We can't take another storm in my area this year!! Read it!!

[SarahINMobile]

Hey guys! I have been a member of S2k for over two years (under a different name), and it seems like I have seen more of this post so far this year than the last two years combined! It is beginning to aggrevate me, because, (and I know this is, like, BIG news), neither can anyone else on the gulf coast!!!! In case you don't (or haven't) realized it, pretty much everyone on the gulf coast was hit with some type of storm last year...from florida to texas. Therefore, I would think that pretty much everyone living between those states is thinking the exact same thing, making it a moot point for people to keep saying it! Unfortunately, I realize the horrendousness (if this is a word!) of a hurricane, I just got my new roof a month ago, 9 months after Katrina hit. I also do not want to be so self-centered as to say "We/the Mobile area/the central northern gulf coast can take another storm this year!" (I'm not saying the people that say this statement are self-centered, that would just be how I would feel saying it!!!) Anyways, I just needed to get up on my soapbox for a second...I hope I didn't offend anyone (as that was not my intention), just made you aware. That being said, I don't think anyone on the GC could take another hit this year, so I pray that we are saved by divine intervention!!!

[Canelaw99]

Excellent post, IMO....while some areas were hit harder than others, all of us were affected in some way, as you said. We're all in this thing together and we all need to support one another. Constantly stating that x place doesn't need another is obvious, IMO. No place really needs another storm, but unfortunately, those of us who choose to live in 'cane prone areas will be faced with other storms whether we need them/want them or not.

[hial2]

Hey guys! I have been a member of S2k for over two years (under a different name), and it seems like I have seen more of this post so far this year than the last two years combined! It is beginning to aggrevate me, because, (and I know this is, like, BIG news), neither can anyone else on the gulf coast!!!! In case you don't (or haven't) realized it, pretty much everyone on the gulf coast was hit with some type of storm last year...from florida to texas. Therefore, I would think that pretty much everyone living between those states is thinking the exact same thing, making it a moot point for people to keep saying it! Unfortunately, I realize the horrendousness (if this is a word!) of a hurricane, I just got my new roof a month ago, 9 months after Katrina hit. I also do not want to be so self-centered as to say "We/the Mobile area/the central northern gulf coast can take another storm this year!" (I'm not saying the people that say this statement are self-centered, that would just be how I would feel saying it!!!) Anyways, I just needed to get up on my soapbox for a second...I hope I didn't offend anyone (as that was not my intention), just made you aware. That being said, I don't think anyone on the GC could take another hit this year, so I pray that we are saved by divine intervention!!!

Amen...South Fla is on the same boat as the rest of the gulf..A tropical storm here of any size would destroy many many many homes weakened and unrepaired because of unscrupulous insurance companies and/or crooked contractors..I also cringe when I read all the "Yoohoos" and "Whoopees"that some post when a storm forms in the area..All I can say is that sooner or later, unfortunately their day will come..

[beachbum_al]

I agree Sarah. For the last two years the Mobile and Eastern Shore area has been hit hard and no one along the GOM Coast areas need a hit.

[Scorpion]

South Texas or Mexico would be the best place for this to hit.

[Jim Cantore]

South Texas or Mexico would be the best place for this to hit.

Correction, the best thing is for it to get ripped apart by shear.

[bevgo]

As you said, none of us need another storm. Not now or ever. Unfortunately, reality states, some if not all of us will get another at some point.

I don't think the yippies and yahoos are wishing for a storm with all the potential destruction with it but just aware that it is going to happen and love watching a storm form and change. I refuse to believe that anyone really wants to see the death and destruction. They just want to track and observe what they love.

There are the occasional kooks that appear here that say they want a storm to hit a certain area but they don't last too long here. Then there are those that make the effort to be where ever the storm is (storm trackers) but they don't want the destruction to happen, they just want to be there when it does.

I once thought it would be really cool to be here when a hurricane hit and see in person all the fury and beauty of a storm. Since Katrina I have changed my mind. I still love hurricanes and will continue to watch, understanding that they could visit my area again. I dread all the destruction that goes hand and hand with this force. Not wanting or wanting a cane will not change reality. I know that at times the excitment is a bit much for some of us to bear but we have to understand the excitment or we would not be here on nthis board.

Be safe everyone.

[SarahINMobile]

hey bevgo...i do understand the excitement...i get excited when there is a storm in the GOM just like any other person living on the gulf coast! my only point was that I cannot believe how many people say "My area just can't take another hit this year". I just want to be like "well, no sh*t, neither can any other state on the gulf coast after the last two years." And of course we are going to get hit by a storm eventually, that is the risk I take to live 30 minutes from the beach! I dont know, I guess I just find it a little ignorant to make statements like that knowing that the whole gulf coast has been slammed the last two years!!

[Sanibel]

If this storm hits us on Sanibel that's it for us and this house. That will be the end of "Sanibel" on this board because we'll be forced to move after Charley's impact on our household. That's it for Storm2k's "Sanibel" if it happens.

[Ptarmigan]

Well said. Having Katrina hit the Gulf Coast is too much to bear. I have heard Southeast Texas is at risk for a hurricane hitting us this year. Also, New York City area is at risk this year too. A hurricane hitting New York will really be too much in terms of lives loss and property damage.

[hurricanesfans27]

having damage from Ivan was bad enough. I hope my new roof doesnt undergo a test this season.

[stormymonday]

The metro New Orleans area cannot take another hit from a big storm. A lot of areas in my parish (St.Bernard) look like the day after Katrina. Houses untouched, furniture still in them, weeds and grass 5 and 6 feet tall around them. I fear that if we get hit again, there will be nothing to go back to. All we can do is hope and pray.

[SarahINMobile]

The metro New Orleans area cannot take another hit from a big storm. A lot of areas in my parish (St.Bernard) look like the day after Katrina. Houses untouched, furniture still in them, weeds and grass 5 and 6 feet tall around them. I fear that if we get hit again, there will be nothing to go back to. All we can do is hope and pray.

Stormymonday, no offense, but you just did the EXACT THING i was talking about! I could say, "a lot of areas in south Mobile County (such as the Bayou - Bayou La Batre) look like the day after Katrina". There are areas in Pensacola that still look like the day after Ivan hit, two years later.... My whole point of this thread is that everyone on the gulf coast can make the statement "X place cannot take another hit from the big storm"...

[JonathanBelles]

im afraid to say it but i think its going to happen

[stormymonday]

SarahINMobile----no offense taken, I totally agree with you.

[NCgreenhead]

The problem is that storms are going to happen and there is no way to stop that. So while I understand how many people especially in the gulf do not want to go through another hurricane I also understand living in a hurricane prone area that I have to deal with them as do you.

I also think as bad as it sounds that it would be better for this storm to hit a already heavily damaged area than to hit somewhere that has not been hit like Tampa or Houston for example. It would be easier to evacuate New Orleans and the gulf shore of Miss. right now than either of those locations and many homes in that area are already destroyed. Also there has already been money set aside to rebuild a lot of that area were as Tampa getting nailed would cost another 20 billion on top. I know it sounds crass but that is just how I see it I am sure if you live there you feel different.

[gopherfan21]

Sarah, I mean no offense by this comment, but, *if* Ernesto *absolutely has to* hit the central Gulf coast, Mobile would probably be the best to have it due to the fact that Pensacola and the Miss. Gulf coast cannot handle another one at the moment.

[DanKellFla]

Well Sarah, you got it right. We can't just reply, "Well, Duh." That wouldn't be nice. In this great country, we all have a choice. We can move someplace else. I love Florida. My wife and I have jobs. My kids go to nice schools. And, I have a house about 5 miles inland. Since I won't move, I have chosen to adapt. For the next storm, I am going straight to a lawyer or outside adjuster that I hire. I will no longer rely on the kindness of my insurance company. I am also strengthening my house bit by bit. This year I spent $3000 on hurricane goodies. Next year, it won't be that much. But, I think of it as an additional bill that I have to pay to live here.
We also have to realize that every storm affects all of us via our insurance bills.

[HurriCat]

Mostly good one there, DanKell, but what's with the bit about lawyers and outside adjusters? Doesn't the insurance company use it's own adjusters? And they certainly have their own lawyers - more and better than what "we" can likely afford. This sounds like part of the "adaptation" is to be on a war-footing, ready to instantly declare the insurance check as not enough so "gimmee more". This is why the reality is that after each year we are going to have fewer insurers and options in Florida. Eventually, I see FL as being like any other tropical/subtropical tourist trap. There will be enclaves of the wealthy, who can afford insurance. Then there will be the legions of tourists who have nothing at risk property-wise and so could give a rat's butt about living wages and insurance availability. Stuck in the middle - as in many other places like Jamaica, Hawaii, Mexico and others - will be the "natives" who work in the gigantic service industry. They will have shabby, storm lashed homes pieced together and with little to no insurance.

The non-wealthy folks who wish to avoid this are already selling out and moving out.

[beachbum_al]

Sarah, I mean no offense by this comment, but, *if* Ernesto *absolutely has to* hit the central Gulf coast, Mobile would probably be the best to have it due to the fact that Pensacola and the Miss. Gulf coast cannot handle another one at the moment.

Honestly no one on the Gulf Coast can handle another storm but we know it is going to happen and probably will happen in the next five to six days. I don't know who it will be. It might be us in AL. The one thing I can only say is whoever gets hit needs prayers and not arguments over where is the best place for this storm to go in. Katrina left a very blowful blow and a sad reminder that anything can happen. Parts of Mobile was damage severly by her surge. Parts of the Eastern Shore in Daphne, Fairhope, and Point Clear were badly damage. I would not had believed myself except I live here and saw first hand what she did to the area. Yes we are recovering over here but there are people who lost their houses in Point Clear, Fairhope, and Daphne. There are people who lost their houses in Mobile and Bayou La Batre and Dauphin Island. Honestly there is no good place for this storm to hit. Where ever it hits it is going to be bad. I know that the LA and MS coast were destroyed and believe me I understand that it doesn't need a storm but either does Alabama. And if a storm went in around Mobile Bay depending on the storm size part of the FL panhandle would be in trouble.

So instead of arguing over where is the best possible place for this storm to make landfall I think we should sit down and offer support and prayers because in the next couple of days some of our members are going to need it those prayers and our support.