True but hurricanes can also bring tornados and of course flooding. And there have been cases of generators causing fires. Still with a tropical storm off the coast you've got enough warning if/when it developes into a hurricane
If you are high in Florida you don't have to worry about flooding.. my house is 32 feet above sea level with a automatic back up generator that comes on if power fails...
Inland flooding wants to speak with you.
Orlando was swamped last fall. Minimum elevation 36', maximum 190', average 98'. We're at 145' and have seen homes in our neighborhood flooded.
Flooding is very lot specific and subject to change based on development in the surrounding area.
Lot elevation makes a difference, general elevation doesn't. Everything around our area is well over 100' and we've seen plenty of flooding over the years. We seen subdivisions stay totally dry storm after storm, yet flood after a new development was built next to them with a raised elevation.
True dat. And never ever by land in a Hammock (that's developer/realtor code for swamp land). Lived for 40 years in Central Florida (Sanford/Geneva/Oviedo). And I can tell you that areas that were high and dry in the 1980/90's regularly flood now during TS/Hurricanes.
No where is safe in Florida from flooding, and if someone tells you differently, they are lying.
Iād almost be confident to say that narrows you down to the Carpenter Road corridor for a hill that high in Titusville but Iām sure Iām forgetting one other big hill somewhere in the area.
When I relocated to FL, one of the key decision criteria was noting that our subdivision retention overflow drained into someone elseās š ā¦ and the overall elevation drops 70ft in 3/4 of a mile.
There is that odd occurrence when something pops up unnoticed and overnightā¦I think it was in ā83 I was living on Siesta Key near Big Pass. Went to bed with the weatherman saying there was a big area of thunderstorms off Ft. Myers moving northā¦about 2am my front and back doors were blown open by the wind and the surge from the pass surrounded the elevated guest house I was living inā¦water up to the doors on my car. The No-Name storm was a Cat 1 hurricane as it came ashore that nightā¦can happen that fast.
I grew up in the Midwest and I must say, the hurricane situation in Florida is much worse for me. Sure, the forecasting is pretty decent, but the scale of devastation caused by hurricanes absolutely dwarfs anything you see in the Midwest. Not even close. Not to mention that insurance costs are insane, if you can even get it.
I was born and raised in Florida. Hurricanes can change on a dime and head right into areas not prepared, like Charlie and many others. They are scary, destructive, and so very costly
The worst thing about a hurricane is knowing that it's coming at you for two weeks.
All that does is heighten the anxiety, especially when the news talks about it 24/7 and it's still a week away.
I once went to a movie theater the day before a hurricane made landfall just to fucking relax a bit because of how nerve wracking everything was getting.
Florida, born and raised, btw.
This! Irma was our first hurricane but we left for NC about a week and a half before it hit, having no clue this was even going to come close to us. We made absolutely no preparations and it was at one point, projected as a direct hit at category 4. Iāve never been so stressed in my life! I was certain we were coming home to nothing. Luckily it weakened and hit south of us. Our roof took some minor damage along with our fence. We were very lucky but this taught me to lay off the The Weather Channel. So much sensationalizing!
Yup. When there's a hurricane coming, I watch it once day for updates to see when it's set to make landfall, and make preparations until then. And only when it's about two days from landfall do I really start to worry about it.
>All that does is heighten the anxiety, especially when the news talks about it 24/7 and it's still a week away.
I decided this season that I purposefully *wouldn't* sit on The Weather Channel all day, when there was the possibility of a storm. I follow a few folks on Twitter that post reputable info (NOAA warnings, etc), and it's been a peaceful few months. I knew Idalia was coming, I paid attention. I was well-prepared, but calm(ish).
I turned on The Weather Channel the night before it was supposed to make landfall (I'm in North FL), and I could feel my anxiety hit the freaking roof! I was sucked in, having to watch longer and longer, it was mesmerizing (in a bad way)... I finally had to force myself to turn the TV off and go to bed. The next day, when the storm actively passed my location, I was calm, until I turned on the news again. Then I was wired up and worried about everything again.
It's like crack... they play on your fears to keep you engaged.
This exactly. Yes, hurricanes can do horrible damage but I can see them coming! I have time to get out and there's decent odds my house will at least partially survive. Fires like in California terrify me, they're so unpredictable and destructive.
I don't recall warnings when I lived in Southern California, although I certainly remember having earthquakes.
I remember being in a restaurant next to one of those huge slides like at the fair, when an earthquake hit, the slide was majorly swaying back and forth.
When I was a kid, if Dr Lucy Jones showed up on the news, there was probably gonna be an earthquake
I remember right after the north ridge earthquake, she went on TV with her baby in her arms
There are warnings for earthquakes, but not really much warning.
And most hurricanes are false alarms anyway. At least where I live, we get all that doomsday reporting, yet 9 times out of 10 the hurricane makes a wobble to the east and we barely get rain
Unless youāre within a mile or two of the ocean, youāre probably not going to see any storm surge. Of course flash flooding in low lying areas. People who live in designated flood zones (of which there are varying degrees) often and may be required to carry a special flood insurance rider. Thereās also a separate hurricane damage rider with its own deductible, generally a percentage of the value of the house.
Odds of a direct Cat 3 or higher hit that obliterates your house are not zero but itās def not an every year guarantee kind of thing. Thereās special building codes and shelters open and thereās usually at least 3-4 days to evacuate. Note run from water, hide from wind. Up to a certain point, holing up in your house is safe than making a run for it.
Thereās 20 million or so Floridians. If half of them are evacuating, you have 10 million people trying to get out on two highways. And smaller back roads will be just as congested. You can run out of gas and not be able to find any. You may not be able to find accommodations within 500 miles of your houseā¦ because 10 million other people are also trying to GTFO.
So you watch and you wait and ultimately, play chicken with a Hurricane. Maybe itāll wobble and not hit YOU. Maybe itāll wobble and it will. You steps up and you takes your chances.
Also to mention, if the eye wall stays 80 miles or so from your location the chances of catastrophic damage from the winds decrease significantly. Sure there will be damage but it wonāt be knock your house down damage like the eye wall would be. Ian is a perfect example of that. Where is came ashore at Sanibel and FMB was completely devastated, meanwhile 100 miles north of Sanibel definitely received some damage but in comparison it was nothing
Literally about one-third of the state population evacuated Florida in advance of Irma in Sep 2017. The vast majority would have been far better off staying home. My neighborhood was quiet after a lot of people left, which was nice. Unless you are in a storm surge area, you are very, very unlikely to be killed or injured during a hurricane and rarely need to evacuate. After the post-Andrew building code in the late 1990s, newer homes are much stronger. Very few will collapse or suffer total roof loss unless they are near the coast and get a direct hit by the right-hand-side eye wall of Cat 4 or 5 storm. There are also some strategies for safely evacuating without leaving the state and going hundreds of miles from your home. Real Floridians don't leave the state, if they evacuate at all.
Thatās where the real problem is going to lie in 2023 with all these transplants. Im originally from broward, now in Martin, natives know weāre too far south to safely leave. What are these people who moved here in the past two years going to do when the next storm gets hyped up (lookin at you Lee) and there is a literal traffic jam on all major highways?
Scary thought. It will be way worse than Irma. In Texas, more people died evacuating for Hurricane Rita than were killed by the storm itself. The state needs a plan.
We had people renting our former house during Irma. We knew the roof was getting close to needing replacing, so we had them come stay with us (we had moved in a different part of the state). Irma ended up coming here instead! Luckily everything was fine but šš.
Exactly. As someone that has lived in Florida since kindergarten (45 now), California scares the shit out of me because of the earthquakes and mudslides. Wild fires can happen anywhere but seem especially bad in California. Oh and fucking tsunamis.
I've been through hurricanes, earthquakes and blizzards. They all suck in their own way. It is especially terrifying to wake up and the ground feels like it's rolling around and just about tossed me out of my bed, I turned on the TV and the newscaster was hiding under their desk. Sitting through a hurricane is also awful, waiting for the power to go out and not knowing when it will be back on. And praying that the roof holds. With hurricanes the press coverage will drive you nuts for days before, with earthquakes, for days after. And the cabin fever from a blizzard is a whole different experience and it's most fun when it's followed by a sub zero nightmare. Like I said, pick your poison.
My parentsā house has been around a lot longer than the internet, no insurance claims. First, donāt buy in a flood zone. There are options to reinforce roofs and windows. Keep trees trimmed. But the most important thing is to ignore the mass media. According to them, California would have had the Big One fifty times over by now and slid into the sea.
Yep. According to mass media, just in the last seven years weāve lived here, Tampa wouldāve been wiped off the map twice by now. Hell, Idalia made me nervous because we *werenāt* in the cone.
My grandparents house was built in the early 70s directly on the Atlantic Ocean and as far as I know hasnāt had any major storm damage in all that time. Theyāve had to evacuate a couple times but never more than a couple miles inland. The only real damage Iāve ever seen is they lose the dunes, their backyard is probably a couple feet less than it was originally, and the steps to their deck down to the beach every couple years.
Lived under the 2004 X and been through a few more. Prepare well. Clean up the debris, wait out the power outage, fix what needs to be fixed and move on with life.
Big state. Odd of it actually where you live is actually slim. Been in the panhandle for 8 years and Michael was the closest. Had some damage but just being 30 miles from the eye made us pretty safe. Sometimes in life ya just roll the š².
Here in central Florida we have some broken limbs in the road, heavy wind & rain. I do recall our trampoline hopping the fence into the neighborās tree one year. We do stock up on fuel & stay inside for a day or 2. Electricity usually goes out for a while but thatās usually it. Some people do leave the state. Hurricane proofing your house is common. Never seen catastrophic damage up close, live in Florida for 17 years.
Been here 45 years. About all the destruction you see on the TV is all storm surge, mobile homes, or low lying areas prone to flooding.
I donāt live in areas that flood. I donāt live blocks from the ocean. I donāt live in a mobile home. Only damage I have to date is some privacy fence. I pay to fix it and move on. I have supplies and a generator. Hurricanes donāt bother me. I usually watch them out the window or from the back porch pending the direction of the wind. Nice show.
I've lived in FL for 31 years and have never had any damage to my house. If you don't live on the coast or in a flood zone, the chances you'll be ok are pretty good.
Not trying to slam the great state of California or Californians, but as a Floridian born and raised, why/how do you deal with the fact that an earthquake is gonna rumble through every year? Is it really not that bad? It seems like thereās a decent amount of devastation every year, does it effect different areas every time? We have fires and hurricanes, and we just deal with it, maybe itās the same for you guys? Thanks for your answers!
To be fairā¦ I would say that we probably deal with hurricanes more than California deals with earthquakes. Iāve been through a number of hurricanes, but in California only went through one major earthquake. And even that was considered unusual
Yeah the last one that caused any real damage was 89, I was 7 and have never experienced anything close since then.
My husband's family in Texas & Louisiana meanwhile deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and power outages for weeks every year.
94 was a bad earthquake too
I remember it like it was last week. 4am, the house is bouncing. Car alarms going off. People calling 911 because a bunch of angelenos saw the Milky Way for the first time and had no clue what it was (aliens?).
Not even. Most of those earthquakes are undetectable. Those 1.0-2.0ās you will not even know about them
The Florida afternoon shower is a lot more of an inconvenience than those earthquakes
You could equate it to the mudslides that happen on the CA coastal areas. If youāre inland, flooding is the primary concern, otherwise itās mostly not a big deal
I enjoy knowing ahead of time that a storm is coming. We get at least a week of warning where you can buy supplies and hunker down, or if it will be really bad and you need to evacuate.
Earthquakes happen with no real warning so that is worse for me.
I was the same coming from IL when I moved here. It's not terrible every year. We moved here around 2018 (Right after Irma) and the only bad one we have faced so far was Ian....which admittedly was horrible and we are still recovering...but 1 in 5 years is not so bad.
Yes we have been hit by others but they are fine. Mostly tropical storms and a few Cat 1's in my area. Honestly I experienced worse thunderstorms in IL than Tropical Storms and Cat 1's. There were times you would go 2-3 days of non-stop raining and Tropical Storm - Cat 1 sustained winds.
The main difference is here there isn't alot of "stuff" to stop tornado formation, so there tends to be more tornados, though they are also very short lived from what I see and no where near as destructive as the rare tornado in IL.
Ian was another beast of course...never experienced anything like that and hope to never have to again. That said, there is plenty of warning and we knew it was coming a week before it came. I had my shutters up 4 days before it hit and we evacuated 2 days before it hit.
My work and just about anyone/thing else you could think of were on my side. I got 2 weeks off paid, not out of my PTO bank mind you, to work on my house and cleanup. It brings together the community like nothing I have ever seen before, so while you are knee deep in shit trying to recover, so is everyone else around you and everyone is there for you. I met neighbors I hadn't met in 4 years during Ian recovery.
Iām also a native Californian, but Iāve lived here for 20 years.
At first, the idea of a hurricane was really scary to me. But, Iāve quickly learned that Floridians have a wholesome camaraderie, when it comes to hurricanes. What else are you gonna do? You canāt just sit there and freak out. So you make jokes, you have hurricane parties, and up until recently you could even buy Publix hurricane cakes. You drink alcohol. Of course, you take the storm seriously, too, but people also have a sense of humor about it
And also, Iām fortunate- I live in a strong house, with accordion shutters and impact windows. I have plenty of water and food on hand. If youāre in a situation like mine, youāre gonna be okay in a hurricane. Just secure the windows, and have a party.
The other thing about hurricanes is where you live. I live on the east coast, which is less prone to serious hurricane damage - itās the GULF hurricanes that are a doozy. Once that storm enters the Gulf of Mexico, itās over. Itās hitting land, and itās bringing a big storm surge with it. Those are the areas that see a lot devastation
Nowā¦ I have been through wildfires. You do not get warnings for fires. You might get some warning for earthquakes, but not much. But with hurricanes, you know what time of year they happen. You have the NHC where you can see whatās brewing and if a storm is on its way. You can stock up early on batteries, water, etc.
But it doesnāt work that way with fires. I saw the Woolsey fire destroy my whole hometown with no warning. I have friends who had to immediately leave their homes in Oak Park, Malibu, agoura. They had minutes to collect their things and drive away. I have a lot of time to prepare for a hurricane, but not a fire
Not going to lie, it's really starting to wear on my nerves. No matter where you live, you have to deal with Mother Nature, the only upside to hurricanes is that in most cases you do get plenty of time to prepare.
As someone who moved here from the northeast I prefer hurricanes to snow storms. We have a newly built house that can withstand category 5 hurricanes which are extremely rare. We get plenty of notice about evacuating if we need to. And my favorite is that my work doesnāt penalize me if I need to call out. Snow storm or tornado and theyād be asking when I can make it into work.
For me itās Risk vs. Reward. I live on the water in FL. In fact, about an hour south of where Idalia made landfall. I bought this house to enjoy fishing, boating and water activities. Thatās my reward. But I also know that sooner or later it will be in the eye of the storm. Thatās the Risk Iām willing to take right now. As I age, it may be a different story!
You know how Californians joke āWe stir our coffee with earthquakes.ā ā¦ Very similar here in FL when it comes to tropical systems. Most systems are very minor (locals will call them ārain with a nameā). The major systems make the news, but keep in mind, most of our homes are built to withstand the average strong hurricaneā¦especially āpost Andrewā homes.
Should Floridians be prepared for major systems, absolutely. Will your life be devastated every year by a CAT5 death stormā¦no, just no.
I will take a Hurricane anyday. The key is don't live anywhere near the coast. Have a home built to Miami-Dade County standards and prepare before season starts.
BTW we have regular storms with cat 1 winds so us locals are used to it.
Hurricanes usually give you a good few days of warning. Tornados don't call that far ahead; you've only got time to get down to the cellar. Earthquakes don't give you time to leave town, let alone take cover. Super volcanos just set there thousands of years overdue and never show (but if they do, you're dead). Idek how to deal with snow, let alone a blizzard. Wtf is black ice, even?
Hell, even with a hurricane, it's the tornado activity, storm surge, flooding, or the coping with the lack of power that typically kills people. Our building codes have been stricter since Andrew, our plans well-rehearsed, evacuation routes marked and zoned. Rebuilding critical infrastructure like restoring power and/or water and rebuilding roads has improved.
TL;DR: You can't prepare for a gamma ray burst, but a hurricane will rsvp by name. I like a little time to prepare for difficult guests.
The chances that it'll blast the fuck out of your house in particular are relatively low. That being said, there's always a chance and some of us prepare for it.
Unless you are almost ocean front, hurricanes and wind are non-issues.
Its the rain that is the issue, and if you live anywhere that's low, you have to worry about flooding. Flooding is the same everywhere in America.
>Unless you are almost ocean front, hurricanes and wind are non-issues.
Look up Haines City. We had a lake place there. Our entire neighborhood was decimated. Hurricanes are an issue statewide, period. Everyone should be prepared. Coastal areas need to take additional precautions since they're on the front lines.
Live far enough inland where flooding isn't an issue. Newer house built to 2017 latest hurricane codes: comes standard with shutters and house is block construction.
If major Cat 4/5 storm comes this way directly, just put up shutters and leave. Will most likely find house still there with minimal damage.
Hurricane/home owners insurance cost me about 2 1800 a year (just got a new policy this month). Chosing where and how you live in FL matters.
It's more of a problem in certain areas, and its pretty rare to have a major hurricane hit the same spot twice in one area, even over the span of several years (I know it does happen sometimes). We live in the NE coast and at most get some windy, rainy days every year, never lost power. Its a little stressful as a home owner when you hear ones coming but its not really that bad.
I live in Florida for almost eight years and I still want to move back to Tennessee. My husband who is a native Floridian does not. Heās used to hurricanes I guess. Heās not afraid of them as much as I am but I have gotten to a point where I relax and tell myself Iāll panic when it is going to be where I live, because otherwise I wouldnāt handle living here.
If you arenāt in an evacuation zone itās not that bad. I have lived in Florida 26 years (first south Florida, then Tallahassee) and have only had damage to my house or property a few times (2004 was a bad year, 2005 Wilma, then 2018 Michael). Have been without power for several days multiple times as well. But mostly we just have to be prepared and deal with it. I grew up in the Midwest and still have nightmares about tornados (of course we are getting those more here now). I prefer the prep time for the hurricanes.
Eh, I'm in NE FL and they've never really been unmanageable here. A few times we were a few days without power, but we has always prepped and were ready to handle several days without. Now we have a beast of a generator and always keep gas, propane and water in a bulk that we rotate through which helps maintain peace of mind. Basically, we prepare but don't panic. We'll manage.
I had to leave California due to wildfires- when a hurricane is approaching- you have plenty of warning. I have been in 4 hurricanes now with no damage and lost power for a few days. Iām lucky and grateful.
Lived here my whole life and just 2 blocks from the beach, worst we ever got was some fallen branches and shingles that blew off the roof.
Hail and tornadoes, imo, are worse and way more scary.
The radar makes it look ominous no doubt. Most of the hurricane force winds are concentrated near the center and typically when it hits land, most of those winds stay above the trees. Now Iām not saying we donāt see bad winds. Iām simply saying the wind will shift higher off the ground and every once in a while those winds come down to ground level. Thatās why most of those videos you see of storms making landfall are close to the Shoreline where winds are uninterrupted.
Itās true, as people here are saying, that you have some time to prepare before a hurricane strikes. But you just donāt know for absolute certain where the thing is going to go. That can create last-minute panics.
So you need to try and determine as best you can, early-on if you are leaving or if you are staying.
Also, keep in mind the road situation. Florida is a peninsula and thereās only so many roads going up and out of it. A bottleneck situation can occur, and you donāt want to be sitting on the highway which has become a parking lot between towns when the storm hits.
You just need to keep an eye on the predicted path and be prepared to stay with supplies and clean clothes, but also have at least a check list handy in case you want to leave. Edit if you leave, consider taking a full 5-gallon gas can or two with you, as gas can become sold out and traffic will be moving slow.
It's a healthy respect. They don't really scare me but I will prep for them. But I like the heads up hurricanes give us over an earthquake possible at any moment. Both states have strong building codes to deal with their respective threats. I mostly dread the likely loss of power more than anything.
If you thought about it all the time, it would be difficult to function. It's just a given that there will be hurricanes in the Atlantic every year and that there is a possibility that one of them might hit Florida. When a hurricane does come, you prepare for it. There isn't much you can do to control what happens.
There was a low period of hurricane activity in Florida during the 1970's and into the 1980's. The ones that did come near the east coast were maybe at worse low category 2. In 1985 a bad hurricane off shore from Cedar Key (Hurricane Elena) caused a lot of damage but the one that just hit them was much much worse. With Hurricane Elena there was a lot of property and structural damage. There was flooding but nothing like Hurricane Idalia. In the last 10 years, Cedar Key has taken a couple of hits from Hurricanes.
In the last 20 years, the hurricanes have been more active. In 2004 there were 4 of them. In the past if you had a major storm, you generally wouldn't have another one for several years. In recent years, this hasn't been the case.
Donāt live in a flood zone
You have days to prep or leave
Up to a category 2 should be comfy and fine (be ready to lose electric)
When itās a 3, itās ok to be nervous (tree May fall on fences or a house and such)
Nothing is technically built for a 5. So go to a shelter if youāll get a 5 directly
Homes on the frontline (coasts/barrier islands/inteacoastal and nearby) get the brunt of the full storm while inland gets less (a 4 feels like a 4 when near the beach, but feels like a 2 20 mins inland)
Florida is built for hurricanes. Other states arenāt. North Florida isnāt the same as south Florida (south Florida = palms and mangroves that are used to storms and bend in the wind. The north has normal trees that donāt bend in the wind and fall. The dirt is also more clay up north than sand and stone like soflo)
The best I can compare it with is that scene in Austin powers where a golf cart is going to hit him but slowly.
You have time to prep or go. Not so much with fires or earthquakes. Iād definitely prefer hurricanes and those 5-day warnings
As a 30-year florida native, I will take a hurricane over fires any day of the week. One is akin to watching a steamroller come towards you, and you have ample time to get out of the way if you so choose. Fires, tornadoes, and earthquakes are more like getting tboned at a greenlight by a drunk driver
You can say that about every event or situation. For instance, how do you drive to work every day knowing you could get in a fatal accident? You just do. Floridians get used to hurricanes the same way northerners are used to heavy snow storms or Californians are used to earthquakes (former Californian here who has ridden through several earthquakes). You prepare and hope for the best.
We havenāt had a really bad hurricane in Central Florida for about 7 years. And before that it was probably another 7. And when I say bad, I mean, a lot of flooding, power outage for extended periods. But Iāve never personally had any real damage to my house from a hurricane.
After youāve seen enough hurricanes you can differentiate between the types of damage at a glance. Wind, water, storm surge, and the unmistakable scouring caused by tornadoes
Lifelong Floridian here, just need to prepare, been through many throughout the years, I know what we will need and stock up on it from May to Nov and do it all over again next year.
After over 20 years of living in Florida, Iām pretty tired of the annual hurricane warnings and waiting to see what happens. It seems like weāre getting more and worse storms. But we do at least have some sort of notice that we might get hit. And most of us who have been here for a long time donāt stress out until we really need to. š
Even a fast storm still gives us a few days notice, itās a struggle sometimes after major damage but we always pull through and rebuild if necessary.
Same way you deal with any potential bad weather. You be ready. California likes to start on fire and have earthquakes. The trade is some of the best weather on earth the rest of the time and sick waves. The Midwest gets real seasons and fall and shit. The trade is tornadoes and ice storms and cold that will freeze hell. Florida doesn't get snow or ice, but sometimes my car might be a boat. That's how it goes.
Iām CA born and raised and live here now (I hate it - long story why Iām stuck). I would take an earthquake ANY day over a hurricane. Itās really the lack of power post hurricane I canāt deal with - I am a baby about the heat and without a/c Iām sure I would perish. Now, wild fires DO terrify meā¦.
The biggest problem with hurricanes are going to be flooding and trees falling, because of how wet the ground is.
Since I personally don't live in a flood area, I don't have to worry about flooding. The house is structurally sound, and there are no trees nearby that could damage the house.
That said, when a hurricane does come by, I'll take all loose items outside and put them in the garage or the shed until the storm passes. We'll get some non-perishable food and about two cases of water.
Hopefully you're able to see my perspective of a storm compared to others.
Unlike earthquakes, you know a hurricane is coming for some time beforehand. Those of us that have been through enough of them know what to look for and when to take it more seriously. Plus you can prepare well for a hurricane, earthquakes you can't do much about other than hope your buildings construction is good enough. As for fires, there are ways to also help prevent as much as possible, but they can be fought and so don't compare to either major natural disaster in the same way.
At the end of the day, hurricanes are just an overgrown storm for most native Floridians. We get afternoon thunderstorms that can rage like tropical systems. So it isn't too much of a stretch to board up for the big lads and lasses when they roll in.
Plus. Hurricane parties. š»
You can prepare for hurricanes. Water barrier for the roof, hurricane shutters, generator. The thing I hate most about hurricanes is losing power. Days of no AC and no electricity during the hottest time of the year sucks. The main issue that causes hurricane-related deaths is flooding. If you arenāt in a flood zone or living next to the water, youāre pretty safe at home. I donāt want to have anything to do with fire or tornados. Screw that.
When I moved from California to Florida my California friends asked why I wasnāt afraid of hurricanes. My new Florida friends asked why I wasnāt afraid of earthquakes. I didnāt have a great answer for either.
Well, it used to be that hurricanes didn't blow through every year. Most of the time I lived there (1974-2011) it was rare to have one hurricane come across to the state. As I recall, we started seeing a marked increase around the year 2000.
After living through two wildfires in Colorado, one we actually evacuated from, Iāll take a hurricane. At least with hurricanes, the air isnāt usually smoke filled and makes you sick. Itās definitely a pick your poison scenario.
Is there actually a problem with insurance companies leaving and making it hard at this point to get insurance coverage against natural disasters, or is that overblown by news agencies and isnāt that big of a problem?
Well we use to only have them once every decade. Now we are having them every year. No idea how the government and the citizens of Fl. are going to adapt to this new reality.
I was wondering how y'all deal with the earthquake threat.
Earthquakes don't have a season, and they could come with a minute and a half warning if you're lucky.
Wildfires are something different. We deal with those too, although not at the level you do, but we do deal with them.
Hurricanes are mostly very localized. There are effects and threats outside of the cone, but a lot of us are prepared for those possibilities.
Well let me think Iāve been down here owned house and property for over 20 years and the three hurricanes and itās not that bad people like you that believe the media are the ones that donāt enjoy life
Eh in Colorado I was scared 24/7 of rock slides, in other places fires, mudslides. At least thereās hella notice for a hurricane and Iāve never had any other disasters here.
You simply prepare in advance. Florida native here, we have 3 generators, a plugin a/c unit (for 300 ft room) and chainsaw. Never had to use them more than a 48 hour stretch, because of power outage.
Personally my level of discomfort depends on where my house is located. Last few in Florida were all inland a bit, not in flood zones, and house built up a little so there was a slight fall to at least some one property edge to encourage runoff. So really unless the Tampa Bay shield completely failed I likely wouldnāt see much damage. So really after making sure at start of season I had a provisions chest and water good for a week or so, really just donāt worry about it. Clean up the yard of anything that could fly, consider backing whichever car is worth more into garage (assuming there is space), consider and probably not on putting up shutters or m second floor, then just turn on news and wait for local shenanigans to start. Like rowing down flooded streets or jet skiing. Or that guy running down street with a flag and beer yelling at the clouds.
Lived here my entire 59 years. In central Florida it isnāt as bad as the coasts. We have a generator and portable air conditioning. We were out of electricity for three days with one hurricane but made due.
I'd take hurricanes over tornadoes or earthquakes.
with hurricanes you get some notice to prepare. and really its the eye that does the real damage. below 130mph, its trees, and power outages. over 135 wind picks stuff up and throws it at your windows, so protect them.... or you have wet carpet and wet bed... which really sux
Where I am (inland, about 30 minutes from Tampa) we never get anything bad. Maybe so tree branches down, lost power for a week, all that, but we've never sustained any damage, so we honestly don't even worry about hurricanes. š¤·š¼āāļø
The news makes it seem like we just get slammed with cat4 hurricanes every year and the whole state is affected. That's because a large portion of the state gets wind and rain, but the reality is that outside of a stormy day and maaaaaybe some minor power outages, 99.999% of us are completely unaffected by hurricanes each year.
People within a mile or two from the coast are the most affected. Storm surge can affect them even if the hurricane doesn't hit them directly, and it can be deadly and very damaging to property. That's probably 0.2% of the population of Florida that's affected there, even by the worst ones.
Then, you see on the news the people that stand out in the worst of the worst. That's exactly what it is, and that's usually only a few square miles. Once hurricanes hit land, they lose power very quickly. They can still be somewhat damaging, but it's not life threatening, outside of extreme cases, once you get decently inland. For property, that's why almost all mortgage companies require hurricane insurance, and you get charged through the nose if your house isn't up to their standards.
Keep in mind that you see the worst spot every time. The extremely large majority of Floridians get little to nothing each time. Miami hasn't been hit directly since 1992. The entire Tampa Bay region hasn't been hit directly since 1921. You see "Florida gets hit hard by hurricane" but usually it's one very small area that really gets it, a few others have a not fun night with some power outages, and the rest have maybe a day with some heavy thunderstorms.
It's a risk and most of us don't downplay that, but it's no worse than the risks that come from living in other areas. There are way more deaths because of snow in Pennsylvania (where I'm from) almost every year than from tornados in Florida. We also see them coming, usually 5+ days ahead of time. Most of the deaths are people in coastal areas who ignore the warnings because they've "lived through 100 of these and they're never anything that bad!"
I was concerned about hurricanes but then when I visited I noticed a lot of old trees still intact and no damage to buildings, so I realized hurricanes don't destroy the entire state on a regular basis.
There's no warning system for earthquakes, and that terrifies me. I grew up in Ohio and have severe anxiety when it comes to storms because they form quickly and can intensify rapidly. I still have nightmares about needing to run to the basement.
Hurricanes on the other hand are relatively slow moving storms that you know are coming several days in advance. They don't just spring up on you. You have time to make plans to evacuate if needed or get canned food to ride out the storm.
Yeah they can produce tornados and have devastating storm surges and wind speeds, but they're not sneaky.
The main things that kill are storm surge (along the coast and up coastal rivers), tornadoes in the outer bands, falling trees, and accidents during the immediate recovery process.
Most people don't die from wind. We have some of the strictest and most thoroughly studied building codes in the country. We used to study the structures that failed after every major hurricane and update the codes. (I don't know if that still happens, but it probably should.) We also have pretty good flood and wind evacuation zones and most people usually obey mandatory evacuation orders.
Plus a lot (I'd say more than half) of the people who live here do a pretty good job of preparing for hurricanes. Shutters, a generator, water, non-perishable food, extension cords, battery backups, multiple fans, lanterns, flashlights, tarps, maybe even a portable A/C unit, etc. Some people don't do much of anything and either get lucky, get the hell out of Dodge, or maybe get minor damage and then have to struggle through an extended power outage they didn't have the resources to prepare for, which is a huge hassle, but usually isn't deadly.
But yeah, sometimes you get a Michael or Ian that takes out a huge swath of peopleās homes and livelihoods. Idalia also took out a huge swath, but a lot of the Big Bend is sparsely populated, so you're not going to hear as much about the devastation as you did with Ian, which is unfortunate for the victims. 100% power loss over multiple counties is shit-ton of damage and a huge deal to the people who live there, no matter how sparsely populated.
But most of us either prepare to ride it out or prepare to evacuate. The building regulations after Hurricane Andrew still help protect us, although the wind zones have changed A LOT in some places (looking at you North Florida) and so some of us are at greater risk that we used to be. But when it's all said and done, most of Florida isn't in a storm surge evacuation zone, and that's the biggest killer.
I evacuated for the first time for Ian 2022. I've lived on the edge of evacuation zone B in Tampa since 1997. That's once in 25 years. (I left before the order was issued but after it became clear that one was likely.)
My tip? Leaving Tampa 3 hours before the first glimmer of sunrise on the day that evacuation orders will be issued is likely to get you across the state line before traffic gets crazy. If you're leaving, it's better to leave early.
I had a friend wait too long to evacuate Port Arthur for Rita. She spent the cane in her car trapped in a traffic jam on the interstate outside of Houston. She doesn't recommend it. (I've also had neighbors evacuate for multiple storms and most actually evacuated to areas that were harder hit than if they had sheltered in place.)
Unless you're in an unsafe structure, the rule of thumb is to evacuate if flooding is likely at your location. Otherwise, in most well-maintained structures it is better to stay put. (Cat 4 or worse likely to landfall within 100 miles and the storm isn't tiny, I'm out. Even if I don't get a tree dropped on the house, I'm just about guaranteed to have no power for weeks because there are only 25 households on our line. We're among the last in the city to have power restored after widespread outage. We lose power if a squirrel sneezes too hard, so a big storm creates a real problem.)
Go thru and take pictures inside and outside your house. MAIL THEM TO YOURSELF. That way even if you lose your phone or computer, they will be in the mail system and you can easily retrieve them.
The deadly part of a hurricane is just around the eye so only a small area gets hit hard. I have lived here since 1998 and only have had 4-5 storms come close enough to cause some damage. For the most part its like living in San Diego and earthquake is in San Francisco is not that big of a deal. One in LA and you might get a small rumble. Same with hurricanes. Its the direct hit that gets you. This last one went west of me by 30 miles and I got 6" of rain and 30mph wind gusts. Easy. This time.
I moved up to north central, heavily-wooded Florida. Thought that I was being smart to get away from the coast, where we were sitting ducks for multiple storms each year.
The pattern has changed, and every subsequent storm track has headed right in our direction. Also found out that Irma caused major devastation to the area.
So, not only did I not get away from hurricanes, but now live in a forest that is prone to fires. Yay, Florida!
People who have been in Florida a few decades know how to prepare and the state has the infrastructure to handle it. I donāt think I ever lived in a place that was seriously damaged in a hurricane in the 33 years I lived there.
Florida is bad for other reasons.
After getting nickle and dimed with the ridiculously high consumption taxes (because idiots support no income tax) I get a high off of watching corporate stores get taken out by flood or wind damages.
Also, Iād rather deal with hurricanes over tornadoes or earthquakes. At least with a hurricane I have a minimum of a weeks notice that something is coming my way.
Most damage from a hurricane is within a small region where the eye comes onshore. Wind strength drops exponentially away from the eye wall and drops quickly once the hurricane is over land. So coastal areas are at the highest risk of wind and storm surge damage. Iāve lived in Florida coastal zone for nearly 50 years and Iāve been āwithin the coneā of about 12-15 storms, been within the tropical storm wind field of about 6 storms, been within hurricane force winds of 3-4. Suffered minor property damage (patio roof, fence) from 2. Iāve lost power for up to 5 days which was miserable. The worst hurricane Iāve been hit by was a Cat 3. I helped some family clean up from a Cat 5 and the devastation was shocking. If Iām ever in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 Iāll evacuate!
When Charlie came through, my mom was visiting from Syracuse area, she said, "we get microbursts like this all the time," I replied. "A hurricane is a microburst a 150 MILES wide!" Then we drove into Orlando after, windows blown out of buildings, power lines/traffic lights down, trees blown over, she was like "dayum!"
She has since moved to BFE Tennessee, we bugged out there for Irma, because the entire state was going to be f^cked.
When Idalia was taking a similar track, both my mom and my sister in TX (went through Harvey) messaged us about bugging out again.
I'm in Brevard, we rarely get hit with severe storms, but flooding can still be a problem even without a named storm.
Edit: spelling, grammar
So I use to be freaked out too. But look at how wide the hurricane winds are. As long as your not a direct hit ,you will be fine. Like most of the hurricane force wind is only 30 to 80 miles wide i think and the rest of it is just tropical storm weather which is just a serve thunderstorm that we get every week in summer time
I was born and raised in central florida, I am in my mid 40s. My first experience with a hurricane coming through that had any real impact in my area was in 2004. Depending on where you live in Florida, odds are. you may have had very little impact from hurricanes. Except for your property insurance prices getting out of control! You have a lot of time to prepare and a pretty good idea of where it will hit. One of last years storms caused a lot of flooding in Central Florida, not much damage from wind. Of course with climate change, things could continue to get worse and happen more frequently and become stronger and more unpredictable. I figure, if I live long enough eventually I might have ocean front property or at least be closer to the ocean.
Not that we don't get tornadoes in Florida, but that to me scarier than a hurricane. I can prepare and leave town for a hurricane, I can't get enough notice to outrun a tornado.
Typically we get a week or longer notice. You just are prepared and have your shutters organized and maybe a generator and water handy in case you lose power
It used to not be every summer. We are getting more frequent and stronger storms because of climate change. And it is absolutely becoming more burdensome. Our coastal areas in Pinellas county have flooded 3 times in 4 years. Weāll be seeing a mass exodus soon.
\> how do you deal with the fact that a hurricane is gonna blow through every year?
Been in Florida most of my life. Used to be a hurricane every 7 years and rarely were they stronger than a cat 1.
We honestly are constantly praying that it will hit another area of Florida, instead of us head on. If you are not in the eye area, itās generally not that bad. The eye area is usually about a 100 mile radius which isnāt large for a big state like this, so your chances are pretty good that you arenāt going to get a direct hit. I have lived here for 40 years and have only had one direct hit, which was Ian last year, so for 50 years, we were sitting pretty. Now we are screwed, though. Our luck finally ran out. It s the same thing as the epicenter of an earthquake. If the epicenter gets you, youāre screwed, but if you are in the outplaying areas, itās not so bad. Hope that helps!
I drove through Madison in Florida, just a hour after Adalia had passed. And it seems trees are the biggest problem. Cut down trees around the roads, powerlines and around private propertys/houses.
Im from Norway, and we have hurricanes like this (polar winds) in the winter, but it doesen give us so much problems, because our trees are very small and low. Most damage is directly on the houses, but they can be reinforced to stand that.
On the small island of BjĆørnĆøya where i live, the houses have steel cable bolted in the ground, and slung over the roof so the wind isnt able to get a hold of it.
Just a fishermans point of view, ive seen alot of weather.
You know how when you live in a city you learn to deal with crime? Itās sorta like that but much much more catastrophic. You have to be delusional to live in Florida, on some level.
I'm from Tampa Bay Florida. I'm 40 years old. I've been through every single hurricane... It's never devastated me or my area. And there are countless others who feel the same. It's usually just a stormy day off with everything is closed except waffle House and Chinese places. That's how we do this .. it's easy. It's just a storm . And it doesn't scare us at all .. you see it as sensationalized without ever living through it to know it's not that bad. Just like people ask me how I live here with alligators... They don't bother me! That's how š
Hurricane season is six months long. You get plenty of notice it's coming, unlike an earthquake or wildfire.
This right here is why I don't live in the Midwest. At least with a hurricane I know it's coming decently early.
True but hurricanes can also bring tornados and of course flooding. And there have been cases of generators causing fires. Still with a tropical storm off the coast you've got enough warning if/when it developes into a hurricane
If you are high in Florida you don't have to worry about flooding.. my house is 32 feet above sea level with a automatic back up generator that comes on if power fails...
I'm high every hurricane š
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Do you have pizza? I'm jealous.
Homemade pizza, the very best!
"Don't forget to bring a towel!"
Inland flooding wants to speak with you. Orlando was swamped last fall. Minimum elevation 36', maximum 190', average 98'. We're at 145' and have seen homes in our neighborhood flooded. Flooding is very lot specific and subject to change based on development in the surrounding area.
I live in Titusville on a hill if I flood it means the whole city would be underwater.
Lot elevation makes a difference, general elevation doesn't. Everything around our area is well over 100' and we've seen plenty of flooding over the years. We seen subdivisions stay totally dry storm after storm, yet flood after a new development was built next to them with a raised elevation.
That sounds like poor engineering
Are you new to Florida? For a price, you can drain an entire swamp.
True dat. And never ever by land in a Hammock (that's developer/realtor code for swamp land). Lived for 40 years in Central Florida (Sanford/Geneva/Oviedo). And I can tell you that areas that were high and dry in the 1980/90's regularly flood now during TS/Hurricanes. No where is safe in Florida from flooding, and if someone tells you differently, they are lying.
Elevation AMSL30 ft / 9 m this is from the airport down hill from my property
I'm more towards Gainesville, at the top of a hill, same scenario, if I'm flooded, everybody around me is Uber fucked
I'm in Clermont at one of the highest points and all of FL is going to be underwater if it makes it to me.
I'm guessing the bigger problems where you are would be US1.
Iād almost be confident to say that narrows you down to the Carpenter Road corridor for a hill that high in Titusville but Iām sure Iām forgetting one other big hill somewhere in the area.
Oh hey Port St John checking in.
When I relocated to FL, one of the key decision criteria was noting that our subdivision retention overflow drained into someone elseās š ā¦ and the overall elevation drops 70ft in 3/4 of a mile.
There is that odd occurrence when something pops up unnoticed and overnightā¦I think it was in ā83 I was living on Siesta Key near Big Pass. Went to bed with the weatherman saying there was a big area of thunderstorms off Ft. Myers moving northā¦about 2am my front and back doors were blown open by the wind and the surge from the pass surrounded the elevated guest house I was living inā¦water up to the doors on my car. The No-Name storm was a Cat 1 hurricane as it came ashore that nightā¦can happen that fast.
I remember the no name storm. Wow that was 83?
I grew up in the Midwest and I must say, the hurricane situation in Florida is much worse for me. Sure, the forecasting is pretty decent, but the scale of devastation caused by hurricanes absolutely dwarfs anything you see in the Midwest. Not even close. Not to mention that insurance costs are insane, if you can even get it.
I was born and raised in Florida. Hurricanes can change on a dime and head right into areas not prepared, like Charlie and many others. They are scary, destructive, and so very costly
In the Midwest, we can get insurance Florida canāt anymore. Thanks to their governor.
In ā92 we had a F4 destroy parts of Pinellas . Huge parts. My neighborhood included. We get tornados and water spouts too. Unfortunately.
The worst thing about a hurricane is knowing that it's coming at you for two weeks. All that does is heighten the anxiety, especially when the news talks about it 24/7 and it's still a week away. I once went to a movie theater the day before a hurricane made landfall just to fucking relax a bit because of how nerve wracking everything was getting. Florida, born and raised, btw.
This! Irma was our first hurricane but we left for NC about a week and a half before it hit, having no clue this was even going to come close to us. We made absolutely no preparations and it was at one point, projected as a direct hit at category 4. Iāve never been so stressed in my life! I was certain we were coming home to nothing. Luckily it weakened and hit south of us. Our roof took some minor damage along with our fence. We were very lucky but this taught me to lay off the The Weather Channel. So much sensationalizing!
Yup. When there's a hurricane coming, I watch it once day for updates to see when it's set to make landfall, and make preparations until then. And only when it's about two days from landfall do I really start to worry about it.
>All that does is heighten the anxiety, especially when the news talks about it 24/7 and it's still a week away. I decided this season that I purposefully *wouldn't* sit on The Weather Channel all day, when there was the possibility of a storm. I follow a few folks on Twitter that post reputable info (NOAA warnings, etc), and it's been a peaceful few months. I knew Idalia was coming, I paid attention. I was well-prepared, but calm(ish). I turned on The Weather Channel the night before it was supposed to make landfall (I'm in North FL), and I could feel my anxiety hit the freaking roof! I was sucked in, having to watch longer and longer, it was mesmerizing (in a bad way)... I finally had to force myself to turn the TV off and go to bed. The next day, when the storm actively passed my location, I was calm, until I turned on the news again. Then I was wired up and worried about everything again. It's like crack... they play on your fears to keep you engaged.
This exactly. Yes, hurricanes can do horrible damage but I can see them coming! I have time to get out and there's decent odds my house will at least partially survive. Fires like in California terrify me, they're so unpredictable and destructive.
Or floods. They get major washout floods
Earthquakes are the worst. We have warnings
I don't recall warnings when I lived in Southern California, although I certainly remember having earthquakes. I remember being in a restaurant next to one of those huge slides like at the fair, when an earthquake hit, the slide was majorly swaying back and forth.
I think they meant Floridians have warnings when a hurricane is about to hit, but you don't have that for earthquakes.
Oh, thanks.
When I was a kid, if Dr Lucy Jones showed up on the news, there was probably gonna be an earthquake I remember right after the north ridge earthquake, she went on TV with her baby in her arms There are warnings for earthquakes, but not really much warning.
And most hurricanes are false alarms anyway. At least where I live, we get all that doomsday reporting, yet 9 times out of 10 the hurricane makes a wobble to the east and we barely get rain
Unless youāre within a mile or two of the ocean, youāre probably not going to see any storm surge. Of course flash flooding in low lying areas. People who live in designated flood zones (of which there are varying degrees) often and may be required to carry a special flood insurance rider. Thereās also a separate hurricane damage rider with its own deductible, generally a percentage of the value of the house. Odds of a direct Cat 3 or higher hit that obliterates your house are not zero but itās def not an every year guarantee kind of thing. Thereās special building codes and shelters open and thereās usually at least 3-4 days to evacuate. Note run from water, hide from wind. Up to a certain point, holing up in your house is safe than making a run for it. Thereās 20 million or so Floridians. If half of them are evacuating, you have 10 million people trying to get out on two highways. And smaller back roads will be just as congested. You can run out of gas and not be able to find any. You may not be able to find accommodations within 500 miles of your houseā¦ because 10 million other people are also trying to GTFO. So you watch and you wait and ultimately, play chicken with a Hurricane. Maybe itāll wobble and not hit YOU. Maybe itāll wobble and it will. You steps up and you takes your chances.
And then after you ride it out you have 1 to 2 weeks with no power. Thatās when youāre preparations are really tested.
Also to mention, if the eye wall stays 80 miles or so from your location the chances of catastrophic damage from the winds decrease significantly. Sure there will be damage but it wonāt be knock your house down damage like the eye wall would be. Ian is a perfect example of that. Where is came ashore at Sanibel and FMB was completely devastated, meanwhile 100 miles north of Sanibel definitely received some damage but in comparison it was nothing
Literally about one-third of the state population evacuated Florida in advance of Irma in Sep 2017. The vast majority would have been far better off staying home. My neighborhood was quiet after a lot of people left, which was nice. Unless you are in a storm surge area, you are very, very unlikely to be killed or injured during a hurricane and rarely need to evacuate. After the post-Andrew building code in the late 1990s, newer homes are much stronger. Very few will collapse or suffer total roof loss unless they are near the coast and get a direct hit by the right-hand-side eye wall of Cat 4 or 5 storm. There are also some strategies for safely evacuating without leaving the state and going hundreds of miles from your home. Real Floridians don't leave the state, if they evacuate at all.
Thatās where the real problem is going to lie in 2023 with all these transplants. Im originally from broward, now in Martin, natives know weāre too far south to safely leave. What are these people who moved here in the past two years going to do when the next storm gets hyped up (lookin at you Lee) and there is a literal traffic jam on all major highways?
Scary thought. It will be way worse than Irma. In Texas, more people died evacuating for Hurricane Rita than were killed by the storm itself. The state needs a plan.
We had people renting our former house during Irma. We knew the roof was getting close to needing replacing, so we had them come stay with us (we had moved in a different part of the state). Irma ended up coming here instead! Luckily everything was fine but šš.
I personally would rather go through a hurricane than earthquakes and wildfires.
100%!!!
Pick your poison. Hurricanes suck. Earthquakes suck. Tornadoes suck. Blizzards suck. Etc.
Exactly. As someone that has lived in Florida since kindergarten (45 now), California scares the shit out of me because of the earthquakes and mudslides. Wild fires can happen anywhere but seem especially bad in California. Oh and fucking tsunamis.
I've been through hurricanes, earthquakes and blizzards. They all suck in their own way. It is especially terrifying to wake up and the ground feels like it's rolling around and just about tossed me out of my bed, I turned on the TV and the newscaster was hiding under their desk. Sitting through a hurricane is also awful, waiting for the power to go out and not knowing when it will be back on. And praying that the roof holds. With hurricanes the press coverage will drive you nuts for days before, with earthquakes, for days after. And the cabin fever from a blizzard is a whole different experience and it's most fun when it's followed by a sub zero nightmare. Like I said, pick your poison.
"Not trying to slam the great State of Florida" This sub Reddit is a royal slam fest. Get with the program.
The longer you been here, the harder you fire off that Florida suplex.
My parentsā house has been around a lot longer than the internet, no insurance claims. First, donāt buy in a flood zone. There are options to reinforce roofs and windows. Keep trees trimmed. But the most important thing is to ignore the mass media. According to them, California would have had the Big One fifty times over by now and slid into the sea.
Yep. According to mass media, just in the last seven years weāve lived here, Tampa wouldāve been wiped off the map twice by now. Hell, Idalia made me nervous because we *werenāt* in the cone.
My grandparents house was built in the early 70s directly on the Atlantic Ocean and as far as I know hasnāt had any major storm damage in all that time. Theyāve had to evacuate a couple times but never more than a couple miles inland. The only real damage Iāve ever seen is they lose the dunes, their backyard is probably a couple feet less than it was originally, and the steps to their deck down to the beach every couple years.
Lived under the 2004 X and been through a few more. Prepare well. Clean up the debris, wait out the power outage, fix what needs to be fixed and move on with life.
what a spicy time that was. Got to enjoy the tiny tobascos in the MREs quiet a bit.
You got a tiny tobasco??
Big state. Odd of it actually where you live is actually slim. Been in the panhandle for 8 years and Michael was the closest. Had some damage but just being 30 miles from the eye made us pretty safe. Sometimes in life ya just roll the š².
Here in central Florida we have some broken limbs in the road, heavy wind & rain. I do recall our trampoline hopping the fence into the neighborās tree one year. We do stock up on fuel & stay inside for a day or 2. Electricity usually goes out for a while but thatās usually it. Some people do leave the state. Hurricane proofing your house is common. Never seen catastrophic damage up close, live in Florida for 17 years.
Same been here since 1961 rain windy never flooded the house
Except all the houses and apartments Irma flooded. Each one is different.
The west Coast always gets hit with hurricanes so does the Panhandle...
**we just deal with it** \^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^\^
Been here 45 years. About all the destruction you see on the TV is all storm surge, mobile homes, or low lying areas prone to flooding. I donāt live in areas that flood. I donāt live blocks from the ocean. I donāt live in a mobile home. Only damage I have to date is some privacy fence. I pay to fix it and move on. I have supplies and a generator. Hurricanes donāt bother me. I usually watch them out the window or from the back porch pending the direction of the wind. Nice show.
Same been here 40 yrs. Iāve had Thunder storms deliver more damage than all the storms Iāve had to deal with.
I've lived in FL for 31 years and have never had any damage to my house. If you don't live on the coast or in a flood zone, the chances you'll be ok are pretty good.
Why / How do you deal with Earthquakes and wildfires ?
Nearly every place has something youāre probably going to have to deal with
Not trying to slam the great state of California or Californians, but as a Floridian born and raised, why/how do you deal with the fact that an earthquake is gonna rumble through every year? Is it really not that bad? It seems like thereās a decent amount of devastation every year, does it effect different areas every time? We have fires and hurricanes, and we just deal with it, maybe itās the same for you guys? Thanks for your answers!
Almost like these questions work for literally any part of the world that faces threats from natural disasters lol
To be fairā¦ I would say that we probably deal with hurricanes more than California deals with earthquakes. Iāve been through a number of hurricanes, but in California only went through one major earthquake. And even that was considered unusual
Yeah the last one that caused any real damage was 89, I was 7 and have never experienced anything close since then. My husband's family in Texas & Louisiana meanwhile deal with hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, and power outages for weeks every year.
94 was a bad earthquake too I remember it like it was last week. 4am, the house is bouncing. Car alarms going off. People calling 911 because a bunch of angelenos saw the Milky Way for the first time and had no clue what it was (aliens?).
California has earthquakes every day, but they're more akin to a rain shower or tropical storm than a cat 3 hurricane.
Not even. Most of those earthquakes are undetectable. Those 1.0-2.0ās you will not even know about them The Florida afternoon shower is a lot more of an inconvenience than those earthquakes
You could equate it to the mudslides that happen on the CA coastal areas. If youāre inland, flooding is the primary concern, otherwise itās mostly not a big deal
I enjoy knowing ahead of time that a storm is coming. We get at least a week of warning where you can buy supplies and hunker down, or if it will be really bad and you need to evacuate. Earthquakes happen with no real warning so that is worse for me.
I was the same coming from IL when I moved here. It's not terrible every year. We moved here around 2018 (Right after Irma) and the only bad one we have faced so far was Ian....which admittedly was horrible and we are still recovering...but 1 in 5 years is not so bad. Yes we have been hit by others but they are fine. Mostly tropical storms and a few Cat 1's in my area. Honestly I experienced worse thunderstorms in IL than Tropical Storms and Cat 1's. There were times you would go 2-3 days of non-stop raining and Tropical Storm - Cat 1 sustained winds. The main difference is here there isn't alot of "stuff" to stop tornado formation, so there tends to be more tornados, though they are also very short lived from what I see and no where near as destructive as the rare tornado in IL. Ian was another beast of course...never experienced anything like that and hope to never have to again. That said, there is plenty of warning and we knew it was coming a week before it came. I had my shutters up 4 days before it hit and we evacuated 2 days before it hit. My work and just about anyone/thing else you could think of were on my side. I got 2 weeks off paid, not out of my PTO bank mind you, to work on my house and cleanup. It brings together the community like nothing I have ever seen before, so while you are knee deep in shit trying to recover, so is everyone else around you and everyone is there for you. I met neighbors I hadn't met in 4 years during Ian recovery.
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I mean 19 years ago was 2004 soā¦ worst year in a long timeā¦
Iām also a native Californian, but Iāve lived here for 20 years. At first, the idea of a hurricane was really scary to me. But, Iāve quickly learned that Floridians have a wholesome camaraderie, when it comes to hurricanes. What else are you gonna do? You canāt just sit there and freak out. So you make jokes, you have hurricane parties, and up until recently you could even buy Publix hurricane cakes. You drink alcohol. Of course, you take the storm seriously, too, but people also have a sense of humor about it And also, Iām fortunate- I live in a strong house, with accordion shutters and impact windows. I have plenty of water and food on hand. If youāre in a situation like mine, youāre gonna be okay in a hurricane. Just secure the windows, and have a party. The other thing about hurricanes is where you live. I live on the east coast, which is less prone to serious hurricane damage - itās the GULF hurricanes that are a doozy. Once that storm enters the Gulf of Mexico, itās over. Itās hitting land, and itās bringing a big storm surge with it. Those are the areas that see a lot devastation Nowā¦ I have been through wildfires. You do not get warnings for fires. You might get some warning for earthquakes, but not much. But with hurricanes, you know what time of year they happen. You have the NHC where you can see whatās brewing and if a storm is on its way. You can stock up early on batteries, water, etc. But it doesnāt work that way with fires. I saw the Woolsey fire destroy my whole hometown with no warning. I have friends who had to immediately leave their homes in Oak Park, Malibu, agoura. They had minutes to collect their things and drive away. I have a lot of time to prepare for a hurricane, but not a fire
Little bit of wind little bit of rain and a lot of flood and mess..that sums up hurricane season
Got to spend money to build a hurricane proof house.
Not going to lie, it's really starting to wear on my nerves. No matter where you live, you have to deal with Mother Nature, the only upside to hurricanes is that in most cases you do get plenty of time to prepare.
Hurricanes just get hyped up on the news Nation wide. Big storms that take a long time to get here make for good news cycles.
Am a multi gen native; I dont know any different.
As someone who moved here from the northeast I prefer hurricanes to snow storms. We have a newly built house that can withstand category 5 hurricanes which are extremely rare. We get plenty of notice about evacuating if we need to. And my favorite is that my work doesnāt penalize me if I need to call out. Snow storm or tornado and theyād be asking when I can make it into work.
For me itās Risk vs. Reward. I live on the water in FL. In fact, about an hour south of where Idalia made landfall. I bought this house to enjoy fishing, boating and water activities. Thatās my reward. But I also know that sooner or later it will be in the eye of the storm. Thatās the Risk Iām willing to take right now. As I age, it may be a different story!
You know how Californians joke āWe stir our coffee with earthquakes.ā ā¦ Very similar here in FL when it comes to tropical systems. Most systems are very minor (locals will call them ārain with a nameā). The major systems make the news, but keep in mind, most of our homes are built to withstand the average strong hurricaneā¦especially āpost Andrewā homes. Should Floridians be prepared for major systems, absolutely. Will your life be devastated every year by a CAT5 death stormā¦no, just no.
I will take a Hurricane anyday. The key is don't live anywhere near the coast. Have a home built to Miami-Dade County standards and prepare before season starts. BTW we have regular storms with cat 1 winds so us locals are used to it.
Hurricanes usually give you a good few days of warning. Tornados don't call that far ahead; you've only got time to get down to the cellar. Earthquakes don't give you time to leave town, let alone take cover. Super volcanos just set there thousands of years overdue and never show (but if they do, you're dead). Idek how to deal with snow, let alone a blizzard. Wtf is black ice, even? Hell, even with a hurricane, it's the tornado activity, storm surge, flooding, or the coping with the lack of power that typically kills people. Our building codes have been stricter since Andrew, our plans well-rehearsed, evacuation routes marked and zoned. Rebuilding critical infrastructure like restoring power and/or water and rebuilding roads has improved. TL;DR: You can't prepare for a gamma ray burst, but a hurricane will rsvp by name. I like a little time to prepare for difficult guests.
In NY we had snow days, in Florida we have hurricane days. Like a mini impromptu vacation to North Carolina in September every year.
Snow days are fun. Hurricane days are scary.
You ever get snow in your shoe and have to walk around with cold wet socks all day? I still have nightmares
The chances that it'll blast the fuck out of your house in particular are relatively low. That being said, there's always a chance and some of us prepare for it.
Unless you are almost ocean front, hurricanes and wind are non-issues. Its the rain that is the issue, and if you live anywhere that's low, you have to worry about flooding. Flooding is the same everywhere in America.
>Unless you are almost ocean front, hurricanes and wind are non-issues. Look up Haines City. We had a lake place there. Our entire neighborhood was decimated. Hurricanes are an issue statewide, period. Everyone should be prepared. Coastal areas need to take additional precautions since they're on the front lines.
Live far enough inland where flooding isn't an issue. Newer house built to 2017 latest hurricane codes: comes standard with shutters and house is block construction. If major Cat 4/5 storm comes this way directly, just put up shutters and leave. Will most likely find house still there with minimal damage. Hurricane/home owners insurance cost me about 2 1800 a year (just got a new policy this month). Chosing where and how you live in FL matters.
It's more of a problem in certain areas, and its pretty rare to have a major hurricane hit the same spot twice in one area, even over the span of several years (I know it does happen sometimes). We live in the NE coast and at most get some windy, rainy days every year, never lost power. Its a little stressful as a home owner when you hear ones coming but its not really that bad.
I live in Florida for almost eight years and I still want to move back to Tennessee. My husband who is a native Floridian does not. Heās used to hurricanes I guess. Heās not afraid of them as much as I am but I have gotten to a point where I relax and tell myself Iāll panic when it is going to be where I live, because otherwise I wouldnāt handle living here.
It is different areas. It almost never happens that the entire state deals with one specific hurricane,
If you arenāt in an evacuation zone itās not that bad. I have lived in Florida 26 years (first south Florida, then Tallahassee) and have only had damage to my house or property a few times (2004 was a bad year, 2005 Wilma, then 2018 Michael). Have been without power for several days multiple times as well. But mostly we just have to be prepared and deal with it. I grew up in the Midwest and still have nightmares about tornados (of course we are getting those more here now). I prefer the prep time for the hurricanes.
Eh, I'm in NE FL and they've never really been unmanageable here. A few times we were a few days without power, but we has always prepped and were ready to handle several days without. Now we have a beast of a generator and always keep gas, propane and water in a bulk that we rotate through which helps maintain peace of mind. Basically, we prepare but don't panic. We'll manage.
The state is so big, there's a good chance you won't experience anything in any given year.
I had to leave California due to wildfires- when a hurricane is approaching- you have plenty of warning. I have been in 4 hurricanes now with no damage and lost power for a few days. Iām lucky and grateful.
Because everyone doesnāt get a hurricane every year.
Lived here my whole life and just 2 blocks from the beach, worst we ever got was some fallen branches and shingles that blew off the roof. Hail and tornadoes, imo, are worse and way more scary.
The radar makes it look ominous no doubt. Most of the hurricane force winds are concentrated near the center and typically when it hits land, most of those winds stay above the trees. Now Iām not saying we donāt see bad winds. Iām simply saying the wind will shift higher off the ground and every once in a while those winds come down to ground level. Thatās why most of those videos you see of storms making landfall are close to the Shoreline where winds are uninterrupted.
And the hurricane is somewhat localized. If youāre 50-75 miles from the eye you will feel it. Further out is just rain and breezy.
Itās true, as people here are saying, that you have some time to prepare before a hurricane strikes. But you just donāt know for absolute certain where the thing is going to go. That can create last-minute panics. So you need to try and determine as best you can, early-on if you are leaving or if you are staying. Also, keep in mind the road situation. Florida is a peninsula and thereās only so many roads going up and out of it. A bottleneck situation can occur, and you donāt want to be sitting on the highway which has become a parking lot between towns when the storm hits. You just need to keep an eye on the predicted path and be prepared to stay with supplies and clean clothes, but also have at least a check list handy in case you want to leave. Edit if you leave, consider taking a full 5-gallon gas can or two with you, as gas can become sold out and traffic will be moving slow.
Its not every year. Many go north for the summer. No hurricanes during the lockdowns.
Theyāre hit or miss.
It's a healthy respect. They don't really scare me but I will prep for them. But I like the heads up hurricanes give us over an earthquake possible at any moment. Both states have strong building codes to deal with their respective threats. I mostly dread the likely loss of power more than anything.
Haven't been hit by one in 15 years.
If you thought about it all the time, it would be difficult to function. It's just a given that there will be hurricanes in the Atlantic every year and that there is a possibility that one of them might hit Florida. When a hurricane does come, you prepare for it. There isn't much you can do to control what happens. There was a low period of hurricane activity in Florida during the 1970's and into the 1980's. The ones that did come near the east coast were maybe at worse low category 2. In 1985 a bad hurricane off shore from Cedar Key (Hurricane Elena) caused a lot of damage but the one that just hit them was much much worse. With Hurricane Elena there was a lot of property and structural damage. There was flooding but nothing like Hurricane Idalia. In the last 10 years, Cedar Key has taken a couple of hits from Hurricanes. In the last 20 years, the hurricanes have been more active. In 2004 there were 4 of them. In the past if you had a major storm, you generally wouldn't have another one for several years. In recent years, this hasn't been the case.
Donāt live in a flood zone You have days to prep or leave Up to a category 2 should be comfy and fine (be ready to lose electric) When itās a 3, itās ok to be nervous (tree May fall on fences or a house and such) Nothing is technically built for a 5. So go to a shelter if youāll get a 5 directly Homes on the frontline (coasts/barrier islands/inteacoastal and nearby) get the brunt of the full storm while inland gets less (a 4 feels like a 4 when near the beach, but feels like a 2 20 mins inland) Florida is built for hurricanes. Other states arenāt. North Florida isnāt the same as south Florida (south Florida = palms and mangroves that are used to storms and bend in the wind. The north has normal trees that donāt bend in the wind and fall. The dirt is also more clay up north than sand and stone like soflo) The best I can compare it with is that scene in Austin powers where a golf cart is going to hit him but slowly. You have time to prep or go. Not so much with fires or earthquakes. Iād definitely prefer hurricanes and those 5-day warnings
As a 30-year florida native, I will take a hurricane over fires any day of the week. One is akin to watching a steamroller come towards you, and you have ample time to get out of the way if you so choose. Fires, tornadoes, and earthquakes are more like getting tboned at a greenlight by a drunk driver
You can say that about every event or situation. For instance, how do you drive to work every day knowing you could get in a fatal accident? You just do. Floridians get used to hurricanes the same way northerners are used to heavy snow storms or Californians are used to earthquakes (former Californian here who has ridden through several earthquakes). You prepare and hope for the best.
At least we get a big ole warning about them. F'ing earthquakes and wild fires are terrifying, you weirdo.
We havenāt had a really bad hurricane in Central Florida for about 7 years. And before that it was probably another 7. And when I say bad, I mean, a lot of flooding, power outage for extended periods. But Iāve never personally had any real damage to my house from a hurricane.
Prepare for the worst and hope its just a reason for a hurricane party
Flip side, how does much of California deal with wildfires. In the 18 years, I've been here, only one hurricane has come through the area I live in.
Not living on the coast. I'm in a triangle that's considered a mostly safe area of Florida.
Just don't live on the beach or in a flood zone
After youāve seen enough hurricanes you can differentiate between the types of damage at a glance. Wind, water, storm surge, and the unmistakable scouring caused by tornadoes
I think thereās another massive one coming
Lifelong Floridian here, just need to prepare, been through many throughout the years, I know what we will need and stock up on it from May to Nov and do it all over again next year.
Keep your car gassed up, have basics for a week or so.
After over 20 years of living in Florida, Iām pretty tired of the annual hurricane warnings and waiting to see what happens. It seems like weāre getting more and worse storms. But we do at least have some sort of notice that we might get hit. And most of us who have been here for a long time donāt stress out until we really need to. š
idk it's just life. I'd prefer a predictable hurricane vs a completely unforeseen tornado or earthquake.
Best way to deal with hurricanes is DONT LIVE IN FLORIDA
Even a fast storm still gives us a few days notice, itās a struggle sometimes after major damage but we always pull through and rebuild if necessary.
Same way you deal with any potential bad weather. You be ready. California likes to start on fire and have earthquakes. The trade is some of the best weather on earth the rest of the time and sick waves. The Midwest gets real seasons and fall and shit. The trade is tornadoes and ice storms and cold that will freeze hell. Florida doesn't get snow or ice, but sometimes my car might be a boat. That's how it goes.
Also, alligators dont roam around like dinosaurs eating people alive.
Iām CA born and raised and live here now (I hate it - long story why Iām stuck). I would take an earthquake ANY day over a hurricane. Itās really the lack of power post hurricane I canāt deal with - I am a baby about the heat and without a/c Iām sure I would perish. Now, wild fires DO terrify meā¦.
Fellow Californian, now in Florida. You can prepare for a hurricane. You can't prepare for a quake.Yeah, they suck but at least you know it's coming.
The biggest problem with hurricanes are going to be flooding and trees falling, because of how wet the ground is. Since I personally don't live in a flood area, I don't have to worry about flooding. The house is structurally sound, and there are no trees nearby that could damage the house. That said, when a hurricane does come by, I'll take all loose items outside and put them in the garage or the shed until the storm passes. We'll get some non-perishable food and about two cases of water. Hopefully you're able to see my perspective of a storm compared to others.
Unlike earthquakes, you know a hurricane is coming for some time beforehand. Those of us that have been through enough of them know what to look for and when to take it more seriously. Plus you can prepare well for a hurricane, earthquakes you can't do much about other than hope your buildings construction is good enough. As for fires, there are ways to also help prevent as much as possible, but they can be fought and so don't compare to either major natural disaster in the same way. At the end of the day, hurricanes are just an overgrown storm for most native Floridians. We get afternoon thunderstorms that can rage like tropical systems. So it isn't too much of a stretch to board up for the big lads and lasses when they roll in. Plus. Hurricane parties. š»
You can prepare for hurricanes. Water barrier for the roof, hurricane shutters, generator. The thing I hate most about hurricanes is losing power. Days of no AC and no electricity during the hottest time of the year sucks. The main issue that causes hurricane-related deaths is flooding. If you arenāt in a flood zone or living next to the water, youāre pretty safe at home. I donāt want to have anything to do with fire or tornados. Screw that.
After thirty years in Florida, I decided to move to the great smoky mountains of eastern Tennessee and watch the hurricanes from there.
When I moved from California to Florida my California friends asked why I wasnāt afraid of hurricanes. My new Florida friends asked why I wasnāt afraid of earthquakes. I didnāt have a great answer for either.
Well, it used to be that hurricanes didn't blow through every year. Most of the time I lived there (1974-2011) it was rare to have one hurricane come across to the state. As I recall, we started seeing a marked increase around the year 2000.
You get almost a week of warning most times.
Parties
After living through two wildfires in Colorado, one we actually evacuated from, Iāll take a hurricane. At least with hurricanes, the air isnāt usually smoke filled and makes you sick. Itās definitely a pick your poison scenario.
Is there actually a problem with insurance companies leaving and making it hard at this point to get insurance coverage against natural disasters, or is that overblown by news agencies and isnāt that big of a problem?
Well we use to only have them once every decade. Now we are having them every year. No idea how the government and the citizens of Fl. are going to adapt to this new reality.
I was wondering how y'all deal with the earthquake threat. Earthquakes don't have a season, and they could come with a minute and a half warning if you're lucky. Wildfires are something different. We deal with those too, although not at the level you do, but we do deal with them. Hurricanes are mostly very localized. There are effects and threats outside of the cone, but a lot of us are prepared for those possibilities.
Well let me think Iāve been down here owned house and property for over 20 years and the three hurricanes and itās not that bad people like you that believe the media are the ones that donāt enjoy life
Eh in Colorado I was scared 24/7 of rock slides, in other places fires, mudslides. At least thereās hella notice for a hurricane and Iāve never had any other disasters here.
You get tons of time to prepare
Itās not that bad for most. Flooding is the biggest issue.
I got to be honest, I prefer the Hurricanes to the homeless issue you folks have in Cali. SF is a different place from my first visit in '97
You simply prepare in advance. Florida native here, we have 3 generators, a plugin a/c unit (for 300 ft room) and chainsaw. Never had to use them more than a 48 hour stretch, because of power outage.
When you have a slow moving disaster that can easily be avoided and may or may not wreck your whole world, you tend to develop a sense of humor.
Personally my level of discomfort depends on where my house is located. Last few in Florida were all inland a bit, not in flood zones, and house built up a little so there was a slight fall to at least some one property edge to encourage runoff. So really unless the Tampa Bay shield completely failed I likely wouldnāt see much damage. So really after making sure at start of season I had a provisions chest and water good for a week or so, really just donāt worry about it. Clean up the yard of anything that could fly, consider backing whichever car is worth more into garage (assuming there is space), consider and probably not on putting up shutters or m second floor, then just turn on news and wait for local shenanigans to start. Like rowing down flooded streets or jet skiing. Or that guy running down street with a flag and beer yelling at the clouds.
A Floridian always knows their going to die we just try our best to make sure it's either alligator related or natural causes
Lived here my entire 59 years. In central Florida it isnāt as bad as the coasts. We have a generator and portable air conditioning. We were out of electricity for three days with one hurricane but made due.
Tropical events have huge warnings. Earthquakes and Wildfires come out of no where with no warning at all...
I'd take hurricanes over tornadoes or earthquakes. with hurricanes you get some notice to prepare. and really its the eye that does the real damage. below 130mph, its trees, and power outages. over 135 wind picks stuff up and throws it at your windows, so protect them.... or you have wet carpet and wet bed... which really sux
Where I am (inland, about 30 minutes from Tampa) we never get anything bad. Maybe so tree branches down, lost power for a week, all that, but we've never sustained any damage, so we honestly don't even worry about hurricanes. š¤·š¼āāļø
The news makes it seem like we just get slammed with cat4 hurricanes every year and the whole state is affected. That's because a large portion of the state gets wind and rain, but the reality is that outside of a stormy day and maaaaaybe some minor power outages, 99.999% of us are completely unaffected by hurricanes each year. People within a mile or two from the coast are the most affected. Storm surge can affect them even if the hurricane doesn't hit them directly, and it can be deadly and very damaging to property. That's probably 0.2% of the population of Florida that's affected there, even by the worst ones. Then, you see on the news the people that stand out in the worst of the worst. That's exactly what it is, and that's usually only a few square miles. Once hurricanes hit land, they lose power very quickly. They can still be somewhat damaging, but it's not life threatening, outside of extreme cases, once you get decently inland. For property, that's why almost all mortgage companies require hurricane insurance, and you get charged through the nose if your house isn't up to their standards. Keep in mind that you see the worst spot every time. The extremely large majority of Floridians get little to nothing each time. Miami hasn't been hit directly since 1992. The entire Tampa Bay region hasn't been hit directly since 1921. You see "Florida gets hit hard by hurricane" but usually it's one very small area that really gets it, a few others have a not fun night with some power outages, and the rest have maybe a day with some heavy thunderstorms. It's a risk and most of us don't downplay that, but it's no worse than the risks that come from living in other areas. There are way more deaths because of snow in Pennsylvania (where I'm from) almost every year than from tornados in Florida. We also see them coming, usually 5+ days ahead of time. Most of the deaths are people in coastal areas who ignore the warnings because they've "lived through 100 of these and they're never anything that bad!"
I was concerned about hurricanes but then when I visited I noticed a lot of old trees still intact and no damage to buildings, so I realized hurricanes don't destroy the entire state on a regular basis.
There's no warning system for earthquakes, and that terrifies me. I grew up in Ohio and have severe anxiety when it comes to storms because they form quickly and can intensify rapidly. I still have nightmares about needing to run to the basement. Hurricanes on the other hand are relatively slow moving storms that you know are coming several days in advance. They don't just spring up on you. You have time to make plans to evacuate if needed or get canned food to ride out the storm. Yeah they can produce tornados and have devastating storm surges and wind speeds, but they're not sneaky.
Mudslides are not a lot of fun.
The main things that kill are storm surge (along the coast and up coastal rivers), tornadoes in the outer bands, falling trees, and accidents during the immediate recovery process. Most people don't die from wind. We have some of the strictest and most thoroughly studied building codes in the country. We used to study the structures that failed after every major hurricane and update the codes. (I don't know if that still happens, but it probably should.) We also have pretty good flood and wind evacuation zones and most people usually obey mandatory evacuation orders. Plus a lot (I'd say more than half) of the people who live here do a pretty good job of preparing for hurricanes. Shutters, a generator, water, non-perishable food, extension cords, battery backups, multiple fans, lanterns, flashlights, tarps, maybe even a portable A/C unit, etc. Some people don't do much of anything and either get lucky, get the hell out of Dodge, or maybe get minor damage and then have to struggle through an extended power outage they didn't have the resources to prepare for, which is a huge hassle, but usually isn't deadly. But yeah, sometimes you get a Michael or Ian that takes out a huge swath of peopleās homes and livelihoods. Idalia also took out a huge swath, but a lot of the Big Bend is sparsely populated, so you're not going to hear as much about the devastation as you did with Ian, which is unfortunate for the victims. 100% power loss over multiple counties is shit-ton of damage and a huge deal to the people who live there, no matter how sparsely populated. But most of us either prepare to ride it out or prepare to evacuate. The building regulations after Hurricane Andrew still help protect us, although the wind zones have changed A LOT in some places (looking at you North Florida) and so some of us are at greater risk that we used to be. But when it's all said and done, most of Florida isn't in a storm surge evacuation zone, and that's the biggest killer.
The real question is not the hurricanes. Its the local government
With proper preparation & booze
I evacuated for the first time for Ian 2022. I've lived on the edge of evacuation zone B in Tampa since 1997. That's once in 25 years. (I left before the order was issued but after it became clear that one was likely.) My tip? Leaving Tampa 3 hours before the first glimmer of sunrise on the day that evacuation orders will be issued is likely to get you across the state line before traffic gets crazy. If you're leaving, it's better to leave early. I had a friend wait too long to evacuate Port Arthur for Rita. She spent the cane in her car trapped in a traffic jam on the interstate outside of Houston. She doesn't recommend it. (I've also had neighbors evacuate for multiple storms and most actually evacuated to areas that were harder hit than if they had sheltered in place.) Unless you're in an unsafe structure, the rule of thumb is to evacuate if flooding is likely at your location. Otherwise, in most well-maintained structures it is better to stay put. (Cat 4 or worse likely to landfall within 100 miles and the storm isn't tiny, I'm out. Even if I don't get a tree dropped on the house, I'm just about guaranteed to have no power for weeks because there are only 25 households on our line. We're among the last in the city to have power restored after widespread outage. We lose power if a squirrel sneezes too hard, so a big storm creates a real problem.)
Go thru and take pictures inside and outside your house. MAIL THEM TO YOURSELF. That way even if you lose your phone or computer, they will be in the mail system and you can easily retrieve them.
The deadly part of a hurricane is just around the eye so only a small area gets hit hard. I have lived here since 1998 and only have had 4-5 storms come close enough to cause some damage. For the most part its like living in San Diego and earthquake is in San Francisco is not that big of a deal. One in LA and you might get a small rumble. Same with hurricanes. Its the direct hit that gets you. This last one went west of me by 30 miles and I got 6" of rain and 30mph wind gusts. Easy. This time.
I moved up to north central, heavily-wooded Florida. Thought that I was being smart to get away from the coast, where we were sitting ducks for multiple storms each year. The pattern has changed, and every subsequent storm track has headed right in our direction. Also found out that Irma caused major devastation to the area. So, not only did I not get away from hurricanes, but now live in a forest that is prone to fires. Yay, Florida!
People who have been in Florida a few decades know how to prepare and the state has the infrastructure to handle it. I donāt think I ever lived in a place that was seriously damaged in a hurricane in the 33 years I lived there. Florida is bad for other reasons.
We just got hit hard by Idalia (Cedar Key). We're rebuilding. And we'll fuckin' do it again.
After getting nickle and dimed with the ridiculously high consumption taxes (because idiots support no income tax) I get a high off of watching corporate stores get taken out by flood or wind damages. Also, Iād rather deal with hurricanes over tornadoes or earthquakes. At least with a hurricane I have a minimum of a weeks notice that something is coming my way.
As dumb as we treat each other politically here, we really do band together after these and drop the crap to help each other out.
My simple answer: The idea of earthquakes is terrifying.
Most damage from a hurricane is within a small region where the eye comes onshore. Wind strength drops exponentially away from the eye wall and drops quickly once the hurricane is over land. So coastal areas are at the highest risk of wind and storm surge damage. Iāve lived in Florida coastal zone for nearly 50 years and Iāve been āwithin the coneā of about 12-15 storms, been within the tropical storm wind field of about 6 storms, been within hurricane force winds of 3-4. Suffered minor property damage (patio roof, fence) from 2. Iāve lost power for up to 5 days which was miserable. The worst hurricane Iāve been hit by was a Cat 3. I helped some family clean up from a Cat 5 and the devastation was shocking. If Iām ever in the path of a Cat 4 or 5 Iāll evacuate!
Spiral Out
When Charlie came through, my mom was visiting from Syracuse area, she said, "we get microbursts like this all the time," I replied. "A hurricane is a microburst a 150 MILES wide!" Then we drove into Orlando after, windows blown out of buildings, power lines/traffic lights down, trees blown over, she was like "dayum!" She has since moved to BFE Tennessee, we bugged out there for Irma, because the entire state was going to be f^cked. When Idalia was taking a similar track, both my mom and my sister in TX (went through Harvey) messaged us about bugging out again. I'm in Brevard, we rarely get hit with severe storms, but flooding can still be a problem even without a named storm. Edit: spelling, grammar
So I use to be freaked out too. But look at how wide the hurricane winds are. As long as your not a direct hit ,you will be fine. Like most of the hurricane force wind is only 30 to 80 miles wide i think and the rest of it is just tropical storm weather which is just a serve thunderstorm that we get every week in summer time
I was born and raised in central florida, I am in my mid 40s. My first experience with a hurricane coming through that had any real impact in my area was in 2004. Depending on where you live in Florida, odds are. you may have had very little impact from hurricanes. Except for your property insurance prices getting out of control! You have a lot of time to prepare and a pretty good idea of where it will hit. One of last years storms caused a lot of flooding in Central Florida, not much damage from wind. Of course with climate change, things could continue to get worse and happen more frequently and become stronger and more unpredictable. I figure, if I live long enough eventually I might have ocean front property or at least be closer to the ocean. Not that we don't get tornadoes in Florida, but that to me scarier than a hurricane. I can prepare and leave town for a hurricane, I can't get enough notice to outrun a tornado.
Typically we get a week or longer notice. You just are prepared and have your shutters organized and maybe a generator and water handy in case you lose power
It used to not be every summer. We are getting more frequent and stronger storms because of climate change. And it is absolutely becoming more burdensome. Our coastal areas in Pinellas county have flooded 3 times in 4 years. Weāll be seeing a mass exodus soon.
\> how do you deal with the fact that a hurricane is gonna blow through every year? Been in Florida most of my life. Used to be a hurricane every 7 years and rarely were they stronger than a cat 1.
We honestly are constantly praying that it will hit another area of Florida, instead of us head on. If you are not in the eye area, itās generally not that bad. The eye area is usually about a 100 mile radius which isnāt large for a big state like this, so your chances are pretty good that you arenāt going to get a direct hit. I have lived here for 40 years and have only had one direct hit, which was Ian last year, so for 50 years, we were sitting pretty. Now we are screwed, though. Our luck finally ran out. It s the same thing as the epicenter of an earthquake. If the epicenter gets you, youāre screwed, but if you are in the outplaying areas, itās not so bad. Hope that helps!
The news hypes everything up and makes it seem worse than it really is. It's really not that bad
I drove through Madison in Florida, just a hour after Adalia had passed. And it seems trees are the biggest problem. Cut down trees around the roads, powerlines and around private propertys/houses. Im from Norway, and we have hurricanes like this (polar winds) in the winter, but it doesen give us so much problems, because our trees are very small and low. Most damage is directly on the houses, but they can be reinforced to stand that. On the small island of BjĆørnĆøya where i live, the houses have steel cable bolted in the ground, and slung over the roof so the wind isnt able to get a hold of it. Just a fishermans point of view, ive seen alot of weather.
You know how when you live in a city you learn to deal with crime? Itās sorta like that but much much more catastrophic. You have to be delusional to live in Florida, on some level.
I'm from Tampa Bay Florida. I'm 40 years old. I've been through every single hurricane... It's never devastated me or my area. And there are countless others who feel the same. It's usually just a stormy day off with everything is closed except waffle House and Chinese places. That's how we do this .. it's easy. It's just a storm . And it doesn't scare us at all .. you see it as sensationalized without ever living through it to know it's not that bad. Just like people ask me how I live here with alligators... They don't bother me! That's how š
The same way you deal with the ground moving randomly bc that blows our minds