Hurricane Irma Aftermath
Well, what can you say...after a week of 24/7 news coverage, endless doomsday pontifications, mass evacuations, and great hysteria...the storm is gone. Lots of regional flooding, downed trees and pow...
Forum Discussion
Yes, FL did dodge a bullet. Extreme damage was confined to a very small area compared to what could have been with only a very small course change of the storm. A very big deal to those in the keys who lost everything in the Keys but even there, severe damage was confined to the relatively small area that the eye wall, where the most severe wind is, went over.
A quick glance at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ tells you how far hurricane force winds extend from center in each direction. Armed with this valuable information you can get an idea of if you will experience hurricane force winds in your area.
As far as wind damage, not surge, goes if you live in a hurricane prone area & do not spend the extra money to build to withstand a hurricane, chances are that even a minor storm is going to blow your house away. How many houses in FL have been built or reinforced to hurricane code?
Regarding weather people, I don't pay much attention to them. A few years ago a hurricane was bearing down on Bermuda. Since nothing was threatening the US at the time a TV crew from a certain channel showed up to cover what looked like a sure storm hit.
It didn't happen. Like Irma there was a slight course change which made all the difference in the world. We barely got storm force winds. Undeterred we hear that this TV crew gets ahold of a large fan placed off camera to create some wind for their live 'reports'. Made themselves look stupid with the calm ocean waters in the background.
A quick glance at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ tells you how far hurricane force winds extend from center in each direction. Armed with this valuable information you can get an idea of if you will experience hurricane force winds in your area.
As far as wind damage, not surge, goes if you live in a hurricane prone area & do not spend the extra money to build to withstand a hurricane, chances are that even a minor storm is going to blow your house away. How many houses in FL have been built or reinforced to hurricane code?
Regarding weather people, I don't pay much attention to them. A few years ago a hurricane was bearing down on Bermuda. Since nothing was threatening the US at the time a TV crew from a certain channel showed up to cover what looked like a sure storm hit.
It didn't happen. Like Irma there was a slight course change which made all the difference in the world. We barely got storm force winds. Undeterred we hear that this TV crew gets ahold of a large fan placed off camera to create some wind for their live 'reports'. Made themselves look stupid with the calm ocean waters in the background.
