@WordsmithFL time to restock your emergency hunker down until the power comes back kit and your emergency evacuation kit.
They say very active storm season. Get ready those in hurricane alley.
We started now on St Croix.
@LnzyHou We upgraded our home with impact-resistant windows thanks to the My Safe Florida Home program. Bring it on! 😉
How far from storm surge?
@LnzyHou Well, it's complicated ... We're in a flood zone, but then most of Florida is a flood zone. Anything east of the Indian River is considered a barrier island. That said, I have most of Merritt island, the Banana River, and the Cape between me and the Atlantic Ocean. We're about a mile east of the Indian River.
We learned in 2008 with Tropical Storm Fay that the east side of the island floods more than the west side. So I think we're okay.
@LnzyHou I'm more worried about the public infrastructure. If we're without power for days, goodbye to food in the refrigerator.
We lost water for three days with Irma in 2017. We had filled the bathtub with water, so we used that to flush the toilets, and we had several jugs of water for drinking and cooking.
If it's "The Big One," we'll evacuate. Irma covered the entire state, so nowhere to go. We had only TS winds.
No generator?
On St Croix we knew power would be down for weeks. Kept canned goods at the ready during the storm season. No freezer food except for ice. Fresh eaten daily.
@LnzyHou We thought about it, but if it's a "big one" we'd evacuate until power returns. We've never been without power for longer than a couple hours.
I have looked at solar generators, which would seem to make the most sense, but they're expensive.
Cheaper to empty freezer before storm season starts.
@LnzyHou I've been in public safety off-and-on over the years, so I'm well-versed in disaster survival and response. When we moved here from California in 2009, it was interesting to compare earthquake preparedness to hurricane preparedness. Many of the principles are the same. The biggest difference is the advance notice. 😊
The anxiety building daily with storms was sometimes unbearable.
@LnzyHou I was in SoCal in 2019 when Dorian stalled off the Florida coast. Orlando airport closed, so I couldn't get home. Yay for extending my vacation, but boo that I couldn't get home. I had to explain to my employer that I couldn't get back until MCO reopened.
@LnzyHou This was Irma in 2017, looking out the patio door at the fake lake. The winds were about 60-70, tropical storm winds, but persistent for about 12 hours. Overnight, a tornado crossed the lake from left to right, tearing up some homes' pool screens.
Hurricane Omar 2008 coming in. These boats landed on the boardwalk.
@LnzyHou It looked pretty at the time. 😊
As a relative novice, I thought it was cool the first time I saw the curvature of the hurricane clouds overhead.
2022's Ian came in the Gulf side and crossed the state to exit via the Cape. The eye passed right over us. That was the first time I saw the winds still and reverse.
The eye literally split the uprights between KSC's Pads 39A and 39B.
@WordsmithFL The Caribbean hurricane doggerel is:
June, too soon
July, stand by
August, come it must
September, remember
October, all over.
The tropical waves have already started to make their appearance
Old rules. Climate crisis has changed everything.
Statistically speaking, September 10 is the most likely day for an Atlantic #Hurricane.