Hurricanes, how they happen

Has anyone been in a hurricane? Did you have time to evacuate? I sat through a couple of close ones, but never a direct hit. This is how they happen.http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,773980,00.html

golddog... I have been in a hurricane about few times in my life since I was little. In 1992 when the Andrew hit. we stayed home. I was sick which I had C section. THe Eye hit. Everything was messed up and no electric for five days. It was so horrible cause of humid and hot. It was really scary. Andrew was hit in Jeanrette, LA between New Iberia, LA.

This message was edited Wednesday, Aug 14th 11:10 PM

MiniSchnuz, whatever the reason, when hurricanes enter the Caribbean, Louisana seems to get at least a part of storm. In your part of the world, water damage is probably the greatest concern.

Boy, Andrew was sure destructive in Florida and then again in Louisana. My favorite garden, Fairchild Tropical Garden, took a direct hit from Andrew. What damage! It is surprising then how FTG has recovered.

Golddog, I have also been through a few. Andrew made land fall here about 30 miles down the road(Morgan City thru New Iberia area), we had to leave with a truck full of whatever we could fit. In my case it was filled with animals. When we returned home we didn't have power for days. Yes, Mini is right, it was sooo hot and humid. Miserable. I also remember Betsy,(1965) she came through when I was about 3. I remember being huddled in a closet with my family at my grandmother's house. Dad and grandpaw were placing buckets down because the roof had damage. Funny how that sticks in your mind.

This message was edited Thursday, Aug 15th 8:05 AM

That intresting, Thanks golddog
Boy it was so bad and mess up our trailer damaged from Andrew hurricane back 1992 so we had to stay at my friend house for 2 weeks until new mobile home and thank goodness my pets still alive. So my best friend who had baby that day bad time for her when she was in the hospital no electric at all they had to use flash light to watch her to have baby come out everything is ok but so hot room poor thing so glad the baby are fine and her too but she get bad mood no rest at all due so hot.



This message was edited Thursday, Aug 15th 9:07 AM

Since I have lived on the Miss. Gulf Coast all my life, I have seen several hurricanes, but there was no hurricane like Camille that I can ever remember. If I thought another hurricane of this intensity was headed my way, I would gather all my kids, their families, hubby, dog and head anywhere but on the coast.

When I lived on St.George Is. (barrier Is. off Fl. gulf coast)we had to evacuate 4 or 5 times...such a drag!! Last time was Earl in 95...ford ranger pick-up with extended cab and a camper top...2 adults and 3 large greyhounds plus assorted stuff. NOBODY wants to see you with 3 large dogs. We drove 40 for [profanity removed] evers before we could find "room at the inn" and then 1 dog was sick all over the back of my truck. What a mess!!! but we all survived as did my place on the island..alls well that ends well. We now live north of Panama City and I'm NOT leaving again without a court order..greyhounds are easy..ridgebacks are not,they hate water!! LOL I'll put some sod in the livingroom..if you get my drift. :-)))

My mother's family lived on Wrightsville Beach NC. They all had large 3 story houses, with the bottom floor being a raised basement made of cement blocks. That was in the days before beach zoning required that houses be built up on stilts (piers). All these relatives houses were rented out on the upper and lower floors to tourists for the summer. For many, many years, the talk was about Hurricane Hazel (1954). The stain line for Hazel never went away no matter how many times it was painted over. It was about 3-1/2 feet high all around the bottom floor's wall.
Wrightsville Beach is only about 2 miles long and about 2 blocks wide so the ocean just washes over the whole island to the sound on the other side. One of my uncles also owned a large beach pavillion called the Lumina. It was built in 1900. No matter what happened, that grand old building defied the hurricanes. Even when the fishing pier came apart and the huge logs battered into the Lumina, it stood proud and brave.
I think the Lumina actually protected some of the other homes and a motel owned by yet another uncle. We dug out sand for weeks, after each hurricane. When we moved to Wilmington in 1960, another one hit that year. We lived inland several miles and relatives came to stay with us.(They were all evacuated from the beach, of course.) During the night, a tree broke off and half of it came down right beside my bedroom. The wind and rain were so noisy that I never heard it.
When we took Grandma back to the beach, she wouldn't look - she was so sure her house would be gone but it was fine, we just dug out the basement, again.
These folks are almost all gone now, but first they sold out and moved further inland where they could get wind insurance. You could not get water-damage (flood) insurance on the beach at all.
During this time I lived with my family In NYC. My dad was hotel manager and we lived in the hotels. It was very confining so in the summers we stayed for 2 months on Wrightsville. I used to get up in the morning, walk to the Lumina and help my aunt Patsy open up. She cooked breakfast for me on the grill and we ate over-looking the ocean. It was heaven.
I guess all told, I have been in a dozen or so hurricanes. It's embarressing now, but when we were kids, we got excited about them. I can remember hurricane parties. Now when I see a hurricane hitting the beaches of NC, I just cry.

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This message was edited Saturday, Aug 17th 9:52 AM

very interesting reading Woodspirit. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through a hurricane in the old days, without moderen tech. of tracking those sneaky and tricky storms. At times, they seen to defy even modern tracking computers.
For some odd reason, I've always been fascinated with the Hurricane of Oct 1, 1893 that took a small Louisiana town off the face of the map. To think what those poor souls must have gone through, never knowing what was going to hit.(http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/le/special/lost_la.htm This is the story) and this interesting history alsohttp://www.trac-la.com/history.html

Gosh! We don't have any hurricanes here, but once I went to Florida and the Bahamas.

I witnessed a lot of damage done.