I believe last year people on the west coast of Florida were

[bucman1]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

[patsmsg]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

I'm sure the stronger winds would last longer (deeper inland), but there would be less rain on the ground and less inland flooding as a result.

[melhow]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

I don't know about that. I think after seeing Charley and what happened to Jacksonville on the other coast, not too many FL people question how a storm affects the outbound side of the state.

[tracyswfla]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

I don't know about that. I think after seeing Charley and what happened to Jacksonville on the other coast, not too many FL people question how a storm affects the outbound side of the state.

I don't underestimate at all.

[CentralFlGal]

A high Cat 1/low Cat 2 in the middle of the state tends to teach you a lot about respecting the elements no matter where you live.

When I used to live in Tampa, I felt impervious because of the shape of the coastline there. "If the hurricanes carve out little bits of coastline at a time, Tampa Bay looks like it's in a lower risk category of being hit."

Yep, I was silly back then

[melhow]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

I don't know about that. I think after seeing Charley and what happened to Jacksonville on the other coast, not too many FL people question how a storm affects the outbound side of the state.

I don't underestimate at all.

Right. I agree. I don't think that many Floridians are complacent regarding how strong a storm can be when it hits the outbound side of the state.

[jdray]

NE Florida gets 99% of it's cyclonic action from "backdoor" hits. We have always wondered/worried about cross state storms.


People around here are a little more cautious due to Frances & Jeanne.

[Brent]

If a Cat 4 or 5 were to make landfall(i.e. Andrew), only farther north and were moving at a swift clip(15 mph), it could still be a Major, or certainly a Cat 2(which is nothing to sneeze at) when it got to the West Coast.

[MomH]

Truly believe it was the folks in the center of the state who really got the "wake up" call last year. I had been urging prepare for storm season for years but most people in Central FL did little until Charley. This year things are a little different. There were even lines for gas Friday night here in Sebring. I also noticed a lot of folks shopped early this year. On Thursday while at the grocery store I noticed that water, bread and milk were deleted by half. Three storms will do that I guess!

[Rainband]

far from complacent here.

[SouthernWx]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

In September 1960, hurricane Donna brought 100 mph wind gusts to the western/ northern suburbs of Orlando.....and Daytona Beach after making landfall near Fort Myers and recurving over the state, passing near Lakeland. Winds at Daytona Beach gusted to 86 mph at the NWS office and 95-100 mph at a nearby FAA anemometer.

In 1926, the "Great Miami hurricane" blasted Miami/ Fort Lauderdale with 140-150 mph sustained winds......crossed over Florida and slammed Fort Myers with 125 mph sustained winds; still a major hurricane all the way across Florida.

In 1928, the great Palm Beach-Okeechobee hurricane (also known as "San Felipe") smashed inland near West Palm Beach with 150 mph winds. It recurved over Florida, passing just west of Orlando......where it's believed wind gusts exceeded 130 mph.

We all remember Charley last August bringing 105 mph gusts to Orlando and near 100 mph gusts to Daytona Beach......if a similar intensity hurricane strikes the FLorida east coast moving west or northwest at 20 mph, Tampa could also experience 100+ mph wind gusts..

Jeanne and Frances were slow movers......and Frances not even a major hurricane at landfall. A large 135+ mph hurricane moving 15-20 mph could slam ashore at Miami and still bring wind gusts well in excess of 100 mph to any city along the west coast......from Naples to Clearwater.

PW

[HurricaneQueen]

Thanks, Perry.

Just the thought of what Donna did to SW FL is enough to keep one from becoming complacent. That was 45 years ago and things have drastically changed here with the entire coastline built up.

Charley was a wake up call for the skeptics and it was apparent here before Dennis passed by. Our grocery stores were nearly empty of the staples and gas was at a premium if it could be found.

I dread the day when the West Coast gets hit hard from any direction. Getting out of here is nearly as bad as leaving the Keys. Way too many people and too few roads to safety.

Lynn

[joseph01]

I tend to agree with the consensus of floridians in the above posts. I think most people inland now take these serious. I, for one, was quite shocked by the effects I endured here in Gainesville, and the damage that was done to this area last year. Even when the storm was considerably far away. They are truly a phenomenon of gigantic proportions.

[HurricaneQueen]

Excellent point, Kevin. Plus... Naples is full of the elderly who tend to not be interested in storms. It's a recipe for disaster as I pointed out above.

Lynn

[gatorcane]

made complacent about how dangerous a storm cat 2 or higher that crosses the state can be because the fact that Frances and Jeanne crawled across the state diminished it's severity.

The fact that Florida is flat and a storm moving faster than Frances and
Jeanne would cause alot more damage crossing the state.

Please give your opinions on this!

A CAT 5 storm that enters S. Florida in Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach and moves at Andrew-like speeds across the everglades through SW FL exiting the Gulf around Naples/Ft. Myers is the WORST possible scenario because I feel it would still be major when exiting the west coast due to the flat/wet topogrophy of S. Florida. Add the millions of people that would be affect and this is the WORST possible scenario hands down for FL

[clfenwi]

I agree with Kevin's thoughts; there is nothing worse than people who think they have been through something when they really haven't. I saw that in southeastern Virginia in the mid-90's and natives of the area would talk about hurricanes that they had 'been through and weren't nearly as bad as the media makes them out to be'. They usually didn't remember the names, but it was clear from the years that they were talking about storms like Gloria ('85 edition) and Emily ('93 edition) that had merely brushed the area, so of course there wasn't much to them.

It is that sort of thing that makes people really complacent.

[WeatherEmperor]

After Andrew I would never ever dare to be complacent ever again. That was my first real life experience.

<RICKY>

[vbhoutex]

I agree with Kevin's thoughts; there is nothing worse than people who think they have been through something when they really haven't. I saw that in southeastern Virginia in the mid-90's and natives of the area would talk about hurricanes that they had 'been through and weren't nearly as bad as the media makes them out to be'. They usually didn't remember the names, but it was clear from the years that they were talking about storms like Gloria ('85 edition) and Emily ('93 edition) that had merely brushed the area, so of course there wasn't much to them.

It is that sort of thing that makes people really complacent.

Even though my mother has been through many storms and hurricanes she insists on staying by herself in her condo in Niceville when something comes through. She stayed with friends during Ivan and stayed at her condo during Dennis. Of course with both there was little damage in her area so I fear that even though she has seen the wrath of hurricanes over the last 50 years including Camille, that she may be thinking that it just wasn't all that bad so I'll always stay. So far, since Dad died in 1999 that is what she has done.

[CentralFlGal]

Even though my mother has been through many storms and hurricanes she insists on staying by herself in her condo in Niceville when something comes through. She stayed with friends during Ivan and stayed at her condo during Dennis. Of course with both there was little damage in her area so I fear that even though she has seen the wrath of hurricanes over the last 50 years including Camille, that she may be thinking that it just wasn't all that bad so I'll always stay. So far, since Dad died in 1999 that is what she has done.

How's your mom doing?