Do you have real time experience dealing with hurricanes?

[nanandjim]

Hurricane Ewa in Hawaii. Lost the roof to our home. My son and I were in the house at the time and hunkered down in a corner of the master bedroom where the roof held on for dear life.

Hurricane Frederick in Florida. Large tree fell on and damaged our roof. We evacuated and had to drive to Dothan, Alabama, where we finally found a National Guard Armory with space. All hotels were booked along the route. The Armory was nice, and the Red Cross was there helping.

With both hurricanes, I saw the news media driving around to the most devastated areas filming. They totally bypassed all of the areas that were unscathed by the storms because IMO that's not much of a story.

 

[BarnGoddess]

All hurricanes from 1943 through Andrew in Miami.
Mother and grandparents: Hurricane in Miami 1923. Grandmother and mother assisted with Red Cross in the 1932 storm that went over the keys and killed many.

 

[BirdieBoo]

When I was very small, I remember my grandfather boarding up the windows of his home, and we all left. I don't even know what hurricane that was.

The disaster that really left a mark on me, and that I remember still, is the Teton Dam breaking. I was very small still, even when that happened, but I will never forget the stench of death that was all over when we returned to our home after evacuating. We had mud in our basement, other families lost everything. I remember a big truck came and dumped a load of muddy clothing
in our backyard, and I helped my mother clean it, with the backyard hose. We had to wash it several times with the hose before it was even clean enough to wash in the washer.

 

[Shadow205]

I lived in Florida for 20 years and was very lucky. I went through lots of warnings but they always turned at the last minute. Went through several tropical storms that made a real mess. I moved from Florida to WV in 2003 but was down there for the birth of my 1st Grandchild. Had the pleasure(sarcasim)of being there for Jeanne & Francis last year. The damage from those two were extensive but in no way does it compare to what Katrina has done.

 

[shellys]

We lived in the New Orleans area for several years before moving back "home" to the midwest. We experienced Andrew in 1992 just 6 months after being married and moving away from "home". I was so young and stupid! I remember DH learning all he could about hurricanes from "locals" and staying up late at night to see if it turned, or strengthened or whatever and whether we'd leave or stay. We stayed with some wonderful friends who had a sturdy home in Harahan. DH had to go to work during the storm, and I remember my work being mad that I didn't come in. Seemed strange that they would expect that...... Now, being older and wiser, I'd have left. I remember my daddy begging me to just come home for a few days. Dumb youth!