Florida friends of mine

[JcMack]

A buddy of mine lives on Pine Island off the west coast Florida. It's 18 miles long and he lives on the north end. The hurricane came thru and pretty much destroyed most of the south end and if I understood him correctly the "eye" passed over his house and his house was damaged but is livable and still structurally sound. His place is on a canal as is his inlaws house next door leading out to the Gulf . Both houses are on stilts with canal access and boat storage under the house. The inlaws place was built to withstand bad weather but their house is now nude with all shingles and siding gone. The road that connects the island to the mainland was destroyed. Initionally islanders were told after the storm they'd have to move to the mainland until things could be made livable on the island. Tom said DeSantis jumped in and they made a monumental 2 day repair of the road. So now they've got groceries and plenty of bottled water for the foreseeable future. Tom also mentioned there's now 600 electrical linemen and repair guys on the island and he had power and internet up as of yesterday.
Tom and his wife have been thru this several times. Not for me.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Tom and his wife have been thru this several times. Not for me.

An interesting unanticipated "survivors" emotion around this house which was hit by a different storm. The owner built it to withstand a 250mph hurricane.
Though the house performed as designed, when the neighborhood which drew them there was destroyed, most of the joy of being at that place disappeared.

Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

 

[AJ]

An interesting unanticipated "survivors" emotion around this house which was hit by a different storm. The owner built it to withstand a 250mph hurricane.
Though the house performed as designed, when the neighborhood which drew them there was destroyed, most of the joy of being at that place disappeared.

Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

Mexico Beach, Florida. Originally called a Cat 4, was upgraded a few months later to a Cat. 5. The joy of living there will come back at some point. Would like to see some up to date pictures of the same area.

We went through two Cat 3+ in 2004 ( Hurricane Frances - Wikipedia & Hurricane Jeanne - Wikipedia ). Our area took a beating, but we eventually got power back 11 days with no power for the first and 9 days with no power for the second.

Eventually they will get back to normal, not every thing will be the same, but some will be better. Best of luck to them.

 

[ace22]

Mexico Beach, Florida. Originally called a Cat 4, was upgraded a few months later to a Cat. 5. The joy of living there will come back at some point. Would like to see some up to date pictures of the same area.

several years ago i had a long conversation with a fellow from southern georgia. the conversation turned to my then plans to move to the sw us and he mentioned moving to florida as an alternative.

my answer to that was that florida was not in my plans because of humid weather, i hate humidity, and hurricanes.

he mentioned mexico beach as the place to go because he claimed that because of certain factors including it's specific location in the gulf made it safe from hurricanes.
i asked how that could be and his answer was basically it is what it is.

many years later i watched the news as mexico beach took that hurricane hit and thought about the conversation i had with that guy from georgia.

because of how life played out i never made that sw move either, i'll spend the rest of my days in the snow belt.
i hate cold and snow but i'm glad i never had to face a big hurricane.

 

[islamoradamark]

Glad your friends are doing better. It always feels good to see the electric trucks come into the neighborhood and hook you back up to power. I like DeSantis. We were without power for several days during Irma, I was the only one who had a gasoline delivery before the storm.

 

[fordson]

Homeowners insurance rates here in Florida will be going thru what's left of the roof…….

 

[wood714]

Before taking a job offer in St. Augustine, I did research on hurricanes and the area.

Last major hit was Dora in 1964.

Never know what can happen, places in Texas were under water that had never been in history until Harvey in 2017.

 

[Greyman50]

Having lived in coastal Va, coastal N.C., coastal Ga. now a little inland in Fl. AFAIC close enough to the coast. Went to long time friend's in St. Augustine this afternoon, his home is built to withstand 100+ mph winds, he's inland a little so no worries.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I've been to Florida several times. When I was asked about earthquakes where I live in Calif. I asked them about hurricanes.No reply.

 

[Beemerguy53]

I have many friends who've moved to Florida over the years, and love it there. I have been there many times, and it's a nice place to visit, but...

With all due respect, I wouldn't live there on a bet...and hurricanes are only a small part of the reason why.

I can't stand the humidity and heat. (Yes, Maryland is hot and humid too...but we get a break when summer ends.) The water tastes like sulfur. I really don't like palmetto bugs (huge armor-plated cockroaches). The topography is totally flat...there are no mountain roads. Outside of St. Augustine, there are very few truly old cities or buildings.

Different strokes, as they say, and for those of you who live there...good for you, and I truly hope you got through Ian okay. But Florida is definitely not for me...

 

[AJ]

Having lived in coastal Va, coastal N.C., coastal Ga. now a little inland in Fl. AFAIC close enough to the coast. Went to long time friend's in St. Augustine this afternoon, his home is built to withstand 100+ mph winds, he's inland a little so no worries.

100+ winds is not Miami-Dade Certified.

"Hurricane shutters that are installed in a high velocity zone in South Florida are given a pass or fail grade and may be installed in Broward County and Miami-Dade County. All hurricane shutters are tested at 175 MPH and requires a large missile impact resistance at 50 MPH, along with a positive and negative pressure test at 9000 cycles."

 

[Greyman50]

Yea, hopefully I wont get any wind that bad here. Buddies home meets whatever requirements where he lives. Most homes in his area are double wides on permanent foundations. Most of them look like stick built homes.

For those that want " hills in Florida" need to visit the Villages area, lots of hills and valleys, looks like the Piedmont areas of Va. and N.C.. Arthritis? , Florida sure beats any place on East coast.

 

[Heymatt]

Clermont area is one of the prime training grounds for triathletes due to the hills.

 

[AJ]

Yea, hopefully I wont get any wind that bad here. Buddies home meets whatever requirements where he lives. Most homes in his area are double wides on permanent foundations. Most of them look like stick built homes.

For those that want " hills in Florida" need to visit the Villages area, lots of hills and valleys, looks like the Piedmont areas of Va. and N.C.. Arthritis? , Florida sure beats any place on East coast.

A friend lives in Barefoot Bay, Florida. It is a mobile home community ( Barefoot Bay, Florida - Wikipedia ). He has built a house there that is guaranteed to stand up to 150 MPH winds. To fit in with the surrounding home it too, looks like a mobile home. The other mobile homes are on permanent foundations. Still have a feeling if a Cat 4 hits there his house will resemble the last one standing in Mexico Beach. Heavon forbid it does happen.

 

[oink]

We went through two Cat 3+ in 2004 ( Hurricane Frances - Wikipedia & Hurricane Jeanne - Wikipedia ). Our area took a beating, but we eventually got power back 11 days with no power for the first and 9 days with no power for the second.

Eventually they will get back to normal, not every thing will be the same, but some will be better. Best of luck to them.

Yeah, I worked both of those (Lots of OT) and they both went over my house including the eyes, especially Francis. No power for over a month between the two. However, as bad as it was, both together don't compare to what those folks over on the West coast just went through.

The recovery over there seems to be going exceptionally well. I'll give DeSantis credit for a lot of it, I guess.

 

[SMSgt]

There are most definitely hills in S. FL. We call them ski slopes; the Yankees call them garbage dumps. But hills they are. As for the armor-plated cockroaches, they are not .45 proof.

My first hurricane was Cleo back in '64 in Miami. 2004 had the eye of both go through my front yard, followed up by Wilma and a couple more. Thankfully that Cat 5 that chewed up Grand Bahama a couple years ago decided to turn north, or it would have run right over me too.

People may wonder why I don't move away. It's for the same reason people don't flee antigun states--it's home. Here it's not duck and cover, it's hunker down and wait it out.

 

[AJ]

Yeah, I worked both of those (Lots of OT) and they both went over my house including the eyes, especially Francis. No power for over a month between the two. However, as bad as it was, both together don't compare to what those folks over on the West coast just went through.

The recovery over there seems to be going exceptionally well. I'll give DeSantis credit for a lot of it, I guess.

The 155 MPH winds sustained and the storm surge is what the difference was. Their road to recovery will be quite a while. That they have power on-line or coming on-line is a big thing. We just had underground power put in here, hopefully that is some of the answer.