How Many Miles Inland Do Hurricanes Affect? (Miami, Orlando: apartments, insurance)

[Xavier500]

These sound pretty intense, and I can see why some people might not want to live there...just like some people choose not to live in California because of earthquakes. I'm honestly still really scared of tornados so I can't imagine I'd fare well in a hurricane. However, I would like to live there. Where do you go when you leave the area? Family/friends, hotel? The only family I have down there is in Miami along the beach...but an acquaintence of mine will be in Gainseville.

[StilltheSame]

OP -we have never left for a storm. If you leave and dont intend to get stuck for HOURS for each mile - you have to leave days ahead - well often the hurricane veers on another course or loses intensity. To prepare - get hurricane shutters - the metal ones are fine - but get the slip in ones; have a room with no windows that is interior; in early to mid June begin buying water and canned and nonperishable food - keep in a safe container. Copy all your important documents and keep in a safe deposit box along with pictures or copies of pictures you cannot afford to lose; In mid June begin buying candles, lighters, matches etc; have a generator if you can; make sure you have a gas grill with a burner and an extra tank during H. season. At the end of the season - put away your candles and other hurricane supplies (after you eat or donate all the extra food) you will need them again next summer!

Make sure you have a garage that holds all your vehicles - down trees are a magnet to cars.
Oh - 36 hours before the storm - gas up all your vehicles and at least a few hundred dollars in cash.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by Xavier500

These sound pretty intense, and I can see why some people might not want to live there...just like some people choose not to live in California because of earthquakes. I'm honestly still really scared of tornados so I can't imagine I'd fare well in a hurricane. However, I would like to live there. Where do you go when you leave the area? Family/friends, hotel? The only family I have down there is in Miami along the beach...but an acquaintence of mine will be in Gainseville.

Depends on where the storm's headed. There will be a cone that is on the TV all the time beforehand. It has been pretty accurate the past few storms. They're getting much more accurate in their predictions. Instead of running around like mad 36 hours beforehand, it's a lot less stress to just hit the road. Gainesville sounds like a great place...Miami is too close - any storm headed here could just as likely hit there. We usually head to Universal Studios in Orlando and call hurricanes 'vacation opportunities.' If Orlando is in the cone and the storm is headed northwest, we go to the Keys.

[CTGirlNoMore]

While I don't live there (yet), I'll agree with oters that they can hit anywhere. My relatives (one set) live smack in the middle (south of Orlando) and got with those 2004 hurricanes.

My cousin lives in SE Florida and they have hurricane parties and hunker down if/when it hits. (I added this in because like another poster said, they head to a "vacation spot")

[AJ1972]

After Wilma in 2005, we bought a generator and window a/c.
We have hurricane shutters as well.

[ruski]

Originally Posted by Xavier500

These sound pretty intense, and I can see why some people might not want to live there...just like some people choose not to live in California because of earthquakes. I'm honestly still really scared of tornados so I can't imagine I'd fare well in a hurricane. However, I would like to live there. Where do you go when you leave the area? Family/friends, hotel? The only family I have down there is in Miami along the beach...but an acquaintence of mine will be in Gainseville.

Your Miami beach family will be camping out in your garage.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Xavier500

I'm honestly still really scared of tornados so I can't imagine I'd fare well in a hurricane.

For whatever reason, I've always felt the opposite.

Tornados are so randomly, and can really hit almost anywhere at anytime - I mean, when it's a tornado warning, I've never heard of people driving 100s of miles to get out of the vicinity. They can also change direction quickly and multiple ones all over the place.

Hurricanes are much much worse...but they give them nice 'names' like Andrew and Katrina...they are well-spotted and observed well in advance...everyone prepares for them as they see them coming. They also go in linear directions...I mean from east to west or whatever. Once they've passed, they've passed.

To me, I'd feel much more comfortable being in a hurricane prone area than a tornado prone area.

[JimboUSMC17]

Well shallow water really isn't necessary for a hurricane to get stronger. A hurricane thrives when it is in warm water and the upper level winds are favorable. They do get stronger as they cross the gulf stream mainly because that is a pocket of warmer water. Depth has nothing to do with it. Living 9 miles off the coast, you will be affected if it is a direct hit minus the storm surge. We've mainly stayed at my parents house thorugh most of the storms since 2004. and that was because we were living with my mother in law at the time and she had a trailer. (A very nice one though) lol

Also, remember that with a hurricane comes tornado's as well. A hurricane may spawn hundreds of tornado's within it.

But we really haven't had any storms come our way since that bad season of 05' so it's the luck of the draw I guess.

[fauve]

Originally Posted by JimboUSMC17

Well shallow water really isn't necessary for a hurricane to get stronger. A hurricane thrives when it is in warm water and the upper level winds are favorable. They do get stronger as they cross the gulf stream mainly because that is a pocket of warmer water. Depth has nothing to do with it. Living 9 miles off the coast, you will be affected if it is a direct hit minus the storm surge. We've mainly stayed at my parents house thorugh most of the storms since 2004. and that was because we were living with my mother in law at the time and she had a trailer. (A very nice one though) lol

Also, remember that with a hurricane comes tornado's as well. A hurricane may spawn hundreds of tornado's within it.

But we really haven't had any storms come our way since that bad season of 05' so it's the luck of the draw I guess.

And really, those '05 storms were a walk in the park compared to Andrew in '92. A really major one seems to hit only every 30 years or so.

I'm also with Tiger Beer on this one. I much prefer hurricanes to tornadoes. Watching Wizard of Oz annually as a child left a lasting impression, lol

[housingcrashsurvivor]

Hurricane winds are not only determined by the storm's strength but also by its speed as the system moves across the state. Wilma came in, if I remember right, just south of Naples on the gulf coast and left out of northern Broward/southern Palm Beach into the Atlantic.

So not only did Broward get hit by the southside of Wilma's counter clockwise spin, but the foward motion of the storm picked up speed, caught in the jet stream, or whatever system that was, right as it headed offshore so add the addition speed of the foward motion to the existing wind speeds within the storm and it turned out that we got hit the hardest even though farthest from landfall. (and add to that some speculation i recall being bandied about at the time on how the increased speed upon departure created some sort of vacuum which did even more damage.)