Hurricanes
 

I know the impact of hurricanes is going to be more severe near the coast.


But, how severely do hurricanes impact central Florida.


1) Do you have to evacuate when there is a hurricane? Leave your home and drive north? If so, is it every time or just sometimes?

2) How bad are the effects in TV? Do you have to leave your home and seek shelter at another facility locally during hurricanes?

3) When hurricanes occur does the area experience a lot of severe wind damage? To use an example: a few damaged roof shingles vs the entire roof is blown off.

4) When hurricanes occur does the area typically experience water damage?

Thanx

hurricanes have had no effect on The Villages. we are so far inland that they do not come here.

When hurricane Charlie ripped through the state a few years ago, Orlando had a lot of damage. They are as far inland as we are. Just because we haven't been hit in the recent past, doesn't mean we can't get hit.

Rollie

Hurricanes
 

We are on the old side. Sat through the four hurricanes of '04 in a manufactured home. We had no damage, but others had porch and roof damage. Never evacuated although some did go to schools to sit the worst...Jeanne...out. Most of the damage was to shingled roofs and trees. I don't worry about hurricanes. Tornadoes are another story and they can happen anywhere.

Don't say hurricanes don't come here. Hurricane Andrew was still a strong cat 3 when it exited the Fl coast and entered the Gulf. A hurricane here would be weakening as it passed over land but could still be very dangerous. Worst scenario is one coming out of the Gulf, we are only 45 miles inland from the Gulf side.

I would think that since we are a relatively flat and fairly narrow peninsula, we would be very vulnerable to a powerful hurricane, even though we are inland. There just isn't much topography to weaken the hurricane.

I figure the odds of being run over by a car on the multimodal path is higher than being killed by a hurricane. If a storm the size of Katrina were headed for us, I *might* think about evacuating. I doubt that I would. Of course, your mileage may vary...

There ARE Hurricanes in Fla-rid-ah. And Texas needs rain.
 

This old Kingston Trio song, "The Merry Minuet" reminds us that not much changes when it comes to worries and this old world. This song is fifty years old now.


you tube the merry minuet - Bing Videos

Lifetime Resident of the florida keys
 

I probably know hurricanes as well, maybe better, than most people here. Hurricanes when they move inland start to lose their strength (derived from warm ocean water) almost immediately. However, the real danger inland are tornadoes spun off from the storm as it moves forward. As almost all know there is little warning and almost no protection from a strong tornado. These aren't the tornadoes you see in "tornado alley" that come marching across the plains. Rather they are intermittent, generally of short duration, and unpredictable. They most powerful can and have damaged roofs, broken windows with flying debris and usually significant water damage since hurricanes are also major rain events. So, do you have to run? My opinion is no but it's a personal decision. Are there evacuations in Central Florida? None that I can ever remember, they are for low lying coastal areas that will flood in a storm surge, ie the dome of water pushed forward and in front of the core of the storm. I think the best advice is IF a storm passes across Central Florida, 1. You will have plenty of info on the storm track. 2. Police the area, your neighbors also if they are away, and make sure loose items, planters, etc are put away. Flying objects will do much damage. 3. Stay indoors until the storm has passed. 4. Stock up on food that doesn't require refrigeration. Batteries, candles, gas for the car. If power is lost it could be days before it is restored. Other than that,,have a nice day!

Thanks everyone. The information was helpful.

While it always a good idea to be prepared for a hurricane, I think insurance policies are a good indicator of the probability. When I lived in South Florida my hurricane deductible was 10% of the dwelling coverage limit. Here it is $500.

Insurance companies are betting we will not have any significant damage from a hurricane in The Villages. Hope they are right.

WHAT? When I lived on the south east coast of Florida, Hurricane Wilma hit the west coast, traveled all the 160 miles across the state and clobbered us. It actually gained strength crossing the state since it was large enough to hang out over the gulf and Atlantic at the same time. We're a lot closer to the coast here and have just been lucky. What we won't get here is storm surge since we're not near the water. But we don't have the strick building codes here that S. Florida has such as shutters and are vulnerable to winds.

As far as hurricane resistance, we have the same codes as south florida. No building codes call for shutters.

a spectacularly bad answer

Dade county codes call for approved shutters in new homes being sold. Believe me, I had to go thru an inspection to buy my new home in Boynton Beach in 2002. Also all doors must open out not in as I have here. I've lived in S. Florida since June of "53" until moving here in 2010 and we don't have those strict codes.

http://hurricaneshutterssite.com/Mia...tter_Code.html

We have owned property in the barrier island of the Outer Banks for many years. Different houses in different areas. They have all been on the ocean side of the road. We've had lost shingles and minor damage, but never enough to file a claim. The worst damage we've had to property from "wind driven rain" given a name is in our home in PA and no place near water.

It's tough to predict what direction mother nature is going to go.

I don't worry about Hurricane damage here.
 

I worry far more about lightning striking our home here and burning it down. We have lost seven homes to lightning strikes in the last eight years in The Villages.


This area of central Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S.

Lightning is for real
 

Exactly, Gracie. Lightning is for real here in Florida. By the time a hurricane hits here in Central Florida it has lost a lot of its force---people are evacuated to Central Florida from the coast to get away from the hurricanes.

A hurricane can cause damage to your home but you will be safe. Lightning or a tornado are much more dangerous.