Gulf Coast States

[O_Phi_A_Bekah]

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

If you check there, there are 3 more potentials way out there too :/ Fun times Fun times!

[phimu88]

Originally Posted by O_Phi_A_Bekah

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

If you check there, there are 3 more potentials way out there too :/ Fun times Fun times!

Well it looks like FL is out of danger. Which is a good thing, I dont think the ground could handle any more water!!!

[phimu88]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I really wish my brother hadn't moved to Alabama...

where in AL is he? If he isnt too close to the water it shouldnt be too bad!

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by Kevlar281

During Alicia I lived in Seabrook, TX…about a block from the water. I was pretty young so I barely remember anything. My most vivid memory is eating breakfast at the Red Cross trailer at City Hall.

I think the only reason I evacuated for Rita was because of all the coverage that Katrina got. Rita sent the city into a panic. Cell service went down and you couldn’t buy gas anywhere and I just got caught up in the panic of wanting to get out of town. I still live about five minutes from the water.

My grandparents lived in Seabrook (2 blocks from the Gulf) during Carla - they stayed, but after that, they got out of town anytime a cat. 4 or 5 was looming.

I was going through rush when Alicia hit (!), and going home saw signs of flooding, and downed trees. I think my parents had no electricity for a day or two.

My parents left for Rita, but my father has mad navigational skills - he went by backroads to Tyler.

The problem with going north is that often that is where tornadoes form.

[phimu88]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

My grandparents lived in Seabrook (2 blocks from the Gulf) during Carla - they stayed, but after that, they got out of town anytime a cat. 4 or 5 was looming.

I was going through rush when Alicia hit (!), and going home saw signs of flooding, and downed trees. I think my parents had no electricity for a day or two.

My parents left for Rita, but my father has mad navigational skills - he went by backroads to Tyler.

The problem with going north is that often that is where tornadoes form.

OMG did they have to cancel rush? That must have been crazy!
We had no electricity for 5 or 6 weeks after Katrina in our town... but it didnt really matter we didnt have a house anyway lol.

you are right about that!

[phimu88]

Wow now I am really getting scared!!! Looks like we will be evacuating to TX. We really cant have another biggie here our town isnt prepared yet We just got our bridge back like a year ago, but we still have no grocery stores ... so I hope Walmart is spared if it comes this way!!

[Tippiechick]

Why people choose to live, build, and rebuild homes in these areas is beyond me...

You know at some point, a hurricane is probably gonna do serious damage. Yet, people continue to do it over and over. If you are gonna live there and take a chance, don't make a big fuss when one comes your way.

[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.

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

Why people choose to live, build, and rebuild homes in these areas is beyond me...

You know at some point, a hurricane is probably gonna do serious damage. Yet, people continue to do it over and over. If you are gonna live there and take a chance, don't make a big fuss when one comes your way.

I can't remember when this was, but it was during the last round of deadly tornadoes. I was watching the national news and one lady said that she's used to tornadoes and that she's survived too many tornadoes to count and that she's rebuilt each time, etc. etc. Why would you even put yourself back in harm's way? Tornado alley people...thoughts?

The last major hurricane to hit Oahu was 'Iwa in 1982. I was only 3 when our house sustained major damage. My parents could have rebuilt and stayed closer to the water, but instead they moved us inland and into a condo. They weren't even going to try to deal with a hurricane like that again.

Years later, my mom still bitches about hurricane insurance robbing her blind. It's a huge price to pay, but when you live out here, you really don't have a choice.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by phimu88

where in AL is he? If he isnt too close to the water it shouldnt be too bad!

I had to actually look at a map, he hasn't been there that long. He's in Monroeville.. looks like it's far enough from the coast to not be bad for them. But, I imagine their hospital could be utilized if Mobile or Pensacola were hit hard?

[phimu88]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I had to actually look at a map, he hasn't been there that long. He's in Monroeville.. looks like it's far enough from the coast to not be bad for them. But, I imagine their hospital could be utilized if Mobile or Pensacola were hit hard?

Oh he is way up there! He will be fine. The only thing he would have to be concerned about is possible tornados, but that happens pretty much anywhere in the country. But if he is worried he could even go further NE to try to avoid any bad weather.

[phimu88]

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

Why people choose to live, build, and rebuild homes in these areas is beyond me...

You know at some point, a hurricane is probably gonna do serious damage. Yet, people continue to do it over and over. If you are gonna live there and take a chance, don't make a big fuss when one comes your way.

This response is not inteded to provoke anything... it's just a response to your statement. And, before Katrina I never made a big fuss, but it's still so fresh in my mind that it's hard not to. Camille was the only one close to that magnitude and that actually hit the year before I was born ... so it was 35 years between major hurricanes hardly a reason to completely desert an entire region.

We rebuilt after Katrina because this is our home. We love our small town, our neighbors and location. Just because I worry about hurricanes now doesnt mean I dont want to live here... and we pay a pretty penny for our insurance to do it. Although my husband said after Katrina if it ever happens again we are gone... but I dont believe him. The chances of these disasters happening over and over are slim, and I love this area, it's my home and thats why we choose to rebuild. It's not like we do it over and over... it's happened once in my lifetime. Twice in the older people (people 60+) so it's not a common occurance.

When I see a Cat 3 coming straight up the Gulf (and know that it will intensify in those warm waters) it worries me... I am not only worried for myself but any city or country in its path. We may be spared this time, but someone is going to get hit and I am still going to worry for those people and their homes. Just like I worried about all the people in IA who were flooded out and lost everything they owned earlier this summer.

California has had more earthquakes in the last 200 years than New Orleans has had thunder storms. Southern California burns each summer and millions of dollars of homes are destroyed and people die. Alaska has had terrible earthquakes. All the states along the mighty Mississippi River have experienced horrible flooding. Florida has had several horrible hurricanes in the last 10 years. The snow storms in the north east kill and damage property every year. ND, SD, IA, NE, KS, MO, AR, OK, TN, TX, LA and parts of OH, IN, and IL are all considered "Tornado alley". So where really, is it safe to live? We cant all live in Idaho....

[phimu88]

ok here is my sister's response to my worried email telling her we may come stay with her up in IL this weekend...

I'm not worried, "Gustav" doesn't have the same kind of ring that Camille and Katrina have. If it was a girls name that started with a K or C I'd worry. We used to get level 3s all the time and it was just messy afterwards. Katrina like Camille was once in a generation, there won't be another like that until you are like 70.


ok, now I feel safer haha
and she is probably right
that's the funny thing!

[bayoubengalzta]

I'm an LSU student and I'm from New Orleans. The semester before Katrina hit, I declared Disaster Science and Management as my minor. Truth is, there is nowhere in the country that is not at some constant risk of a major disaster. Yellowstone National Park is a gigantic volcanic crater, any coastline is at potential risk for a tsunami, both tornadoes and earthquakes can happen just about anywhere (yes, there is a faultline closer to the Gulf Coast than the San Andreas out in Cali), and of course, all of us here along the Gulf know hurricanes are fairly commonplace. The trouble always happens because people become complacent and stop testing and improving their response plans or rely too heavily on technology(when the power goes, you're screwed). This stuff is going to happen, we're always a lot closer than we like to think to the next big disaster. I got really angry when there was talk about not letting people rebuild in certain areas. It's everyone's responsibility to be prepared and the failures during and after Katrina were not entirely FEMA's fault. A lot of that was on the local agencies. I'm not worrying about Gustav yet, it's way too soon to really be able to predict where it will make landfall with any kind of accuracy, it could head to Mexico as easily as it could hit the Gulf Coast.