How far inland to stay away from hurricanes?

**CandyApple** · 01-27-2007, 06:24 PM

I'm thinking that I'd like to live near the beach, but I don't want to get hit by a hurricane, or have the whole city I'm living in destroyed by one. The whole hurricane Katrina thing made me realize that this is a serious consideration.

How far inland does a hurricane do damage? In areas without levees? In areas with levees? Is it, X miles inland it'll do total destruction, Y miles major damage, Z miles minor damage, and past that nothing?

What parts of the country do they hit? Do they not hit? I've never heard of a hurricane in Alaska, but are there any other places that don't have them? Does Hawaii get hurricanes (not that I'm interested in moving there, just curious)?

How do hurricanes work, generally? I know nothing about hurricanes!

**NHYRNUT** · 01-27-2007, 07:19 PM

To MY knowledge there has only been 1 Hurrican that actually hit the west coast of the usa. And it don't really count as it was only 39 mile an hr winds. But if you want to locate to the right coast. Than I would stay about 45 to 50 miles inland. at that point you get the rain but not so much distruction. I remeber Hurrican Gloria, and Bob. I lived 45 min ride from the ocean and it wasn't that bad. Unless your in like FL where the storm picks up speed from both sides of the state.

**a1m1700** · 01-27-2007, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CandyApple

I'm thinking that I'd like to live near the beach, but I don't want to get hit by a hurricane, or have the whole city I'm living in destroyed by one. The whole hurricane Katrina thing made me realize that this is a serious consideration.

How far inland does a hurricane do damage? In areas without levees? In areas with levees? Is it, X miles inland it'll do total destruction, Y miles major damage, Z miles minor damage, and past that nothing?

What parts of the country do they hit? Do they not hit? I've never heard of a hurricane in Alaska, but are there any other places that don't have them? Does Hawaii get hurricanes (not that I'm interested in moving there, just curious)?

How do hurricanes work, generally? I know nothing about hurricanes!

Where are you thinking about moving to?

**cleozmom** · 01-27-2007, 07:23 PM

Pretty sure Idaho is far enough inland..... oh wait, we dont' have a beach

My cousin lives in Sunrise, FL where she claims (being nine miles in) she's far enough inland

**a1m1700** · 01-27-2007, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cleozmom

Pretty sure Idaho is far enough inland..... oh wait, we dont' have a beach

My cousin lives in Sunrise, FL where she claims (being nine miles in) she's far enough inland

9 miles

Not far enough for me

**MyAzi** · 01-27-2007, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cleozmom

Pretty sure Idaho is far enough inland..... oh wait, we dont' have a beach

My cousin lives in Sunrise, FL where she claims (being nine miles in) she's far enough inland

Ummm 9 mi?? NO!!! I'll pass thanks!

**CandyApple** · 01-27-2007, 10:28 PM

I'm thinking of the gulf coast of Texas, but I'm starting to doubt whether I have enough heat tolerance for it. So I might be looking into other coastal areas, too. Another possibility if the beach doesn't work out is to live near a swimable lake, although I prefer the ocean.

I'd really like to know about the whole US coastline, actually, even the areas that are too far north for me to consider moving to.

**kdm31091** · 01-27-2007, 10:35 PM

Well generally, coastal areas north of say, North Carolina, are pretty much not hurricane prone. Yes, the odd hurricane could make its way up to the Virginia coast or something, but it's definetly not a regular or even semi regular event.

So the coast from Virginia up is fine for hurricane safety :). New Jersey's beaches are great BTW. If it weren't such an expensive place I'd be moving there in a heartbeat.

**whitney** · 01-27-2007, 11:20 PM

One hurricane I remember that turned inland was Hugo but I don't remember what year. I believe it hit around Charleston then turned inland. I know it hit the Blue Ridge Parkway here in NC. We got nothing here in central NC except rain and a little wind.

**CandyApple** · 01-27-2007, 11:50 PM

What happens if I decide to live on the beach, and a hurricane strikes? What actually happens during a hurricane?

I'm hoping that wherever I move I'll live the rest of my life, so I figure if I live in a hurricane prone area I'd get hit with one eventually. I'm really not understanding how dangerous a hurricane is, or whether it's worth risking it to live on the beach. I know I wouldn't want to live where levees are holding the water back, but besides that?...

Quote:

So the coast from Virginia up is fine for hurricane safety . New Jersey's beaches are great BTW. If it weren't such an expensive place I'd be moving there in a heartbeat.

That makes sense. It's too far north for me, so naturally there'd be no hurricanes there.

Quote:

To MY knowledge there has only been 1 Hurrican that actually hit the west coast of the usa. And it don't really count as it was only 39 mile an hr winds.

No wonder everyone loves California. Oh, I'd be there in a heartbeat, if only it weren't so expensive/crowded.

**kdm31091** · 01-28-2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CandyApple

What happens if I decide to live on the beach, and a hurricane strikes? What actually happens during a hurricane?

I'm hoping that wherever I move I'll live the rest of my life, so I figure if I live in a hurricane prone area I'd get hit with one eventually. I'm really not understanding how dangerous a hurricane is, or whether it's worth risking it to live on the beach. I know I wouldn't want to live where levees are holding the water back, but besides that?...

That makes sense. It's too far north for me, so naturally there'd be no hurricanes there.

No wonder everyone loves California. Oh, I'd be there in a heartbeat, if only it weren't so expensive/crowded.

A hurricane is kind of like an extreme version of just general stormy weather. Lots of pounding rain, huge winds, mostly sums it up. It's just huge winds and rain and such that cause massive damage often because of flooding or the winds knocking down trees/branches.

I'm most scared of tornadoes, then earthquakes, then hurricanes. It seems to me - and don't flame me - that most of the time, hurricanes cause the least death. I'm not talking about in extreme hurricanes, but more average ones. Tornadoes cause more deaths and earthquakes cause a lot of them too. So I'm most worried about tornadoes & earthquakes. Hurricanes, don't stress too much.

**CandyApple** · 01-28-2007, 02:11 AM

Speaking of earthquakes, my Grandma gave me an article that countered all the standard advice for what to do in an earthquake. The way he explained it made perfect sense, so I just took a look for it online, and apparently that advice is being countered, too! Here's the article, and a discrediting of it: http://urbanlegends.about.com/librar...le_of_life.htm

So, I don't really know what to do in an earthquake. What he wrote made sense, but it's being cited as another "urban legend". Anytime there's an earthquake with some decent shaking I'm always like, "Uh... is this bad enough that I should do something?" Then it'll stop and I'll say, "I guess not..."

**MyAzi** · 01-28-2007, 02:58 AM

Let me share with you about earthquakes... we feel them, we look up and say, "earthquake." and go on about our business. If it is large enough we get excited and run to the doorway.. and start guessing as to how big it was. I have encountered, floods, earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes... I will take my earthquakes anyday over the rest!!!

**Pensypat** · 01-28-2007, 06:31 AM

I'm in northeast Pa. and we get the tail end of some of the hurricanes that follow the east coast northward. I'm a few hours drive from the coast. We get heavy rains, high winds....sometimes flooding, trees limbs flying around and power lines down. Most of the hurricanes never make it up this far.....but once in a while we get some of the nasty weather from one here.

TalmudTemple · 01-28-2007, 01:44 PM

Frankly about 10 miles from the actual coast may still get wind damage and water damage, or the winds or pressure may spawn tornadic activity anyway...but that's the price of living in relative paradise, there's alway West Virginia, east TN, or rural Georgia, I'll take SW Florida, but that's just my opinion....if you don't wish to deal with the eventuality of hurricanes, why would anyone live in the great state of Florida anyway, a penisula ??? that seems pretty d.u.m.b. to me

**CandyApple** · 01-28-2007, 07:54 PM

So how does one take precautions to protect themselves/their property in the event of a hurricane? What should one do during a hurricane? How dangerous is it to be outside during a hurricane?

Ok, so you've got lots of water and some trees falling. Is it a lot of trees, or a few here and there? I guess I wouldn't want a giant tree standing over my house, then. I'll plant shrubs close by instead. I mean, in Virginia there's been a few storms that took down branches or an occasional tree, and everybody remarking how bad the storm was, but it never made me scared to live there. Then I'd see on the news once in a while about a hurricane somewhere with the wind blowing and the rain falling and all this talk about how bad it is, and I'm like, ok a hurricane must be like a really big tornado or something 'cause I just don't get what they're yapping about, it doesn't seem as bad as they're saying. Where's the watery tornado?? Why don't they show it??

So there's no tornado huh? It's just a bad storm?

Basically, is it a house destroyed here and there, or is the whole town demolished in a direct hit by a hurricane? What are my odds of coming out unscathed or only minorly scathed if I buy/build about a mile from the beach? Would it be trees falling on the houses that do the damage, or is the wind itself bad enough to tear up a building?

**kdm31091** · 01-28-2007, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CandyApple

So how does one take precautions to protect themselves/their property in the event of a hurricane? What should one do during a hurricane? How dangerous is it to be outside during a hurricane?

Ok, so you've got lots of water and some trees falling. Is it a lot of trees, or a few here and there? I guess I wouldn't want a giant tree standing over my house, then. I'll plant shrubs close by instead. I mean, in Virginia there's been a few storms that took down branches or an occasional tree, and everybody remarking how bad the storm was, but it never made me scared to live there. Then I'd see on the news once in a while about a hurricane somewhere with the wind blowing and the rain falling and all this talk about how bad it is, and I'm like, ok a hurricane must be like a really big tornado or something 'cause I just don't get what they're yapping about, it doesn't seem as bad as they're saying. Where's the watery tornado?? Why don't they show it??

So there's no tornado huh? It's just a bad storm?

Basically, is it a house destroyed here and there, or is the whole town demolished in a direct hit by a hurricane? What are my odds of coming out unscathed or only minorly scathed if I buy/build about a mile from the beach? Would it be trees falling on the houses that do the damage, or is the wind itself bad enough to tear up a building?

The best you can do is board up windows and hope for the best. I would go like at least 20 miles inland or more. The drive to the beach is worth it.

Depending on the hurricane, sometimes it's a house here and there, and sometimes the whole town is demolished. However, more often it's the here and there situation. Sometimes the wind can peel roofs/shingles off, and sometimes it's trees. Sorry to be so vague but there's a lot of "sometimes" in hurricanes. Go at least 15-20 miles inland to be a little safer. 1 mile is probably not enough.

**a1m1700** · 01-28-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CandyApple

So how does one take precautions to protect themselves/their property in the event of a hurricane? What should one do during a hurricane? How dangerous is it to be outside during a hurricane?

Ok, so you've got lots of water and some trees falling. Is it a lot of trees, or a few here and there? I guess I wouldn't want a giant tree standing over my house, then. I'll plant shrubs close by instead. I mean, in Virginia there's been a few storms that took down branches or an occasional tree, and everybody remarking how bad the storm was, but it never made me scared to live there. Then I'd see on the news once in a while about a hurricane somewhere with the wind blowing and the rain falling and all this talk about how bad it is, and I'm like, ok a hurricane must be like a really big tornado or something 'cause I just don't get what they're yapping about, it doesn't seem as bad as they're saying. Where's the watery tornado?? Why don't they show it??

So there's no tornado huh? It's just a bad storm?

Basically, is it a house destroyed here and there, or is the whole town demolished in a direct hit by a hurricane? What are my odds of coming out unscathed or only minorly scathed if I buy/build about a mile from the beach? Would it be trees falling on the houses that do the damage, or is the wind itself bad enough to tear up a building?

Do you plan on staying in your house during a hurricane?

**whitney** · 01-28-2007, 11:55 PM

Let me tell you about hurricanes

The last really bad one (Fran) to hit here in central NC had people without power for a week...more in some places. We have a generator and I'm sure more people have them now! Our neighbors came here for water, to shower, to store food in the refrigerator, etc.. We have about 20 wooded acres...our house is about 2/10 of a mile off the road on a winding path. There were 13 large trees across our drive and my husband estimated about 150 trees down on our propery. We had no structural damage to our house or barn. That was amazing in itself. I was sure a tree would come crashing through a skylight but we were lucky. For months you saw blue tarps on roofs because so many people had damage that construction crews couldn't keep up...just down the road from us a river had overflooded its banks and part of the road caved in. It was not a pretty sight! Sometimes we have tornadoes after a hurricane but I don't think any added to the misery after FRAN. I can't imagine what it would be like to be hit with something like Andrew (in Florida) or Katrina (Gulf coast).

**cleozmom** · 01-29-2007, 12:16 AM

Don't forget you want to bring in or at least move to the shed/garage things that could be hazardous; lawn furniture, hanging plants etc. etc.

**Wyoming53** · 01-30-2007, 12:33 AM

The problem with storms, is man. We have developed a book called the Uniform Building Code. It's the bible for building structures and what they will withstand. But it is a minimum. For instance, an area may be called "Class C exposure". Meaning it has to withstand a 67 mph wind, flat on any surface. Great, this area is classified Class C. But what happens when it gusts to 68. haha We have become a bunch that build (Not we, but contractors) exactly to specs and can advertise, "It meets specs for this area". Yeah, it does. But what happens if we use 2x'6's instead of 2x4's. It changes the structure to a class A. 105 MPH winds flat on any surface. Total cost of the house? About $2000 more.

I live up in Wyoming and that is about the right distance from a hurricane hitting me. We are high enough in altitude so we don't have tornadoes. Nor do we have the San Andreas fault shaking our house. We are truely lucky in this region. Then we get 36 inches of snow and our roof collapses. Darn the bad luck.

We used to build to be sturdy. Now we build just sturdy enough to meet specs. My house don't even make noise on winds under 50mph. But I have all 2x6 walls. My roof is good for 40 lbs per square foot of snow load. that would be about 72 inches of snow staying on the roof. I'm not worried.

There's a lot said for buying a house that was built long enough ago to be before the UBC book. Can you tell I've been a disgruntled contractor? haha

**Wyody** · 01-30-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wyoming53

I live up in Wyoming and that is about the right distance from a hurricane hitting me. We are high enough in altitude so we don't have tornadoes. Nor do we have the San Andreas fault shaking our house. We are truely lucky in this region. Then we get 36 inches of snow and our roof collapses. Darn the bad luck.

I recall a couple of winters in Utah where I made extra cash removing snow from roofs. I did some roofs three times that winter - removing five feet of snow each time! Could've maybe used a hurricane that year!
Then, I remember a year where I helped sandbag Miami Beach three different times - the hurricanes turned each time and never hit!

RAINBOWWAVES · 01-30-2007, 01:55 PM

NJ beaches are great? LOL...yes if you like cold water, it never gets above 70...in the 54 yrs i lived in NJ, i never felt the ocean warm...and having to pay to park and to get on the beach is horrible...then elbow to elbow ppl...and ppl throw thier garbage on the beach, including dirty diapers. As for hurricanes, before we moved here, that was a worry, but we were told that the east side NEVER gets them...well were we in for a huge surprise...we came here in 2001, in 02 we were hit by 2 cat 3s and the next yr by another cat3...we had sustained winds of 130 and gusts to 160...plus a tornado came thru as well...thank God we had a brand new house and we didn't get a scratch...but the neighborhood looked like iraq.

**Wyoming53** · 01-30-2007, 02:10 PM

Having said that Wyoming is just about the proper distance from Hurricane's, this morning I was offered a job in Pensacola Florida. That's a little closer. haha But I'll probably take it. Don't know yet though. I have friends down there and last year was a nasty year for them. Year before was even worse. My friend lives about 5 miles from the beach. He's suffered tree damage, a metal shed in the back yard blew over once, but he's never sustained any damage to his house.

**Sekretgardengal** · 01-30-2007, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAINBOWWAVES

NJ beaches are great? LOL...yes if you like cold water, it never gets above 70...in the 54 yrs i lived in NJ, i never felt the ocean warm...and having to pay to park and to get on the beach is horrible...then elbow to elbow ppl...and ppl throw thier garbage on the beach, including dirty diapers. As for hurricanes, before we moved here, that was a worry, but we were told that the east side NEVER gets them...well were we in for a huge surprise...we came here in 2001, in 02 we were hit by 2 cat 3s and the next yr by another cat3...we had sustained winds of 130 and gusts to 160...plus a tornado came thru as well...thank God we had a brand new house and we didn't get a scratch...but the neighborhood looked like iraq.

Rainbow, who the heck told you that the east side NEVER gets hit by hurricanes?? Did they have their heads stuck in the sand all the time?
Hurricanes hit either side of Florida and along the panhandle, the gulf coast,
up the coast to Ga, SC, NC, Va, Md, NJ etc.
We got hit really bad here in SW Florida from Charley in 04, that's why we are getting the heck out in three more weeks!!
Stuff happens everywhere though. I just hope the hurricanes don't follow me to Pa LOL

RAINBOWWAVES · 01-30-2007, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sekretgardengal

Rainbow, who the heck told you that the east side NEVER gets hit by hurricanes?? Did they have their heads stuck in the sand all the time?
Hurricanes hit either side of Florida and along the panhandle, the gulf coast,
up the coast to Ga, SC, NC, Va, Md, NJ etc.
We got hit really bad here in SW Florida from Charley in 04, that's why we are getting the heck out in three more weeks!!
Stuff happens everywhere though. I just hope the hurricanes don't follow me to Pa LOL

The ppl that live in my town and i researched it, that my area hasn't been hit by anything with winds more then 75 mph...I should have specified, the treasure coast. The last time this area had been was in the 40s but it wasn't even a cat1....My sister lived in Sarasota when Charley hit but didn't get any damage.

**CandyApple** · 01-31-2007, 12:42 AM

In a similar vein, how well do barrier islands protect from hurricanes? There's a lot of them along the coast of Texas, but I don't know how effective they would be at protecting the coast behind them.

Quote:

Do you plan on staying in your house during a hurricane?

How strong does a hurricane have to be for it to be wise to get out of the area? If I should be out of the area, then I will leave until the storm's over. But I'm thinking I can't predict the next thirty-sixty years and whether I'll have the means to leave the area when one hits.

I guess I'd want to prepare for either scenario.

**kimbercuddles** · 01-31-2007, 01:05 AM

We lived in Baton Rouge through Hurricane Katrina and Rita...I guess that's about forty miles or so from the actual coast. We were on the easy side of Katrina and the rough side of Rita and there was a lot of damage.

When the hurricanes came through, it was fierce wind with extreme gusts that bent the trees over as if they were going to snap and some did. We received a lot more heavy rain with Rita than Katrina...almost to the flooding point. Hurricanes start slowly and get more violent until the eye passes over and the other side comes through...sometimes even worse than before the eye.

The one thing that I would say about hurricanes is that with our advance technology, there is plenty of advance warning for people to go somewhere safe...that wasn't the case in previous generations. Insurance is the most difficult part of living in hurricane prone areas. It's weird, though, our insurance (autos/renters) is about 20% less here than it was in Baton Rouge! I love Florida.

**kdm31091** · 01-31-2007, 06:33 AM

Hurricanes are maybe the best kind of natural disaster since we get warning for them and they seem to cause less damage/loss of life overall than earthquakes or tornadoes (just my thoughts)

RAINBOWWAVES · 01-31-2007, 11:51 AM

Well everyone can relax and drive an SUV in peace, the scientific data is in...they all agree that global warming is not caused by anything that humans do. It is a natural occurance and icebergs and polar caps and cracks have always occurred, long before humans had cars or factories. Global warming and sea levels are a natural occurance. So the hollywood ppl and Al Gore can stop all thier ****...besides a nuclear war, the earth will go on for another billion yrs.

01-27-2007, 06:24 PM	#1 (permalink)
CandyApple Back Online! Join Date: Dec 23rd, 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 313	How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? I'm thinking that I'd like to live near the beach, but I don't want to get hit by a hurricane, or have the whole city I'm living in destroyed by one. The whole hurricane Katrina thing made me realize that this is a serious consideration. How far inland does a hurricane do damage? In areas without levees? In areas with levees? Is it, X miles inland it'll do total destruction, Y miles major damage, Z miles minor damage, and past that nothing? What parts of the country do they hit? Do they not hit? I've never heard of a hurricane in Alaska, but are there any other places that don't have them? Does Hawaii get hurricanes (not that I'm interested in moving there, just curious)? How do hurricanes work, generally? I know nothing about hurricanes!

01-27-2007, 07:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
NHYRNUT Pain at it's best Join Date: Dec 23rd, 2006 Location: NH Posts: 516	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? To MY knowledge there has only been 1 Hurrican that actually hit the west coast of the usa. And it don't really count as it was only 39 mile an hr winds. But if you want to locate to the right coast. Than I would stay about 45 to 50 miles inland. at that point you get the rain but not so much distruction. I remeber Hurrican Gloria, and Bob. I lived 45 min ride from the ocean and it wasn't that bad. Unless your in like FL where the storm picks up speed from both sides of the state.

01-27-2007, 07:23 PM	#4 (permalink)
cleozmom Member Join Date: Jan 17th, 2007 Location: Idaho Posts: 286	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Pretty sure Idaho is far enough inland..... oh wait, we dont' have a beach My cousin lives in Sunrise, FL where she claims (being nine miles in) she's far enough inland

01-27-2007, 10:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
CandyApple Back Online! Join Date: Dec 23rd, 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 313	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? I'm thinking of the gulf coast of Texas, but I'm starting to doubt whether I have enough heat tolerance for it. So I might be looking into other coastal areas, too. Another possibility if the beach doesn't work out is to live near a swimable lake, although I prefer the ocean. I'd really like to know about the whole US coastline, actually, even the areas that are too far north for me to consider moving to.

01-27-2007, 10:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
kdm31091 Member Join Date: Dec 24th, 2006 Location: Wilmington, DE Posts: 213	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Well generally, coastal areas north of say, North Carolina, are pretty much not hurricane prone. Yes, the odd hurricane could make its way up to the Virginia coast or something, but it's definetly not a regular or even semi regular event. So the coast from Virginia up is fine for hurricane safety :). New Jersey's beaches are great BTW. If it weren't such an expensive place I'd be moving there in a heartbeat.

01-27-2007, 11:20 PM	#9 (permalink)
whitney Junior Member Join Date: Jan 06th, 2007 Posts: 57	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? One hurricane I remember that turned inland was Hugo but I don't remember what year. I believe it hit around Charleston then turned inland. I know it hit the Blue Ridge Parkway here in NC. We got nothing here in central NC except rain and a little wind.

01-28-2007, 02:11 AM	#12 (permalink)
CandyApple Back Online! Join Date: Dec 23rd, 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 313	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Speaking of earthquakes, my Grandma gave me an article that countered all the standard advice for what to do in an earthquake. The way he explained it made perfect sense, so I just took a look for it online, and apparently that advice is being countered, too! Here's the article, and a discrediting of it: http://urbanlegends.about.com/librar...le_of_life.htm So, I don't really know what to do in an earthquake. What he wrote made sense, but it's being cited as another "urban legend". Anytime there's an earthquake with some decent shaking I'm always like, "Uh... is this bad enough that I should do something?" Then it'll stop and I'll say, "I guess not..."

01-28-2007, 02:58 AM	#13 (permalink)
MyAzi Slave to Sir Azi Join Date: Jan 14th, 2007 Location: Western Washington Posts: 1,306	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Let me share with you about earthquakes... we feel them, we look up and say, "earthquake." and go on about our business. If it is large enough we get excited and run to the doorway.. and start guessing as to how big it was. I have encountered, floods, earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes... I will take my earthquakes anyday over the rest!!! __________________ FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY

01-28-2007, 06:31 AM	#14 (permalink)
Pensypat Junior Member Join Date: Dec 20th, 2006 Posts: 65	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? I'm in northeast Pa. and we get the tail end of some of the hurricanes that follow the east coast northward. I'm a few hours drive from the coast. We get heavy rains, high winds....sometimes flooding, trees limbs flying around and power lines down. Most of the hurricanes never make it up this far.....but once in a while we get some of the nasty weather from one here.

01-28-2007, 01:44 PM	#15 (permalink)
TalmudTemple Member Join Date: Jan 26th, 2007 Location: anywhere I can rake off the top ! I was talk by Ivan Boesky, Mike Milken, Jeff Skilling and many mor Posts: 148	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Frankly about 10 miles from the actual coast may still get wind damage and water damage, or the winds or pressure may spawn tornadic activity anyway...but that's the price of living in relative paradise, there's alway West Virginia, east TN, or rural Georgia, I'll take SW Florida, but that's just my opinion....if you don't wish to deal with the eventuality of hurricanes, why would anyone live in the great state of Florida anyway, a penisula ??? that seems pretty d.u.m.b. to me

01-28-2007, 07:54 PM	#16 (permalink)
CandyApple Back Online! Join Date: Dec 23rd, 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 313	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? So how does one take precautions to protect themselves/their property in the event of a hurricane? What should one do during a hurricane? How dangerous is it to be outside during a hurricane? Ok, so you've got lots of water and some trees falling. Is it a lot of trees, or a few here and there? I guess I wouldn't want a giant tree standing over my house, then. I'll plant shrubs close by instead. I mean, in Virginia there's been a few storms that took down branches or an occasional tree, and everybody remarking how bad the storm was, but it never made me scared to live there. Then I'd see on the news once in a while about a hurricane somewhere with the wind blowing and the rain falling and all this talk about how bad it is, and I'm like, ok a hurricane must be like a really big tornado or something 'cause I just don't get what they're yapping about, it doesn't seem as bad as they're saying. Where's the watery tornado?? Why don't they show it?? So there's no tornado huh? It's just a bad storm? Basically, is it a house destroyed here and there, or is the whole town demolished in a direct hit by a hurricane? What are my odds of coming out unscathed or only minorly scathed if I buy/build about a mile from the beach? Would it be trees falling on the houses that do the damage, or is the wind itself bad enough to tear up a building?

01-28-2007, 11:55 PM	#19 (permalink)
whitney Junior Member Join Date: Jan 06th, 2007 Posts: 57	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Let me tell you about hurricanes The last really bad one (Fran) to hit here in central NC had people without power for a week...more in some places. We have a generator and I'm sure more people have them now! Our neighbors came here for water, to shower, to store food in the refrigerator, etc.. We have about 20 wooded acres...our house is about 2/10 of a mile off the road on a winding path. There were 13 large trees across our drive and my husband estimated about 150 trees down on our propery. We had no structural damage to our house or barn. That was amazing in itself. I was sure a tree would come crashing through a skylight but we were lucky. For months you saw blue tarps on roofs because so many people had damage that construction crews couldn't keep up...just down the road from us a river had overflooded its banks and part of the road caved in. It was not a pretty sight! Sometimes we have tornadoes after a hurricane but I don't think any added to the misery after FRAN. I can't imagine what it would be like to be hit with something like Andrew (in Florida) or Katrina (Gulf coast).

01-29-2007, 12:16 AM	#20 (permalink)
cleozmom Member Join Date: Jan 17th, 2007 Location: Idaho Posts: 286	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Don't forget you want to bring in or at least move to the shed/garage things that could be hazardous; lawn furniture, hanging plants etc. etc.

01-30-2007, 12:33 AM	#21 (permalink)
Wyoming53 Hermit Join Date: Jan 21st, 2007 Location: Sheridan, Wy. Posts: 1,522	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? The problem with storms, is man. We have developed a book called the Uniform Building Code. It's the bible for building structures and what they will withstand. But it is a minimum. For instance, an area may be called "Class C exposure". Meaning it has to withstand a 67 mph wind, flat on any surface. Great, this area is classified Class C. But what happens when it gusts to 68. haha We have become a bunch that build (Not we, but contractors) exactly to specs and can advertise, "It meets specs for this area". Yeah, it does. But what happens if we use 2x'6's instead of 2x4's. It changes the structure to a class A. 105 MPH winds flat on any surface. Total cost of the house? About $2000 more. I live up in Wyoming and that is about the right distance from a hurricane hitting me. We are high enough in altitude so we don't have tornadoes. Nor do we have the San Andreas fault shaking our house. We are truely lucky in this region. Then we get 36 inches of snow and our roof collapses. Darn the bad luck. We used to build to be sturdy. Now we build just sturdy enough to meet specs. My house don't even make noise on winds under 50mph. But I have all 2x6 walls. My roof is good for 40 lbs per square foot of snow load. that would be about 72 inches of snow staying on the roof. I'm not worried. There's a lot said for buying a house that was built long enough ago to be before the UBC book. Can you tell I've been a disgruntled contractor? haha

01-30-2007, 01:55 PM	#23 (permalink)
RAINBOWWAVES Banned Join Date: Oct 18th, 2006 Posts: 715	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? NJ beaches are great? LOL...yes if you like cold water, it never gets above 70...in the 54 yrs i lived in NJ, i never felt the ocean warm...and having to pay to park and to get on the beach is horrible...then elbow to elbow ppl...and ppl throw thier garbage on the beach, including dirty diapers. As for hurricanes, before we moved here, that was a worry, but we were told that the east side NEVER gets them...well were we in for a huge surprise...we came here in 2001, in 02 we were hit by 2 cat 3s and the next yr by another cat3...we had sustained winds of 130 and gusts to 160...plus a tornado came thru as well...thank God we had a brand new house and we didn't get a scratch...but the neighborhood looked like iraq.

01-30-2007, 02:10 PM	#24 (permalink)
Wyoming53 Hermit Join Date: Jan 21st, 2007 Location: Sheridan, Wy. Posts: 1,522	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Having said that Wyoming is just about the proper distance from Hurricane's, this morning I was offered a job in Pensacola Florida. That's a little closer. haha But I'll probably take it. Don't know yet though. I have friends down there and last year was a nasty year for them. Year before was even worse. My friend lives about 5 miles from the beach. He's suffered tree damage, a metal shed in the back yard blew over once, but he's never sustained any damage to his house.

01-31-2007, 01:05 AM	#28 (permalink)
kimbercuddles Cheery Chick Join Date: Jan 02nd, 2007 Location: Navarre, Florida Posts: 1,089	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? We lived in Baton Rouge through Hurricane Katrina and Rita...I guess that's about forty miles or so from the actual coast. We were on the easy side of Katrina and the rough side of Rita and there was a lot of damage. When the hurricanes came through, it was fierce wind with extreme gusts that bent the trees over as if they were going to snap and some did. We received a lot more heavy rain with Rita than Katrina...almost to the flooding point. Hurricanes start slowly and get more violent until the eye passes over and the other side comes through...sometimes even worse than before the eye. The one thing that I would say about hurricanes is that with our advance technology, there is plenty of advance warning for people to go somewhere safe...that wasn't the case in previous generations. Insurance is the most difficult part of living in hurricane prone areas. It's weird, though, our insurance (autos/renters) is about 20% less here than it was in Baton Rouge! I love Florida. __________________ Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find it out.

01-31-2007, 06:33 AM	#29 (permalink)
kdm31091 Member Join Date: Dec 24th, 2006 Location: Wilmington, DE Posts: 213	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Hurricanes are maybe the best kind of natural disaster since we get warning for them and they seem to cause less damage/loss of life overall than earthquakes or tornadoes (just my thoughts)

01-31-2007, 11:51 AM	#30 (permalink)
RAINBOWWAVES Banned Join Date: Oct 18th, 2006 Posts: 715	Re: How far inland to stay away from hurricanes? Well everyone can relax and drive an SUV in peace, the scientific data is in...they all agree that global warming is not caused by anything that humans do. It is a natural occurance and icebergs and polar caps and cracks have always occurred, long before humans had cars or factories. Global warming and sea levels are a natural occurance. So the hollywood ppl and Al Gore can stop all thier ****...besides a nuclear war, the earth will go on for another billion yrs.