Hurricanes and Tropical Storms in Tampa

[ferret111]

You can't really be "long overdue" for a hurricane. We can very well be hit by one, but we're not going to have one soon just because we haven't had one since 1921.

[stpeteguy]

Originally Posted by ferret111

You can't really be "long overdue" for a hurricane. We can very well be hit by one, but we're not going to have one soon just because we haven't had one since 1921.

Statistically, most parts of Florida get hit more often than we do with hurricanes. So technically, yes, we are overdue since we have not had one in such a long time.

It doesn't mean it's going to happen anytime soon, but it will happen.

[TheCroatian]

[SIZE=2]Whateverr....hurricanes are nothing.
What is horrible is an earthquake...it just comes out of nowhere and kills you or traps you in hell pains.
When there is a big hurricane in the area...leave until it goes away.
Simple.Just make sure you have some extra money always....you should be able to unless
you are a really poor immigrant
[/SIZE]

[TampaKaren]

I've written about some of this before, but it's worth repeating. Florida at its widest part (in the panhandle) is only 361 miles across. Tampa (Gulf of Mexico) to Vero Beach (Atlantic Ocean) is around 150 miles. Many hurricanes exceed these distances across. So, jumping in the car does very little towards your protection; it's actually the opposite. It's not whether we get hit by the storm, it's at what intensity. Those living along the coastline will/should evacuate inland to avoid the storm surge. It's usually the wind that does the most damage. We watch the weather reports and prepare the best we can.

The most memorable hurricane for me was Elena in 1985. We had just moved to Tampa and were living in a condo at Sailport on Old Tampa Bay. DH came in from work and I told him to come see the waves. He said, there aren't supposed to be any waves in the bay." Elena left behind a big mess.

Though not a hurricane, the No Name Storm of 1993 was memorable, too. I was a notary and supposed to administer a wedding ceremony at the War Veterans' Memorial Park in St. Petersburg. It was around 25 miles from my house in Carrollwood. When I left, it was raining hard and the wind was blowing. I had to cross the Bay to get to the park (thanks to GPS and better GIS mapping, I know several other ways to get there now). The radio announcer said the Courtney Campbell Causeway is underwater and closed...I keep driving on to the next bridge. The announcer said the Howard Frankland bridge is underwater and closed...I keep driving to the last bridge over the bay. I drive onto the (old) Gandy bridge. The waves are coming up over the highway and it was raining in sheets. I finally made it to the park. The gate was locked and a handwritten sign said, "Park closed." I drove over to the hotel for the reception. There was no electricity (it was hot) and no water. The poor wedding planner came up with enough candles to light the room and we proceeded with the ceremony. Afterwards, I didn't want to go drive through that again. I went into the hotel to ask about a room. They were sold out and said there were no rooms within miles. I had to go home. I drove over the Gandy bridge again. The rain had slowed and it wasn't quite so dark as before. When I got to Westshore Blvd around the Beach Park area, there was a boat floating down the street. Eventually I made it home and wow was I ever relieved.

During the 2004 storms, I was driving a retired Colonel and his wife around the Southshore area looking at new homes. When we drove up to the David Weekley model in Panther Trace there was another hand written sign that said, "Closed for Charley." We high-tailed it out of there the best we could. But when we got to Highway 301, it was gridlocked with traffic barely moving. I think it took about 45 minutes to drive them back to their car at the Cracker Barrel on I-4.

I am a weeee bit scared of storms, too!