When did the last monster hurricane strike a major city?

[Brent]

That's a scary map about Houston... I never really have thought how vulnerable they were.

[StormChasr]

Stormchasr, 89K winds are nothing compared to CAT 4 and CAT 5 winds. Orlando is always safe from a CAT 4+...it's too far inland...where you live in Daytona is *almost* always safe...major hurricanes hit from Stuart south along the East Coast....so you have no worries where you are at....

Well, I'd agree with you that a cat 4 or 45 here is "unlikely" but not impossible. I am not "worried" at all--I live 2 /12 blocks from the beach, and really don't worry that much. I think all of the talk of a total disaster storm is panicky---my point was that it doesn't take a monster to cause severe destruction. There are still thousands of blue roofs in South Central Florida, and a Cat 1 or 2 hurricane is nothing to sneeze at. The doomsday senarios are highly unlikely, and one should be prepared, but not panic at the thought of a Cat 5 in Miami or New Orleans--that is POSSIBLE, but unlikely as well. A repeat of the Great Miami Hurricane or the Galveston Cat 4 disaster, MAY NEVER happen, and worrying about it will not affect the situation one bit.

[Aslkahuna]

A lot of this discussion reminds me of the discussion of Earthquakes in CA.One could say the same thing about them as for hurricanes as no major metro area in the US has ever been hit by a major earthquake (MM=7.0). Sure, Anchorage got mauled by the 9.2 1964 shock but it's nowhere close to being a major metro area. SFO got slamdanced in 1906 (MM7.7) which caused 350 million dollars damage and killed 3000+ but SFO was under 1/2 million in population then. You have people who say "yeah, I was in the big one in 1989 (6.9) or 1994 (6.7) but no one has yet experienced the true terror of a major shock of 7.5 or higher in a large city. It will be like a repeat of 1926 in Miami and like that event it's never a matter of IF but WHEN.

Steve

[gatorcane]

Yes stormchasr I agree but anything is possible....I guess it's possible a major hurricane can hit NE FL...but worrying about it is pointless...as long as everybody prepares, that is all you can do...AND I agree it doesn't take a major hurricane to cause major problems....90 mph winds can be destructive.