Gulf Coast States

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by Jen

It's like the mofo's here who buy a house within a 10 minute drive of the airport, and then bitch about the planes flying over their house.

*groan* I know flight attendants who live within two miles of the airport and complain about the noise! Just once, I'd like to shake them and ask them why they chose that as a career.

[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.

--------

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.

[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.

[AGDee]

You forgot one disaster... Detroit has it's Mayor.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by 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.

Thank you for this response - yes, if you try to live someplace that is not threatened by one sort of natural disaster or another you will end up having no place to live.

I do hate that so many in New Orleans are not raising their homes because of the delay in funding. Yes, rebuild, but rebuild so you aren't in the same sort of danger. I know Florida tightened building codes after Andrew because they found much of the damage was the result of slipshod construction. That, I think, is the answer - require residents to build in anticipation of natural disasters.

[srmom]

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.

I lived in Baytown (was a baby, not tooooo old) during Carla, my dad was an chem engineer at the Exxon Refinery, we lost EVERYTHING! The house flooded and it was unrepairable, so we moved into town.

During Alicia, I was recovering from surgery at Memorial City Hospital. The hospital (and that whole side of town) lost power (parents house was out for 2 weeks). There was no air conditioning in the hospital, and the water pumps were out, so the nurses were having to flush the toilets with rain water collected in trash cans. I was so morphined up that I wasn't uncomfortable, but I have weird recollections of my dad visiting me dressed like the Gordan's Fisherman, head to toe in yellow weathers.

My dad lives in Shoreacres now, right on the water. He will pack up and come stay with me in west Houston about 45 minutes from the bay.

People in my neighborhood evacuated during Rita, which is so stupid!!! The old adage is "Run from Water, Hide from Wind" and no storm surge could reach where we are. Best you can do is board up the windows to protect from flying debris and hope a tree doesn't fall on your house!

Also, at the age my dad is now, 83, he just locks the door and says goodbye to the things, because his attitude is, "they're just things". His health is what's precious now...

[FlaGirl07]

I'm from Panama City originally, moved away, but moved back when I was 8 in 1995. Hurricane Opal was the first hurricane I'd ever been in, and for some reason I was so completely fascinated with it. I would stand outside for an hour under an awning and just watch the clouds speed by. Even to this day I still try to go outside for a little bit and just watch all the action.

The last hurricane I remember to actually freak me out was Hurricane Ivan back in 2004. That one spawned tornadoes a few blocks from my house and knocked the power out for about 3 days. "Thirty-two more deaths in the United States were indirectly attributed to Ivan. Tornadoes spawned by Ivan struck communities along concentric arcs on the leading edge of the storm.[18] In Florida, Blountstown, Marianna, and Panama City Beach suffered three of the most devastating tornadoes. A Panama City Beach news station was nearly hit by an F2 tornado during the storm." It also wiped the I-10 bridge out in Pensacola. I am terrified of tornadoes. I was at lunch at Kappa today and I was amazed at how the girls from up north and out west were absolutely terrified of hurricanes, but don't bat an eyelash at tornadoes. I mean, I can swim great; flying...not so much.

Fay really did a number on the Tallahassee area. Many places were completely flooded and trees were down all over the place. I don't think this area could handle ANY more rain, especially from Gustav. I'm going home this weekend so hopefully Gustav doesn't change his path and stays far, far away!!

[Nanners52674]

So I don't live down south so my experiences with hurricanes is limited to just one. . . Hurricane Eduardo in 1996. . . My family has a summer house on Nantucket and we were out there for vacation when we got word it was going to hit I was only 9 at the time but i remember my dad taking me out to the end of the island to see the huge surf with the surfers in and the ferry ride home when it was still rough seas and the waves were splashing up the side of the boat. . . But at 9 I actually thought the whole experience was pretty fascinating. . .

[nate2512]

I'm in the process of evacuating as we speak, I live in Southwest Louisiana less than 50 miles from the gulf. I'm headed out to Austin, Texas bright and early, well actually it'll be dark, but ya know.

[SWTXBelle]

Originally Posted by nate2512

I'm in the process of evacuating as we speak, I live in Southwest Louisiana less than 50 miles from the gulf. I'm headed out to Austin, Texas bright and early, well actually it'll be dark, but ya know.

Good luck - hope you escape it all in Austin (sometimes they get rain and/or tornadoes. Yikes!)

My father is going to be grand-pooba in charge of the Elks special needs camp if it looks like it will once again serve as a shelter - so he will certainly be going there. I'm not as keen to leave quite yet - we'll see.

[nate2512]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Good luck - hope you escape it all in Austin (sometimes they get rain and/or tornadoes. Yikes!)

My father is going to be grand-pooba in charge of the Elks special needs camp if it looks like it will once again serve as a shelter - so he will certainly be going there. I'm not as keen to leave quite yet - we'll see.

ive been through one, it was quite a living hell, an experience i do not wish upon anyone, certainly not one im trying again.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by nate2512

ive been through one, it was quite a living hell, an experience i do not wish upon anyone, certainly not one im trying again.

You'll be in our thoughts! Let us know how things turn out when you can.