Hurricane Season expected to be bad?

[PrincessV]

We live in Charleston, SC. I want to say that there are Hurricanes, then there are Hurricanes! They are a beast, all of their own. We had Hurricane Hugo in 1989. We looked like a Bomb went off the next morning. There was hardly a tree left standing. Boats in the middle of the streets. Houses completely gone!!! We own a Roofing Co. I don't think a roof in the whole area was spared. Power was completely gone, all of the Radio towers out. Jacksonville, FL. finally received permission to broadcast to us. We did not have a clue what had happened to us. The bridges were washed away. We were in BAD shape. Then in 1992, Andrew hit Fl. This is not the same as Charlie hitting Central Fl. I was there, We got out the night before, then saw Disney reopen. I am telling you, that if Charlie had been a Hugo or an Andrew, Disney would not have reopened the next day. The cat 4 and 5 storms are not to be taken lightly. They are Very severe. Millions if not Billions of dollars of property will be lost.

Not to scare any one, but you do need to be aware of what you are dealing with. I would buy trip insurance on my trip, I would not let it keep me from making a trip. You need to watch the weather channel, Sept 10th is the peak of Hurricane season. We had Hugo on Sept 21-22 at 12:01 am, the eye came into Charleston Harbor. I will never stay for another one. It was the scariest night of my life. I thought the roof was coming off of our house. We had the eye at our house. We did not get the storm surge.

Hi there - a fellow Hugo survivor here and I could not agree with you more. I was living with my Dad on Isle of Palms when Hugo hit; we evacuated to Florence and found out later his house had been swept completely off the foundation and the entire contents was washed out. We stayed with friends on the mainland for weeks without power or sanitary water. Living on the coast of FL now, it drives me crazy when my co-workers talk about staying if the big one comes! Not me - I'll be outta here!

 

[Kriii]

No way to predict a hurricane. I've travelled in the Caribbean and FLA several times during the summer and sometimes plans are changed due to weather. Buy the trip insurance then you know you can reschedule later if you need to!

 

[kimberh]

Hi there - a fellow Hugo survivor here and I could not agree with you more. I was living with my Dad on Isle of Palms when Hugo hit; we evacuated to Florence and found out later his house had been swept completely off the foundation and the entire contents was washed out. We stayed with friends on the mainland for weeks without power or sanitary water. Living on the coast of FL now, it drives me crazy when my co-workers talk about staying if the big one comes! Not me - I'll be outta here!

Hi, Once you have lived through the REAL Deal, You have a lot of wisdom. Wasn't Isle of Palms devasted? I saw it after the National Guard let us back in, we had some jobs to look at, I could not believe my eyes. As far as a Trip for Disney, there is not a way to figure out the Hurricane's, I have a trip planned for this Sept. I did want to add, that you can't live in fear of Hurricane season, just don't under estimate it. Buy the trip insurance and be ready to evacuate, if a major Hurricane heads for Fla.

 

[diseyore]

Just like in WA state, they tell you a 10 point earthquake is coming, but you never know. At least down here you can prepare for the hurricanes. We had just moved from WA state right before all 3 hurricanes came through.

 

[emerymt]

I lived in NW FL for a while. Since I'm from the midwest, the whole concept of hurricane evacuation was baffling. I remember we kept a paper placemat from Sonic for hurricane tips! Our first hurricane we went to the grocery store and bought what everyone else did: beer, white bread and batteries! Later that year we got to experience evacuation with Opal. Thank God that one wasn't first!

Well, another NW FL poster is totally right. If they come in from the Gulf, head to central FL. But I must admit, hurricanes scare me. I'm buying trip insurance for our Sept. trip.

Now you've stumped me! Tornadoes are way scarier than hurricanes because you often have no clue when they're coming (remember- it's a warning only after someone sees it) and they're fast. Forecasters can spot hurricanes as they're building- sometimes for weeks. A midwesterner shouldn't be scared by a hurricane. As long as you can get out of evacuated areas, you should be all right. The scariest thing that ever happened to me was landing in a midwestern airport in a tornado watch and having to drive to our home 30 miles in the middle of nowhere- when they changed it to a warning and there were sightings in three directions from us!

Buying trip insurance, sure. Being scared? Nope. I wonder though, how bad it has to get before trip insurance will honor a cancellation on weather. Has anyone ever used their insurance for this? I'm just thinking their threshold is going to be pretty high considering how frequent hurricanes are and how often they strike vacation spots.

 

[emerymt]

Here's another comforting thought- lightning kills more people than hurricanes or tornadoes, and Florida is the lightning capital of the US.

 

[safetymom]

Hurricane Charley came from the gulf side and did a lot of damage in Central Florida. Most of my roof was blown off from that one. They said that was the first time since the 60's that hurricanes took that path. We were unlucky enough to have two that season that came right through our county.

 

[bush]

I live in the Houston area and was almost caught in the really bad traffic scare for Hurricane Rita. However, seeing the damage to Beaumont plus Katrina, I won't stay for a Cat 4 or 5.

On the flip side, we were at Disney when the tropical storm came through early last June. There was lots of wind and rain but the parks were open and we just stayed wet for a day or two! There really were very few rides closed during that time. We're going back this year but maybe that's why I've moved our vacation up a week.

 

[crtarheels]

Haven't seen any threads on this yet but saw on the news that they are expecting a more active Hurricane Season this year. As I'm in the North West we usually don't hear to much on this so can those of you in the South East can you shed some light on what your hearing? We are going 8/14-8/25. Thanks!

Im from wilmington North Carolina and ive been through many hurricanes/tropical storms. Last year they predicted that we would have like 8 and at least 2 bad ones... we got 1 tropical storm . It pretty much just comes down to mother nature. youll just have to sit and wait
You will know a few days ahead of a hurricane so be sure to watch the weather channel and make sure to pack you rain gear!!!

 

[nbodyhome]

I'm not trying to be flip here, but if you want the hurricane update for September 8-15, you'll have to check back around September 5!

LOL! That is what I thought.

We were told that last year that it would be a busy season - it wasn't. And there are a number of states/countries that can get hit by a hurricane. Here in central Florida, the only bad one I remember for us was Charley. We few out to Europe (and back) last September, I don't consider hurricanes one way or the other in my travel plans. September is traditionally slow here in FL, and October busier - not because of hurricanes but because of kids going back to school (for September).

Bad weather CAN happen anytime. The worst tornadoes/storms lately were on Christmas Day and Groundhog day (this past year). Unlike Charley, people in Central Florida died from the latter storm (not sure on the Christmas one - thankfully a lot of people were away from their homes that day).

 

[nbodyhome]

Buying trip insurance, sure. Being scared? Nope. I wonder though, how bad it has to get before trip insurance will honor a cancellation on weather. Has anyone ever used their insurance for this? I'm just thinking their threshold is going to be pretty high considering how frequent hurricanes are and how often they strike vacation spots.

Much of the worst part of hurricanes come from storm surges. We (being in the Orlando area) aren't on the coast.

Remember also that Disney, in the past, has allowed for changing reservations in the case of a hurricane. If one came through Disney, I'd just stay put - the parks could be closed for a day or a few hours in most cases. I'd feel safer at Disney than a lot of other places.