slo's Monday poll - hurricanes

[slo]

Have you ever lived through a hurricane?


I am from the Chicago area, so I have never lived through a hurricane, but I have had my experiences with fleeing from hurricanes.

When my DD#1 was 2 years old, we were in the Clearwater area visiting my in-laws and a hurricane was coming straight at us over the Gulf. We had to flee the area and get to WDW a day early, thank God they had a room for us. It was a scary experience. This was in Sept. 2000.

When my DD#1 was 6 years old and my DD#2 was 13 months old, we had to flee WDW 2 days early due to Hurricane Jeanne that was coming straight towards us. This was in September 2004. I was so stressed out when I came home because we realized at 9:30pm that we had to flee RIGHT NOW!!! So we were able to get a flight out of Tampa at 5:30am, and we had to pack instantly and get on the road by 2:30am - NOT FUN!!!

This doesn't stop us from going in Sept. though It's our favorite WDW month, and we will be returning their again this year


Poll coming!!!

 

[Serena]

That would be scary.
So far I've been able to avoid that natural disaster.

 

[lewdyan1]

I been through four. Out of all the natural disasters, I will pick a hurricane everytime!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I've run from many hurricanes. The last one got us though.

 

[froglady]

Yes

That's why I now have a generator, window A/C, a collection of lanterns, flashlights, battery powered fans, sun shower, TV, DVD player, and even a washboard, clothesline, and clothespins. I also have two rolling footlockers filled with emergency supplies, collapsible water containers, first aid kit, damp rid, flypaper....the list goes on and on. (I also empty out my purse daily and put $1s in a shoebox; I have almost $500 in my emergency fund)

Not to mention a collection of games and books on card games.

Now when a hurricane warning is issued, I just have to fill the gas tank, buy dry ice for the coolers, and buy soda, beer, wine and snacks. I don't have to go to the grocery...any liquor store will do.

 

[Annette_VA]

I wouldn't say I live in an area where there are hurricanes. We don't get them on a regular basis like FL, etc.

But we did get hit by Isabel in 2003 and (although, not technically a hurricane) Gaston in 2004.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Isabel got us.

 

[RSoxFan]

I don't live in an area that gets a lot of hurricanes, but we've had a few. The last one was Bob in 92ish I believe. The one before that was Gloria or Grace or something like that in 83 or 84.

 

[Nite0wl71]

No hurricanes here.

 

[Southern4sure]

Yep, I have been through numerous hurricanes. Of all the natural disasters, I'd pick a hurricane at least you know it is coming, can prepare and evacuate if necessary.

 

[arminnie]

I been through four. Out of all the natural disasters, I will pick a hurricane everytime!

I've been through an earthquake, a tornado and a hurricane. I think I'd pick the earthquake as the easiest as it lasted for about 7 seconds, and then was the most beautiful fall day ever - no rain or aftermath. Of course I lived and worked in structures that were earthquake re-enforced.

You do get plenty of warning with the hurricanes though. Lived thru Betsy in New Orleans, Alicia in Houston, and evacuated for Katrina. My building in New Orleans had no structural damage or flooding from Katrina - I just didn't get back for two months.

 

[Aurora63]

Yes to your first question. I lived through Andrew in '92, though I lived in Broward County at the time....we got cat 1 strength winds, at the time it was scary, but nothing like what they got in Miami.

Then Frances and Jeanne in 2004 - lived (and still do) in Palm Beach County, so we got the southern part of each of those. Lots of damage to trees, powerlines, and roofs in the area. School was out for a week for each storm, due to it just not being safe for travel (imagine every major intersection is a four-way stop...and many people not knowing how to treat it as one.)

Then last year I lived through Wilma. This one was by far the worst. Our patio doors were shaking so hard I thought they might break. Tiles from the roof were crashing to the ground all through it. One of our neighbors lost their car to a falling tree. Power was out for most people for a really long time. There was a lot more roof damage and window damage this time, school was out for two weeks, and it just was icky.

I think the worst of any storm is the aftermath, though. Surviving the storm itself is great, but then you need to survive in the weeks that follow!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

The ones I remember are Hurricanes Gloria and Bob up here in New England (both minor compared to other parts of the country) and Hurricane Andrew while I was vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale. I think that might be it.

 

[yearbook50]

I've been through a couple hurricanes back home in Florida.

I would rather deal with a hurricane than deal with a blizzard (northeaster whatever new englanders call them) I hate dealing with that much snow. I also hate driving in it.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I've run from many hurricanes. The last one got us though.

Us too.

 

[SamIAm21]

I guess I can say I got rain from a hurricane, but it wasn't exactly "hurricane type conditions". We got the outer bands of Rita last September on our Disney vacation. It was toward the end of the vacation, so honestly, we weren't too disapointed, as we sort of wanted a reason to slow down by that point. It just ruined Animal Kingdom for us, but we had really done most of the park by the time the rain really started pouring down.

 

[lindakmonty]

hmmm we were on a cruise through a hurricane...but we were ahead of it and didn't have any problems... I'll cruise through hurricane season anytime ... but I wouldn't move to a coast

 

[anewvance]

Yup, 3 of them. Frances, Jeanne and Wilma. The first two hit exactly a month apart. After Frances we had a window blow in our living room and it flooded so we escaped to WDW while dh took care of it because it was starting to smell really bad with no electricity. We were there for 10 days, get home and less then 3 weeks later we get hit again. Jeanne was ok... got power back quicker.

Wilma hit last year and it was pretty bad. We had to replace our roof but otherwise, there wasn't much damage because we hadn't replaced our fence from the hurricanes the year before and many of the trees were gone already. But it took ALOT longer to get power back this time, almost 2 weeks.

Praying the hurricanes stay AWAY this year and for many years to come.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

vacation: once back in early 70's while staying with relatives in Houston, was on a cruise that skirted around Hortense, and rode out Frances at Poly concierge.

 

[arminnie]

I think the worst of any storm is the aftermath, though. Surviving the storm itself is great, but then you need to survive in the weeks that follow!

That's why I thought an earthquake was the easiest. No aftermath. My power was turned off for a few hours as a precaution, but that was it.