Personally, the worst hurricane I encountered was actually a trio, Frances, Jeanne and T.S. Ivan.

I forget which one, Frances or Jeanne, we were in the eye wall for about 12 hours. It came from the east just below us, so we got the northern part of the eye wall. It curved north as if we were the pivot, so we got the eastern part of the eye wall, wobbled a bit so we got the eye for a few minutes, and then veered to the northeast so we got the southern part of the eye wall. The eye wall are the most intense winds.

We were in the eye of the other hurricane as well

I live on a short dead end street of a 15-mile road that goes alongside of a lagoon (Indian River). Most of the lots are 50+ acres, and there are fewer than a half dozen little dead end spurs. My lot is 1/2 acre and we jokingly call our little section "The servant's quarters."

TS Ivan was the wettest of the 3 consecutive storms by far, and it washed out a few sections of the road along the lagoon. We had to drive across people's lots to get to and from anywhere.

The worst part of it for us was losing power for 10 days after both hurricanes. Only a few after Ivan. The power company gets the most people they can on first (rightfully so) so a street with huge lots and only a few short side streets gets restored last.

We have a water well, in the first storm my next door neighbor lost prime so we ran a hose to his house. Second one, we lost prime and he returned the favor. The benefit was taking a shower in the late afternoon, the sunlight heated the hose so I got warm water (without power the water heater doesn't work). Our street was crisscrossed with hoses and extension cords.

We lost some tree limbs, and the mast that feeds the power to our house came loose and needed to be repaired. Our water softener got destroyed. I think a tree limb must have hit it and toppled it over.

I've weathered every storm since Donna in 1960.

I know how to prepare, and I know what kind of house to buy, and where to buy it.

The out-of-state developers sell a lot of frame houses with asphalt shingle roofs. I'd never live in one. The big bad wolf can blow those stick houses down.

They build new developments on low ground that wants to return to swamp land. I will only live on the eastern sand ridge. The water damage is worse than the wind damage.

A lot of people want to live on the barrier islands, and I'd like to live that close to the ocean myself. But when I was a child, I saw about 1/4 mile of barrier island disappear in a hurricane. They tried to dredge sand back, but the new sand just washed away in the tides. It's gone forever.

Hurricanes are getting worse, thanks to our abuse of fossil fuels. But I still feel safer hunkered down in my house than I would on the road with all those crazy drivers if I evacuated.

Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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