Originally posted by AKIron
Leave town when you get advanced warning a cat 5 hurricane may hit your town.
As a native Floridian, I can understand the people whom stay on certain occasions. Hell I live on beach side here in Daytona and I've ridden out quite a few hurricanes right here.
What you have to understand is there is never any "set" path for these storms. No one ever really knows where it's going until it's really too late to leave. Add to the problem, that in many cases the storms cover the entire state and in reality have the ability to hit just about anywhere. In the state.
Take for instance Andrew it was supposed to hit Melbourne, FL that's where I lived at the time. It went to the south instead of turning north like they projected. I went to my dad's house and ended up driving home the day it hit because it was a bright sunny day. You would have never known a hurricane that big was hitting the same state.
So in reality where do you go? I know people whom left town and went north during hurricanes. Only to have the hurricane miss us and they got hit up north from the left overs.
You people that think it's so easy to get up and move out of the way of these storms have never been in one. Add to the issue in Florida there are only a limited number of interstates that lead north. So how far do you think you will get when everyone in the state is trying to leave?
How much gas can you carry in your car? 9 out of 10 times during a heavy evacuation the gas stations run out of gas and this happens typically days before a Hurricane hits in many cases.
People start filling up all their cars and gas cans, next thing you know there is gas shortages everywhere, which freaks out everyone else and it ends up being a endless cycle of gas shortages.
So unless you have the luxury of leaving 3 days in advance, in many cases you are SOL with these storms. I think many of you that have never dealt with these storms, really have no idea what goes on during or prior to them. So it's easy for you to sit back and say you would do this or that.
How far can you drive on a tank of gas while doing 35mph on a highway that's a parking lot? Where do you think you will find a hotel room? I've known people whom had to drive as far away as Tennessee to find a hotel room.
Oh and BTW just because there is a Hurricane coming doesn't mean it's a national holiday. Many people's jobs don't give them off until it's hurricane warning time.
I used to do cable modem installs as a contractor for Bright House/ Time Warner. They used to make us work until the threat status was "warning". Warning means it hits within 24 hours or less, so do you quit your job everytime a Huricane gets close?
