It’s called bashing, some take advantage of every opportunity.

I haven’t read all the comments but I suggest you get a Weather Alert Radio with battery backup. Your Village Public Safety station will program it with the necessary warnings.

IMHO the biggest potential is not flooding, assuming you live on the west side of 441/27. The biggest potential problem is tree branches. Unless you have an older roof, more than 12-15, you should be okay.

After 22 years in TV, I worry most about tornadoes being created on the edge of the storm. Hence the recommendation for a weather alert radio. After the ground hog day tornado, in 2005?, the VHA championed getter a weather alert transmitter tower installed that covered the area. The VHA paid for it with donations. It was installed and operational within about 6 months. 👍😊

In case you want to know how high you are above sea level, here is a topographical map of the villages. Zoom in and find your location.

The Villages topographic map, elevation, terrain

My iphone sitting on a table says 80ft which agrees fairly well with 21m from the map.

There are a lot of people that have been bashing the new southern villages since they were started in early 2017. Some of them persist mostly out of jealousy. It's great down here, more relaxing atmosphere than up north and they sell 10 to 11 new homes every day south of 44. Pay no attention to them, I'm actually shocked that they would bring jealousy into a serious post such as this. You'll most likely see a few bashing replies to this LOL.

why?

It was during Irma about 5 years ago. It flooded near the golf cart bridge. I don't think anyone had sandbags and don't know if they would have helped.
Definitely need food that does not need refrigeration or cooking, I use battery operated candles. Some solar lights may help and a battery operated radio or weather radio.

I am not certain jealousy is the issue. I hope you can understand those who have lived in the Villages for quite sometime are "in the know" about things a newbie will not understand. Experience is a great teacher. The person who posted that remark is probably rolling his eyes at you, as well. Perhaps, he truly knows something about the south location you do not!

Be careful when you cast aside anyone on this forum. The man you make fun of today may be the only one who has the correct answers for you tomorrow. And, remember, even though we live in the same metro, our circumstances are much different. I, for one, am not jealous of the newbies, their homes, or their area. Get angry if you want but all I see is more of "the exact same" at a much, much, higher cost.

I get it! It's not always about money! So, we don't need to argue this one out. Time changes everything and there is nothing we can do about it. Just saying, we each have different perspectives. To understand one another, we have to accept our circumstances are different.

If you want to know about the south you ask someone who lives here. Fenney was started over 6 years ago and I have been here since the beginning, have seen it all and lived it all. There is no reason for anyone to continue bashing the south and they really should take a look in some of their own back yards if they want to find something to bash.

Nah , they are just bashing. It’s the same old song.

Sorry, you feel people are bashing you. I think Fenney is one of the most beautiful Villages. Love all the trees and the entrance is gorgeous! Love your home and enjoy! It's not a competition but a choice. People may love your choice or feel theirs is better. It doesn't matter! At the end of the day, all that matters is that you are happy.

Never heard of that, but guess if you live in an area that is less then 50 feet above sea level, it may be a reasonable question to ask. Our location is ~140 feet above sea level, thus the real concern would be groceries, meds and electric. Even these don't cut it if the electric is out and you can't get water because the pumping stations are down.

I've read some, not all responses so forgive me if this is a duplicate.

If you have old photos and are staying for a storm put them in a bag, you may want to wrap them up with towels to protect them. Include your name and contact information in the bag. Or, place them in your empty dishwasher or dryer. Same goes if you have a few small sentimental breakable items.

When we lived in SE FL after Hurricane Francis we were without power for 14 long, hot days. We had dogs and a cat. We still had the storm shutters on the windows and sliders after the storm, so all of us slept outside on the lanai. We made a makeshift bed out of the patio furniture cushions. We slept on the lanai with our pets. We were sleeping and it was about 4 am. I heard looters walking in the empty woods next to us, crunching the leaves as they walked and were talking. But it blended in with my dreams. One of our dogs made the most evil sounding guttural noise. Whoever they were stopped in their tracks, stopped talking and never made another peep. She didn't sound like a dog but like a wild animal and the way the noise traveled it was hard to tell where she was.

I was concerned about the heat and our pets being indoors while we were out. I called our vet and he suggested taking a wet towel and putting it on our dog's backs. We had a generator that we were able to use for the fridge and TV. We wet down the towels, put them in the freezer. We had a big cooler and ice. When the towels were cold we put them on our girls. This lasted about 4 hours. We had other towels in the freezer and rotated them.

We had big girls so we used bath towels. If you have smaller dogs, or cats you can use a hand towel or wash cloth. Our dog's left the towels on, our cat didn't tolerate it. Our vet told us that if our dog's became overheated to put their paws in cool (not cold, or freezing) water. This can quickly bring down a dog's body temperature.

This may seem a bit much but my husband even took down the blades of the ceiling fans on the lanai. They could fly off if the storm is bad enough and do a lot of damage.

Keep an eye out for any of your neighbors who may need a helping hand preparing.

Try to keep a full tank of gas during hurricane season. I try not to get to under half a tank.

Forget the basement.