[florida quest]

Anybody remember Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 ? Ask anyone who lives in Vermont ! Been there . I'm on my way to Florida and will take my chances. Might have a bad hurricane or might not. BTW we were planing to relocate to Florida before last winter. But last winter was a clincher. Looking forward to not using the roof rake next winter. ( left it for the new owners ).

[Miami HurricaneZ]

but inland cental suffered some of the most damage in the 2004
season.

Aint that the truth. Hardee County had winds of 146 MPH during Hurricane Charley in 2004. For the OP, Hardee County is located well inland. Highlands County (Smack in the middle of the state) had 100 MPH winds during Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 with higher gusts.

I wouldn't say which coast is safer when it comes to Hurricanes. The East Coast (Miami/South Dade County) was nailed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (CAT 5 Storm). The West Coast (Punta Gorda/Port Charlotte) was nailed by Hurricane Charley in 2004 (Cat 4 Storm) as well as numerous inland counties in Central Florida (Desoto/Hardee/Highlands/Polk/Osceola/Orange/Seminole). An interesting note, Hurricane Andrew was the last category 5 Hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. Multiple other Hurricanes have reached CAT 5 strength over open water but not at landfall. The only thing I am certain about Florida Hurricanes is I hate to see the day Tampa gets a direct hit.

[ssg II]

Thought I'd posted this last week, but here you go.

500 years of hurricane history - Sun Sentinel

[SoFLGal]

Really a hurricane can hit anywhere in Florida. I think that the Miami and Key West have the highest possibility of a hurricane strike. You need to be prepared where ever you live. I am a native Floridian and have lived in or close by Sarasota county my whole life and have never evacuated, not to say that I wouldn't but I've never felt the need to.

Anywhere you live in the world you will be faced with some kind of natural disaster-tornadoes, typhoons, tidal waves, earthquakes, blizzards, etc. At least with hurricanes you will have advance notice before they hit. If you choose to leave you have the opportunity to do so. This is not the case with most other weather situations.

Since 1992 Hurricane Andrew, the Florida Building codes have been up graded in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 to deal with damage from wind. Even new manufactured homes are safer than site built homes pre-94 The newer the home since 94, the less insurance you will pay. Insurance for pre 94 homes is difficult to get/keep and you will pay a lot of money for coverage.

Some hurricanes are large and can cover the whole state, while some like 2004 Charley was an oversized tornado. Some years we have to watch for a dozen and other years only one or two. The hurricane season runs from June to November with the peak amount in September.

Here's a chart that shows the probability of a hurricane strike in each area:
Florida Hurricane Coastal Strike Probability

Hurricane strike probabilities are only statistical
estimates. Be prepared as storms approach.

[LakelandFLNative]

The east coast from about the middle of the state up seems to fare pretty well with hurricanes as does the same on the west side up to just before the bend. South Florida and the panhandle are definitely more susceptible. The east coast is somewhat protected by the gulf stream in that storms tend to travel north once they hit hit, hence NC getting so many hits to the Outer Banks. BUT, you are not immune ANYWHERE in FL. I live in Polk County which is right smack dab in the middle of the state and we had a very rare hurricane season in 2004 in that we were affected by THREE storms within a few weeks. I've lived here my whole life and had never experienced anything like it. We have plenty of warning with hurricanes though and if you listen to the officials and prepare accordingly, you'll have nothing to worry about per se.