Common Hurricane Practice, what do you do? (Jacksonville, Punta Gorda: how much, hotel)

[jdl711]

Im trying to figure out if the hurricane season is enough reason to decide to live in Jax over Palm Beach County or not. Im not sure what its like when a hurricane comes there, we live in south coastal texas and when a hurricane come here we just drive NW the day before but its not traficated and theres plenty of places to go, what is common to do in WPB area, and for the most part we will not ride out a hurricane anymore as theres a new addition to our family to worry about. were not sure we want the winter in Jax either but at least its N allready and can just drive W NW, but love Palm beach county and its family living and activities

[bale002]

Usually there is no need to evacuate unless you live on or very close to the coast and there is risk of storm surge. Most structures are sturdy enough to handle at least CAT 3, though you might suffer broken windows or a leaky roof.
In case of need to evacuate, there is a series of so-called safe areas nearby that you can go to, such as a high school.

On balance, the biggest problem is not the hurricane itself, but the aftermath: you have to be prepared to live without water and electricity for at least three days, possibly a week or two (in relatively rare cases even longer): there are well published lists of things you need, you can't miss them.

The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons may prove to be exceptions, not the rule.

Life is often like Russian roulette in many respects, if you have more reasons to prefer PBC rather than Jacksonville area, then come to PBC and learn how to dodge the occasional bullet.

After all, no matter what you do, you ain't never gonna leave this world alive, so you might as well enjoy it while you can.

Good luck!

[xlabel]

I would personally try to stay put unless it was anything stronger than a medium CAT 3. I know folks that left the Punta Gorda area and went inland actually put themselves worse into the storm as Charley made a last minute turn. If you don't get out way ahead of time you could be mired in traffic and find diffculty in getting a hotel room.

There usually convert schools into shelters when a storm is approaching but it's not my desire to hang out with a bunch of strangers and be under strict rules at one of those places. The best bet would be to make a decision quick and get out early and head for GA or TN.

[bocamom]

I have always ridden it out, but with hurricane shutters, and now hurican windows AND shutters. And if it were coming with a storm surge i'd go up to the dixie ridge and stay

[jdl711]

what about flooding lke what happend in Louisiana and the levies anything like that happen there?? we dont really have any big levies here nothing holding that much water, and live above sea level by 12-20 ft.
if u do evacuate for hurricane how long will it typically take to get in TN or GA, i know without bad traffic it takes 4-5 hrs to Jax so not sure how much longer it would be....

and i know how to deal with aftermath power outage and such, weve gone 8 days without power and ice, etc, weve lived off generators and canned foods a quite a few times....i guess i am most worried about the flooding>>>>
thanks everyone for responding...

[bocamom]

if a storm looks like it is coming with a 20 foot storm surge you betcha all *&^% is going to break loose as there aren't many routes out of here.

i guess you just go to the highest point and hope for the best and brush up on your disaster skills while the wind blows. this is a vulnerable area.

we have been very lucky so far. knock wood. The canal system is pretty effective but if the water comes into the inlets (and over this barrier island) with a 20 foot surge or more it will make a pretty big mess

but there isn't much we can do about that, is there? if there is i want to do it

My home I sold most recently was less than 7 feet above sea level at high tide and on one of those intracoastal finger canals. i always figured in a big storm surge the pool would end up in the canal because all of the neighbors had new seawalls and i did not. i bet we would see pools in canals, houses sliding of foundations, total losses and a long rebuild like one sees after a war. hopefully no loss of life. hopefully people would get out and go to higher ground. that's what really matters. the rest is just stuff.

where is the highest ground?