Hurricanes

[Stratman50th]

I've noticed a few threads asking about Disney policy as it relates to hurricanes. People are asking about invest 98 which is meandering around down in the south east Caribbean now. So far it is nothing and the models won't kick in with some realistic prediction for another 7 or 8 days. Best look will be 10.
That being said, any stories or photos of hurricanes you've been through?
This does not have to be related to Disney, but it can be. Where were you at the time? How long did it last?

So we stayed in our RV, in the garage during Irma. The power went out around 8:30pm the night the storm came through. The storm itself hit around 2:30am if I remember correctly.



We were without power for 8 days. I can't complain as we ran the generator almost the whole time so we had AC and TV, etc. We had fresh water still coming in. The internet was still available so we didn't even miss any work. We were very lucky. Yes, I have a vent pipe that runs from my gen exhaust out the door, and I have both front and rear garage doors open for flow through ventilation.

We were lucky that we didn't suffer hardly any damage. The only weird thing was it pushed our fence over. A fence, with holes.



The other side of the development didn't do as well. There were shingles stripped off of roofs, awnings torn off and blown away. Landscaping uprooted. The worst though was a new construction RV port. The storm winds knocked it over and it pancaked into their next door neighbor's lot.




So, your turn. Tell your stories!

 

[AnnaS]

We were hit with Sandy. We were lucky and had no water damage, roof damage, etc. We came close and left the house when we should not have and were worried we might be killed by a tree at that point.

I know a few people who lost their lives.

My mom's basement was flooded and had some roof damage. (my brother and his family were staying with her temporary while he closed on his house and was waiting to close on his new one). Most of my brother's things were lost (luckily furniture in storage).

Being in this neighborhood for almost 37 years, many friends and neighbors' homes were destroyed.

We had no power for two weeks. We could not find generators (and it was cold/we needed the heat) but a few days after the hurricane, my brother-in-law (lives Upstate) was able to purchase one and bring it to us. We had furnace and refrigerator hooked up. A few days later while walking around the neighborhood, a friend told my DH how to hook up the generator to the meter (not sure what it's called). We then had practically the whole house running.

 

[cvjw]

Just read that the new system that will become a hurricane in the gulf could hit as early as the 29th. Still unsure of its path, but anyone visiting Florida should be aware.

I grew up 90 miles from the panhandle, hurricanes were just a way of life. My most vivid memory is of being dismissed from elementary school during a hurricane. Evidently, radar and forecasting weren’t very good back then and no one thought to cancel school because a hurricane was coming. They cancelled school during a hurricane!

 

[JLTraveling]

In 2004, I was living in New Orleans. We and everybody else evacuated for Hurricane Ivan, which all the forecasters were screaming was going to be the big one. It turned out to be a long and painful evacuation (nearly 8 hours to get to Baton Rouge, then a few more hours to get to our destination in Arkansas), and the storm was a nothingburger. If you're wondering why people didn't take Katrina too seriously, that's part of why.

Right before Christmas that year, my mom passed away. Dad and I put everything we owned in storage and went back to FL in his RV to be with family. The next summer I was working at Disney when Katrina hit. Keep in mind, I still considered myself very much a New Orleanian. All my stuff was there, as were all my friends, and I was planning to return shortly. The afternoon before it hit, I was sitting in the break room staring at coverage on TV. One of my coworkers said, "You better call everyone you know and say goodbye. They're all gonna die!" That dire prediction became all too real. Dad and I lost almost everything when the storage unit took on 3 feet of water. So many people passed away. And I had horrible survivor guilt for a long time.

After that, rent prices skyrocketed, and I wasn't able to get back to New Orleans for years. Anyway, last year we faced Hurricane Ida. On the 16th anniversary of Katrina. Dad and I debated whether to evacuate, but every model had it not only hitting fairly far east of the city, but making landfall as a weakening Cat 1. So we stayed.

After it was too late to change our minds, the storm underwent two cycles of rapid intensification. It also shifted to make nearly a direct hit on New Orleans as a strengthening Cat 4/bordering on Cat 5. It was TERRIFYING. And it slowed down, and just. kept. going. Thankfully the house held, but it shifted on its foundation. That was honestly the scariest night of my life. And the main transmission tower fell into the Mississippi River, so the entire city was blacked out for nearly two weeks. In the middle of a heat wave, with the heat index rising to between 105 and 110 every day. Just surviving and meeting our basic needs became an incredible challenge, but we persevered.

Needless to say, I no longer have Katrina survivor guilt. I am incredibly sad about what happened, and the way the whole thing was horrifically mismanaged. But me putting myself in the middle of a worst case scenario isn't the solution. We've got to do better at every level of society.

If this next one comes here, we're out. Not taking that risk again.

 

[McMonsters]

Last time we went down during hurricane season Matthew decided to visit. I was in our RV at the Fort and decided to leave a few days early since I was solo with the kids. We made the drive home to NC only to have Matthew follow us home. It was much worse in NC than FL….Im adding some photos of the flooding we had in our neighborhood after Matthew. Took out the road and we couldnt leave for a few weeks and utilities were cut. As a long time NC resident living just north of the little arm of NC/SC that pulls the storms inland, I’ve seen my share of hurricanes. Guess who leaves Saturday for Orlando? That’s right, this girl! So it’s my fault this current storm is being a nuisance.

 

[Moliphino]

My family was in WDW for Charley. It was only a minor inconvenience for us on WDW property (everything is built so solid you could barely tell anything was going on outside), but the surrounding area was hit pretty hard. Luckily it moved through fast.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Just read that the new system that will become a hurricane in the gulf could hit as early as the 29th. Still unsure of its path, but anyone visiting Florida should be aware.

I grew up 90 miles from the panhandle, hurricanes were just a way of life. My most vivid memory is of being dismissed from elementary school during a hurricane. Evidently, radar and forecasting weren’t very good back then and no one thought to cancel school because a hurricane was coming. They cancelled school during a hurricane!

Naw, it's gonna go straight up through Alabama and hit Talladega on Saturday night.


Thank you for the reminder about schools, my in-laws are coming to stay with my 6th grader next week and depending on where it does actually hit we may get a hurricane day. They live in Ohio so it probably won't even occur to them to pay attention.

 

[leebee]

I was trying to quote @JLTraveling but something's wonky. ANYHOW... my sister lives in NOLA (Gretna, actually) so I hear you about evacuations. She said one time it took them 7 hours to get across the city... no gas stations, so no fuel or potty breaks, no place for the cats to be, no food, everyone exhausted... so they, too, are wary of evacuations. They did evacuate for Katrina and were thankful that they only lost their roof, part of the back wall of the house, and of course, the water damage was frightening. Like you, they decided to ride it out for Ida. She says she's never been so terrified in her life. They could feel the walls of the house moving, behind the couch where they were sitting. They took refuge in an interior hallway with no windows, hoping to minimize injury from possible flying glass. She said it was a nightmare that continued for the next few weeks. They only lost the fence and some trees in the backyard, but having no electricity for so long almost did them in.

Being in New England, the few hurricanes we've had pass though have been nothing but "big wind" and some rain. They are usually down to a Cat 1 by the time they hit our area.

 

[JLTraveling]

I was trying to quote @JLTraveling but something's wonky. ANYHOW... my sister lives in NOLA (Gretna, actually) so I hear you about evacuations. She said one time it took them 7 hours to get across the city... no gas stations, so no fuel or potty breaks, no place for the cats to be, no food, everyone exhausted... so they, too, are wary of evacuations. They did evacuate for Katrina and were thankful that they only lost their roof, part of the back wall of the house, and of course, the water damage was frightening. Like you, they decided to ride it out for Ida. She says she's never been so terrified in her life. They could feel the walls of the house moving, behind the couch where they were sitting. They took refuge in an interior hallway with no windows, hoping to minimize injury from possible flying glass. She said it was a nightmare that continued for the next few weeks. They only lost the fence and some trees in the backyard, but having no electricity for so long almost did them in.

Being in New England, the few hurricanes we've had pass though have been nothing but "big wind" and some rain. They are usually down to a Cat 1 by the time they hit our area.

I'm glad they're okay! And I can definitely relate. Around the time the power went out, we relocated to the half bath, which is fully enclosed under the stairs. But there's no way two people could get comfortable for any length of time. It's TINY! So we moved to my dad's sink area, which is all interior with closable doors to the bedroom and the toilet/shower part of the bathroom room. Dragged a couple of chairs in there and just sat for hours with a battery operated lantern. Occasionally opened the bathroom door to peek out the window, and went outside for a few minutes during the eye. Otherwise, we just sat. Horrible, awful night.

 

[scrapquitler]

I was in Southern Vermont for Hurricane Irene. We thought we'd get a lot of rain, but we didn't expect what happened. The amount of rain in the mountains caused devastating floods all around our area. There were so many roads and bridges washed out, homes destroyed, businesses flooded and devastated, and many people who drowned in the floodwaters.

I was at Disney, staying at All Star Sports during Hurricane Irma. We felt very safe and we were impressed with how organized and well prepared that Disney was throughout the entire week.

 

[dcassetta]

2004, the year of 4 hurricanes. We were living in Orlando then and Charley was not as bad for us as he was for the gulf coast. But, some decisions were made that ended up being not great. We did lose power and the city and county tried to restore power quickly by making relatively temporary fixes. The city also collected huge amounts of debris and stationed it in some city parks planning to haul the debris out later. When Frances came in, All that debris got thrown about again. The temporary fixes didn’t work either, and at that point we lost power for more than a week. So we went to live at Pop Century. No one anticipated that Charley would be followed so quickly by another storm, and then another storm, and then another storm…

 

[_19disnA]

Airlines have gotten more pro-active in cancelling flights prior to major known weather events (snow/ice/hurricanes/etc.) This keeps people from being stranded at connecting airports and having planes out of position once the weather improves. I wouldn't be surprised to find flights being cancelled to various Florida cities starting early next week. They will often waive change fees so you can reschedule your flights.

 

[LSUmiss]

In 2004, I was living in New Orleans. We and everybody else evacuated for Hurricane Ivan, which all the forecasters were screaming was going to be the big one. It turned out to be a long and painful evacuation (nearly 8 hours to get to Baton Rouge, then a few more hours to get to our destination in Arkansas), and the storm was a nothingburger. If you're wondering why people didn't take Katrina too seriously, that's part of why.

Right before Christmas that year, my mom passed away. Dad and I put everything we owned in storage and went back to FL in his RV to be with family. The next summer I was working at Disney when Katrina hit. Keep in mind, I still considered myself very much a New Orleanian. All my stuff was there, as were all my friends, and I was planning to return shortly. The afternoon before it hit, I was sitting in the break room staring at coverage on TV. One of my coworkers said, "You better call everyone you know and say goodbye. They're all gonna die!" That dire prediction became all too real. Dad and I lost almost everything when the storage unit took on 3 feet of water. So many people passed away. And I had horrible survivor guilt for a long time.

After that, rent prices skyrocketed, and I wasn't able to get back to New Orleans for years. Anyway, last year we faced Hurricane Ida. On the 16th anniversary of Katrina. Dad and I debated whether to evacuate, but every model had it not only hitting fairly far east of the city, but making landfall as a weakening Cat 1. So we stayed.

After it was too late to change our minds, the storm underwent two cycles of rapid intensification. It also shifted to make nearly a direct hit on New Orleans as a strengthening Cat 4/bordering on Cat 5. It was TERRIFYING. And it slowed down, and just. kept. going. Thankfully the house held, but it shifted on its foundation. That was honestly the scariest night of my life. And the main transmission tower fell into the Mississippi River, so the entire city was blacked out for nearly two weeks. In the middle of a heat wave, with the heat index rising to between 105 and 110 every day. Just surviving and meeting our basic needs became an incredible challenge, but we persevered.

Needless to say, I no longer have Katrina survivor guilt. I am incredibly sad about what happened, and the way the whole thing was horrifically mismanaged. But me putting myself in the middle of a worst case scenario isn't the solution. We've got to do better at every level of society.

If this next one comes here, we're out. Not taking that risk again.

Yes ida was terrifying! We didn’t evacuate b/c we thought the same as you. And the year before we did ok for Zeta which was a 3. But ida stalled. I felt like it was never going to end. We actually had very minimal damage but that’s b/c of where we were located. Some of my friends didn’t do as well & they’re still rebuilding.

As far as the original thread question, too many to count. Katrina we were in Baton Rouge & everyone evacuated to us. But most ppl we knew lost everything. Then there was Rita, Issac, Gustav, the list goes on . Really needed a quiet season this year.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Airlines have gotten more pro-active in cancelling flights prior to major known weather events (snow/ice/hurricanes/etc.) This keeps people from being stranded at connecting airports and having planes out of position once the weather improves. I wouldn't be surprised to find flights being cancelled to various Florida cities starting early next week. They will often waive change fees so you can reschedule your flights.

Dh is leaving in a few hours for a conference in New Orleans; supposed to fly home Friday. He's taking extra clothes and meds, in case he gets stuck for a few extra days. If Ian tracks any further west, he may call his time at the conference done, and come home early. It's just up in the air right now. I'll be home by myself, so that will be fun.
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I've only been on the east coast since 2007. We've had a few brushes in our area; mostly from the outer bands of the storms, and a few close calls.

We've been very lucky....the worst we've had to deal with:

2016 Matthew lost power for 3 days. Fence knocked down; lost some big branches from the big oak tree in the backyard. This one terrified me; I was not prepared for how scary it was.

2017 Irma Lots of wind and rain; DGS#2 was still living with us, but DD#2 took him to her friends house and rode out the storm there. We lost power for 2 days; same fence fell down again in more spots. Lost more tree limbs from the big oak; had roof damage in the garage right above the washer and dryer. The screens on one side and the back of the house were shredded. The sliding back door and the gutter drain piece (IDK what it's called...the piece that runs down from the gutter for the rain to go down) on the backporch just blew away.

2019 Dorian Outer bands, heavy wind and rain. Lost power for about a day because lines were down becuase of trees falling on them.

2020 Isasis Outer bands, some wind and rain. Lost power for about a day , because a transformer blew.

2021 Elsa Heavy rain and winds. Tornados in a couple areas, including one near DH's work. Lost power for a few hours.

 

[dclpluto]

I was at wdw maybe five years ago the one where they closed the parks down for two days. The low low low crowds made up for the two days the parks were closed. Was suppose to be a Sunday to Sunday vacation. Flew down on Thursday instead to make sure we could get there. Think the parks were closed on Sunday and Monday. Saturday and Tuesday were really nice being in the parks. Only the main rides had a little wait all the other ones were a walk on.

 

[JLTraveling]

I was at wdw maybe five years ago the one where they closed the parks down for two days. The low low low crowds made up for the two days the parks were closed. Was suppose to be a Sunday to Sunday vacation. Flew down on Thursday instead to make sure we could get there. Think the parks were closed on Sunday and Monday. Saturday and Tuesday were really nice being in the parks. Only the main rides had a little wait all the other ones were a walk on.

Reminds me of the one that came through Florida late in 2005--Wilma, I think. Did catastrophic damage elsewhere, but Orlando just got some wind and rain. I was working HHN at the time, and they decided not to close. It was super wet and there were almost no guests in the park. The annoying thing for us was that they were also filming some kind of wrestling event on the soundstages that night, and the wrestlers got our break trailer. So every 45 minutes we had to slog across the entire park in the pouring rain to get to a break room we were sharing for the night with another house. But I'm guessing the handful of guests enjoyed their near-VIP experience lol.

 

[C&Jx2]

I grew up in the Tampa area so I've seen a few, but usually we escaped to WDW!

The worst I ever experienced was the "No Name Storm". In my area the flooding doesn't usually cross over US19 but it did, cars were being pushed by the water, people had to abandon them. I was 7 so that part really sticks in my head. I stood in my dad's business watching from the front windows.

https://www.tampabay.com/florida/2019/03/12/no-name-storm-wrought-havoc-on-florida-26-years-ago/

 

[C&Jx2]

Just read that the new system that will become a hurricane in the gulf could hit as early as the 29th. Still unsure of its path, but anyone visiting Florida should be aware.

I grew up 90 miles from the panhandle, hurricanes were just a way of life. My most vivid memory is of being dismissed from elementary school during a hurricane. Evidently, radar and forecasting weren’t very good back then and no one thought to cancel school because a hurricane was coming. They cancelled school during a hurricane!

We NEVER got hurricane days and the one or two we did finally start getting in HS were nice weather lol! Now they call off school a lot more, probably the way some folks feel about snow up north. I live in NYS now and all I hear is, "They cancelled school for THIS???"

 

[C&Jx2]

2004, the year of 4 hurricanes. We were living in Orlando then and Charley was not as bad for us as he was for the gulf coast. But, some decisions were made that ended up being not great. We did lose power and the city and county tried to restore power quickly by making relatively temporary fixes. The city also collected huge amounts of debris and stationed it in some city parks planning to haul the debris out later. When Frances came in, All that debris got thrown about again. The temporary fixes didn’t work either, and at that point we lost power for more than a week. So we went to live at Pop Century. No one anticipated that Charley would be followed so quickly by another storm, and then another storm, and then another storm…

That was the year we kept escaping to Orlando only to get hit there!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

2004, the year of 4 hurricanes. We were living in Orlando then and Charley was not as bad for us as he was for the gulf coast. But, some decisions were made that ended up being not great. We did lose power and the city and county tried to restore power quickly by making relatively temporary fixes. The city also collected huge amounts of debris and stationed it in some city parks planning to haul the debris out later. When Frances came in, All that debris got thrown about again. The temporary fixes didn’t work either, and at that point we lost power for more than a week. So we went to live at Pop Century. No one anticipated that Charley would be followed so quickly by another storm, and then another storm, and then another storm…

That was the year we kept escaping to Orlando only to get hit there!

We were on a Disney cruise as Frances was headed in. We’d followed reports from Charley shortly beforehand, and it hadn’t seemed so bad at the Disney resorts. But we followed reports while we were on the cruise, and it looked like Orlando was taking things seriously and getting ready to close down the airport that weekend, etc. We were really torn about whether to just hole up at a resort (where we were already booked for three nights), or return home (to NE) when we got off the cruise. But we knew if we stayed, we likely wouldn’t get out for at least five nights, and DH really had to get back to work. So we made the decision to leave.

As the ship was pulling into port, I was on the phone with SWA trying to get us on an earlier flight home, things being already chaotic, apparently. Was on hold for a long time, but the agent finally came back and told us she was able to get us the last four seats on a flight that was leaving late that afternoon. We enjoyed a day at the MK, and on our way out we ran into people we’d met on the cruise from the UK who were staying, and they implored us to stay, too. They’d gotten a grest deal at a nice resort. Ugh! It was so tempting! And if it weren’t for DH’s work we would’ve stayed. But we decided we’d better go. That few extra minutes talking to them delayed us a bit, though, and once we made it to the airport, we had to leave to go back and fill up our gas tank, which we’d forgotten, and that caused us further delay getting in line for our flights.

And wouldn’t you know, they’d pulled us out of the line to do a thorough individual search, too. I could see we were cutting it very close time-wise with our flight, and asked them to please move it along. They finally let us go, and DH and I had to literally RUN to the gate, each dragging a little kid and lots of bags and such (including a huge picture that DH had ’won’ on the cruise auction which now sits above our fireplace). When we got to the gate, it was empty and they were paging us. Needless to say, we made it on, but there were no seats together and my DD started to cry which caused some eye rolls from other passengers, etc. Probably worst flight entrance ever. But we took off and made it home ok. Sometimes we talk about that trip and wish we stayed. It wouldn’t have been a good career move for DH, though, lol.

I always feel awful for those areas that get hit by these storms. We have our share, as well, being on the seacoast of New England. Lots of flooding and damage to homes, accidental deaths often from trees coming down and such, etc. My car once sustained a lot of damage from a chimney coming down on it. When we get hit by hurricanes we often lose power for days. We have a generator but because we have a gas fireplace and stove, we can often get by without using it. And then of course, the snowstorms can be pretty bad, too. I have to go to work no matter what, have never missed a day because of snow. I’ve driven in everything, and because of that, have to have very reliable transportation. (I’m not sure people are as dedicated as they once were, though - this past winter we had a huge blizzard which was one of the worst on record here, and a lot of people didn’t show up/called in sick, leaving those of us who were there seriously short staffed, which was awful.)