I Now Look At Hurricanes Differently!

[Blown Away]

Prior to 2004, I'll be honest, I would get real fired up to experience the hurricanes fury. Having the national spotlight on your home town and the little black forecast line going over your home really gets the adrenaline pumping, some people panic and some like me go into high speed preparation mode. When the eye of Frances, Jeanne, and Wilma crossed rate over me, I'll admit as a weather fanatic, the experience was unbelievable, watching wind gust over 100mph is amazing then almost instantly have the calm eye pass over is awesome. After watching the storms devistate peoples lives and for me (selfishly)seeing my insurance increase by $3000. the thought of another hurricane coming towards my home town is now mentally & financially stressful for me. To think I used to in some warped way get disappointed when the storms missed my area.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

I have definetly realized the true
power and devastation of hurricanes...

I never wanted them...but I thought my
house was INDESTRUCTIBLE because the
contructors said it could hold
up to a category 5. When I saw
what category 3 jeanne did to
so many homes on floridas east
coast I was like, maybe
my home is not indestructible and
if a category 3 hits my area
my home is gone.

[Jagno]

BlownAway; Mother nature is beautiful and exciting however her fury is what turns this into fear, anxiety and dread.

[msbee]

Blown away
what a great post.
Having seen my island go through a CAT 4 hurricane, I get frightened when I think about an approaching cane.
I know first hand what it can do.
I have posted many times on here to some of the folks who get so excited and can't wait for a hurricane.
They must understand that some of us anticipate approaching caness with some fear and trepidation and a healthy respect for their power..
We can all agree that the weather phenomena of a hurricane is fascinating, but once you have experienced the full force of one and seen the devastation it causes, you look at things a little differently.
Please, the rest of you, remember that!

[Steve]

Completely understood. 2006 was dead to me after losing all my **** in Katrina. And like Louisiana, Florida can't really afford any more storms this cycle unless and until the federal government decides to start underwrting catastrophies. It's only whispers right now, but some coastal property values are tanking HARD on the FL Panhandle (in some cases 2% decline per month/25% annually). Lack of insurability is going to destroy many markets because the insurance companies get away with whatever they want. My brother is currently paying about $5,900 a year for the Louisiana Fair Plan* (bought his 1900's era house for $270k that only got 1" of water during Katrina), and that's only for homeowner's. Think about that - nearly $500 a month just for insurance before you even start talking about debt service.

* The fair plan is a public payer plan that you can use if no one else will underwrite in your area for your circumstances. My agent recently told me that we had to insure our house (shell worth maybe $20k if that) for the pre-storm amount of $195k just to protect our insurability. "They're writing policies for homes > $750k, but they don't want to take chances on anything else. You have to pay their premiums else no one will underwrite you when you get your house finished."

= Unbelievable how the power is out of the hands of the consumers.

Steve

[bevgo]

I will admit to being one of those that got a rush of adrenalin when that cone had my home in its path. After many near misses in New Orleans, I also got very complacent. The old "it's not comming here" mentality. After moving to MS I evaced for a hurricane in 04 and ended up in my usual place of Meridian MS and we had worse damage there than here on the MS coast. When Katrina was heading our way I was just really not worried. I did my usual prep and when my daughter refused to leave I did not push too hard. I also thought I would be able to shelter at the hospital with my husband if it looked like it would be really bad. When I found out that was not possible it was too late to leave so here I was with my grown daughter and 2 y/o grandson.

I no longer get a thrill when I see a developing storm. I am filled with dread and watch closely, no longer for fun but for information crucial to survival. I am no longer complacent. If my daughter will not leave I will write her name on her with a surgical marker, take the children and get the h--- out of here. I have my hurricane supplies split into 2 boxes. One to leave with my hubby who is required to stay because of his job and the other goes with me to help out if we lose power in Meridian.

I still think everything about a hurricane is fascinating but no longer get a thrill. Katrina changed that love to pure fear and dread. I NEVER want to be that close to mother nature again.

[Ixolib]

...I still think everything about a hurricane is fascinating but no longer get a thrill. Katrina changed that love to pure fear and dread. I NEVER want to be that close to mother nature again.

I'm with you on that.

[HeeBGBz]

Yup, Katrina did that for me. Now I'm an incessant watcher. I still probably won't evac, but I'm highly aware of what could happen. I also am very aware that even though Katrina was bad, she could have been way worse had she still been a Cat 5 at landfall.

[wzrgirl1]

I will admit that until I went through a hurricane I sort of wished a small one would hit my area.....well I indirectly went through Andrew and directly went through Jeanne and Wilma and I will NEVER wish for one again, in fact I now fear them although I do enjoy tracking them. I always thought, hey no big deal, what could a cat. 1 or cat. 2 do........then came Wilma.....the scariest day of my life by far.

[Category 5]

I've never seen a full blown Hurricane (The Outer Bands of Isabel and a dying Floyd don't count) But I've seen and heard enough to steer clear if a major Hurricane approaches.

[Agua]

Glad to see a hard dose of reality can knock some common sense into folks.

[Cyclone1]

Glad to see a hard dose of reality can knock some common sense into folks.

Not me, sorry. Charley hit my area (direct hit) and it just sparked my interest in hurricanes. What gets me nervous are the tornadoes imbedded in the hurricanes. Straightline winds/gust, however, I'm fine with. And I live too far inland to worry about flooding.

[Agua]

Glad to see a hard dose of reality can knock some common sense into folks.

Not me, sorry. Charley hit my area (direct hit) and it just sparked my interest in hurricanes. What gets me nervous are the tornadoes imbedded in the hurricanes. Straightline winds/gust, however, I'm fine with. And I live too far inland to worry about flooding.

Sorry. Guess I should have said "some folks".

[Steve]

>>Glad to see a hard dose of reality can knock some common sense into folks.

Yeah, I always wanted the action. But I don't care so much anymore. I don't have anything to lose, so they really don't bother me. I'll stay for a 2ish, but otherwise, I'm probably going to wait it out somewhere else.

Steve

[Frank P]

Boy I echo what everyone is saying on this post... Living on the beach I was always facinated with the canes... it was such a rush and all... Katrina's effect on me will last a life time... I can honestly say I hope I never see another hurricane again in my life... we all tend to forget about the pain, misery and suffering that the hurricane inflicts on the people in the area, and how it can destroy a way of life for many... I will be looking at empty lots along the MS coast and my neighborhood for many many years... Steve's comments about insurance is also something that needs to be thought about... its only going to get worse with time... expect gas prices to go through the roof if a major cane enters the GOM and heads towards Tx or La... insurance is going to remain a serious problem unless something is done by the Feds.. I'm lucky I can afford the increase, many can't....

[Ixolib]

...we all tend to forget about the pain, misery and suffering that the hurricane inflicts on the people in the area, and how it can destroy a way of life for many...

Ain't THAT the truth!!!

[DanKellFla]

The truly frustrating consequence of any storm hitting florida in the near future is an even bigger insurance mess. Not only do I dread having a storm affect my house, but anywhere withing 600 miles of my house! (on land of course.)

[TampaSteve]

When you live in Florida, you can't help but be a hurricane watcher, but there are worse things. I lived in Calabasas, CA in 1994, and after the Northridge quake, I can tell you unequivocally that I'd take a hurricane over an earthquake every time...at least you can see a hurricane coming and get the hell out of the way.

[HurryKane]

how it can destroy a way of life for many...

This is the part of hurricane devastation that most people who haven't been in it/near it don't realize. They'll say, "Oh, my house will survive X, Y, and Z. And if it doesn't then so what, it was fun to ride out."

But what if other things don't survive? Your job, for example? Your water/sewer/power utilities? Your gas stations? Your grocery stores? Your town's infrastructure? Your favorite Friday night dive? Everything you used to do for fun? Your church? Your ability to walk out the door and not sigh at the continual reminders of what used to be and what will never be?

And most important of all, your people?


Seems to me a lot of people forget to take that into consideration when hoping for some tropical action.

[jinftl]

I think on some level I am still fascinated by the actual storm experience itself...the raw power of nature...although wilma came close to scaring me out that fascination...what is maybe forgotten in that fascination is the unexciting, expensive, trying, draining (and possibly much more dire consequences than that as we saw with katrina on the gulf coast) state of life following the storm...it's horrendous!