I thought a hurricane hitting this particular area (middle of the west coast of Florida) was somewhat atypical; have heard many long time residents who survived say they had never experienced anything like it. Panhandle, east coast, and the Keys seem like the more risky areas.

But yes, living in a coastal area does seem to be a higher risk proposition.

edit: Some info on how Ian was exceptional.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/28...d-climate/index.html

quote:

unprecedented storm

\

Ugh. We're just going to keep seeing more and more of these all over the place.

I'm having that mind boggling "it could have been me" feeling.

It seems so random.

They say the last hurricane to wipe out Tampa (I don't live there but still I was born there) was in 1921.

A good report from this morning puts Ian in some perspective.

https://youtu.be/3xlsR77vRQA

I have fond memories of Sanibel Island. It was a beautiful place. It's completely destroyed now.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel:
Add Myrtle Beach, SC to the list.

My favorite beach area - actually, Garden City and Murrell's Inlet which are a little South of there. If my grandmother's second beach house was still standing, I'll bet it's gone for good. I went there almost every summer - my idea of heaven.

My mind wanders to an exquisite sculpture garden, Brookgreen Gardens, nearby. All the sculpture was created by one woman, who could afford to bring her dreams to life. Wondering about them and the live oak trees.

The last visit there (thirty or so years ago), we were pursued by realtors. "Yes", I agreed "it's a beautiful area, but what about hurricanes?"

I was pretty disgusted when they went blank as if the word were in a foreign language, then coming back to earth, they reassured me (variations on this theme) "Oh, HURRICANES! We never have hurricanes around here anymore." *Chuckle*.

But what can one expect of a realtor selling houses right on a coast, super vulnerable to those monster storms? It's the realtors and their lobbyists in North Carolina who actually got a law passed forbidding meteorologists and other professionals whose job it is, to publicize just how much the sea is rising year by year!

And re other prime Ian targets, the eye made a beeline to the little town of Bennettsville SC where I was born. By then it had just been downgraded to a tropical storm but I heard from a cousin yesterday that the pounding rain and flooding had destroyed his cotton crop.

(Part of which he farms on land which belongs to me, also adjacent to timberland. The latter was already deteriorating because of river that crosses a good part of it, turning it into wetland. Trying not to think about it now.)

Interesting.

And we were both born in the South. Lol.

The survivors of Fort Myers Beach.

https://www.miamiherald.com/ne...rticle266727976.html

I agree with those who said the death toll is very low.

Nobody expects it's final but in reality it's probably very, very low.

In the aftermath.

quote:

Migrants are helping rebuild Florida after Hurricane Ian. They might not get paid for it.

https://www.usatoday.com/story...to-scams/8177904001/

There are still people waiting for FEMA help. I'm not sure it's arriving.

The water got sucked out of Hillsborough Bay.

Hillsborough Bay is east of the peninsula where my grandparents (my grandfather was an NCO, a Major in the Air Force at MacDill; I lived in their house when I was born and when I went to high school. The "military brat" aspect of my personality descended from here for better or worse but I digress) bought a house in 1963.

"Hurricane Ian drained the waters of Tampa Bay. Did that affect the environment?" https://www.tampabay.com/news/...ects/?outputType=amp

https://images.app.goo.gl/zFo4orXXuW17SSqw6

It's unreal water was sucked out of Tampa Bay but thinking about Tampa so long ago brings back many good memories.

Trivia for the day-- there is a sidewalk with a balustrade running the length of Hillsborough Bay. It was a WPA project.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Miller:
The hurricane has sucked the water out of Tampa Bay.

Everyone thought I was kidding when I said it. SO mocked me for saying it as if it were a dumb thing to say.