Gulf Coast States

[KSUViolet06]

I know that people generally have reasons for initially moving somewhere.

The thing that perplexes me is when people are hit by a hurricane, lose their home, and rebuild it again in the exact same spot. We have a family friend in FL who lost a house to a hurricane, and when we asked where he planned to move to rebuild he said "I'm putting it back on this same lot."

[ComradesTrue]

I understand how perplexing it can be when people choose to stay in their same town following hurricanes. Here is a little bit of "the other side."

My in-laws live in the panhandle of Florida... about 5 minutes from the coast. They both work at Eglin Air Force Base, and have for over 30 years. While they have been pummled by multiple hurricanes (damage to house, but never leaving house inhabitable) they are at an age where going elsewhere for a job is not realistic. In addition, if they can last until next December with the Air Force, they will get a handsome retirement package. (They are civilians with very specialized work... going to a different base is apparantly not really an option either.)

They have been ready to completely vacate Florida for years, but feel they have no choice but to stick it out a bit longer so as not to lose governmental retirement benefits. Once my MIL retires they are high-tailing it out of Florida forever, but for now just pray that The Big One doesn't come.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by Blondie93

I understand how perplexing it can be when people choose to stay in their same town following hurricanes. Here is a little bit of "the other side."

My in-laws live in the panhandle of Florida... about 5 minutes from the coast. They both work at Eglin Air Force Base, and have for over 30 years. While they have been pummled by multiple hurricanes (damage to house, but never leaving house inhabitable) they are at an age where going elsewhere for a job is not realistic. In addition, if they can last until next December with the Air Force, they will get a handsome retirement package. (They are civilians with very specialized work... going to a different base is apparantly not really an option either.)

Hey, that's where I grew up...but we were right on the coast. After Opal in 1995, my parents moved inland, into a home that has only received damage to the privacy fence during Ivan and Katrina. They have another property, a 65 year old house that my grandfather built, that has never been damaged by the ten or so major storms that have hit.

It's really up to the individual person. My parents are in their 60s--seriously, are they going to move anywhere else at this point? That is where they grew up, and where their parents still live. Why should they leave, anyway? They have excellent hurricane (wind + flood) insurance where they've never had to make a claim, and not one but two homes inland that haven't sustained damage.

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I can't get worried about this storm until the weekend. Once it goes into the Gulf, it's anyone's guess. Almost every storm that goes into the Gulf has a potential track around NOLA. But, only one has hit the city directly in a while.