I grew up in South Florida, and I'm surprised to hear people think the storm is getting bigger over time. I guess that's just something you grow up with knowing down there. People on the west coast tell me they're terrified of hurricanes, and I'm terrified of earthquakes. You can generally get out of the way of a hurricane if you feel you need to...
There are of course common sense things to do to be prepared: get bottled water, food, fill your bathtubs with water and a drop of bleach, make sure the car has a full tank of gas. We personally brought my grandparents down from Boca to stay with us. You can do those maybe a week, 4 days out before stores start to get really empty (grandparents can be moved earlier or later). If you have any coconuts palm trees, chop down your coconuts. These are common sense things to do if there's a remote possibility of a tropical storm or hurricane coming your way.
But I do think it's a little disingenuous to say that people didn't do enough to prepare if they lived on the west coast, given how quickly the path shifted. Partly because the NHC is generally so good at their predictions. If you saw the earlier map that had Irma going up east coast, and you were in Naples, you wouldn't think about moving, or at least I wouldn't. Our buildings, especially the newer ones, are built to withstand at least some level of wind. My house built in the 90s has held up through multiple Category 3s (Charlie and Wilma). It's of course all luck, and I know plenty of other houses that have had damage, parts of the roof torn off, shattered windows, though nothing catastrophic, built around the same time. I've driven through the outer bands of a tropical storm (not that you should, but I was in high school and we had a back to school party the night before, and I wanted the car to be home).
That's not to disparage the work of the NHC. They're great at what they do, and I read pretty much every advisory for every hurricane that's in the Atlantic. When you've got no place to go, a hurricane bearing down on you is a very scary thing. But if I'm in Naples, and 4 days out it looks like it's heading towards Ft. Lauderdale? I'm not making plans to move.
Thank you. I will say that we are relatively lucky in that we live inland, so we didn't have to worry about storm surge, in a newer suburb that had its power lines underground. We maybe lost 20 minutes of power during Wilma. I have family that lives in East Ft. Lauderdale, they were out of power for two weeks.
Wasn't alive for this one, but this was one that my parents got out of the way for. With the forecast shifting south every day, I have a sneaking feeling this could be another one they get out of the way for. The problem with Dorian is it looks like it's going to hit south, and then move up the state. Nowhere really to go.
There are of course common sense things to do to be prepared: get bottled water, food, fill your bathtubs with water and a drop of bleach, make sure the car has a full tank of gas. We personally brought my grandparents down from Boca to stay with us. You can do those maybe a week, 4 days out before stores start to get really empty (grandparents can be moved earlier or later). If you have any coconuts palm trees, chop down your coconuts. These are common sense things to do if there's a remote possibility of a tropical storm or hurricane coming your way.
But I do think it's a little disingenuous to say that people didn't do enough to prepare if they lived on the west coast, given how quickly the path shifted. Partly because the NHC is generally so good at their predictions. If you saw the earlier map that had Irma going up east coast, and you were in Naples, you wouldn't think about moving, or at least I wouldn't. Our buildings, especially the newer ones, are built to withstand at least some level of wind. My house built in the 90s has held up through multiple Category 3s (Charlie and Wilma). It's of course all luck, and I know plenty of other houses that have had damage, parts of the roof torn off, shattered windows, though nothing catastrophic, built around the same time. I've driven through the outer bands of a tropical storm (not that you should, but I was in high school and we had a back to school party the night before, and I wanted the car to be home).
That's not to disparage the work of the NHC. They're great at what they do, and I read pretty much every advisory for every hurricane that's in the Atlantic. When you've got no place to go, a hurricane bearing down on you is a very scary thing. But if I'm in Naples, and 4 days out it looks like it's heading towards Ft. Lauderdale? I'm not making plans to move.