, salmon, orange, lavender and purple. It was gorgeous. This view was framed by Spanish-moss draped live oak trees that was pierced by tall elegant palms. Then - out of nowhere! - a large flock of snowy white egrets flew by. This unbelievable panorama seemed too magnificent to happen by chance ... it was as if it was staged on a Hollywood movie set.
My point: Florida can be one of the most beautiful places you'll visit in the US. As a former Floridian I could also tell you about the mosquitoes, the palmetto bugs, the fire ants and other annoyances ... but that's another story.
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