A tragic ending to speeding

[MunsonGTA]

The hurricane threat is highly exaggerated. I've lived in Florida for nearly 52 years and have yet to take a direct hit by a hurricane. I'm more likely to get run over by some tourist from Ohio looking for Mickey Mouse.

has any hurricane ever done damage to your house or vehicles? it doesn't take a direct hit to get severe damage...

[Joe 1320]

The hurricane threat is highly exaggerated. I've lived in Florida for nearly 52 years and have yet to take a direct hit by a hurricane. I'm more likely to get run over by some tourist from Ohio looking for Mickey Mouse.

has any hurricane ever done damage to your house or vehicles? it doesn't take a direct hit to get severe damage...

Yep.


Living in largo and not getting hit is a function of a whole lot of luck. Port Charlotte got wrecked, but much of Largo got spared. In Sebring, way off the coast we got pounded several times back to back. $40,000 in damage. Yes, that's right...... $40K and parts of my house still don't have ceilings, parts of my tile floor still aren't repaired from being under water, carpets still need to be replaced, huge oak trees were obliterated and pushed aside like matchsticks. A porta-jon landed in my front yard and there wasn't a construction site within a mile of the house.

You my friend, were incredibly lucky.

[BrdWAtti2d]

has any hurricane ever done damage to your house or vehicles? it doesn't take a direct hit to get severe damage...

No, not one cent of damage ever. It's not luck, it's odds. Like I said, it's greatly exagerated. Yea it sucks when someone like yourself gets that kind of damage, but I'll take my chances thanks.

[Wild Willy]

I wouldn't want a home at the end of a runway, but I wouldn't mind living near enough to taxi a plane to the house. Say across the street from John Travolta's house.

Holy Moly- Is that a private airport? Must be nice to have that kind of cash. Did you notice the house on the southern end of the runway? Must get a little jet blast when the Lear Jets turn around.....


Hmmm, wonder what kind of speed you could get a BMW up to on that?

[Joe 1320]

These things aren't airports per se, they are private airfields with no tower control. The air traffic is so light that control towers aren't needed. It's up to the pilots to maintain safety. There is one of those just a little south of me.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

Hmmm, wonder what kind of speed you could get a BMW up to on that?

You haven't seen BMWs lately have you. How about a 600 horse supercharged V8 or a 500 horse V12. A 2000 foot strip (not saying that is what it was) is a short runway but you could get my wife's 325 up to 120+ easily.

[MunsonGTA]

No, not one cent of damage ever. It's not luck, it's odds. Like I said, it's greatly exagerated. Yea it sucks when someone like yourself gets that kind of damage, but I'll take my chances thanks.

well you're really damn lucky then. millions of people in florida have had damage from hurricanes. how many hurricanes have hit florida in the past 10 years? i bet it's atleast 15-20. hurricane andrew, charley, and wilma all hit florida.

[Rhode Island Red]

lived off/on in the panhandle since late 1982. I've lost count at 23+ Hurricanes/tropical storms I've been though. In '96 we got 2 eyes within a month of eachother both landing in the very exact location (first time in recorded history) The 2nd storm was Opal and left a 42 ft houseboat in City hall parking lot. Okaloosa/Santa Rosa island in Navarre looked like it was subjected to hydrogen bomb testing - multiple times -. The road to Destin, FI (manland) on the east side of the barrier island from minland FWB, past the Seaspray, the road was ERASED. Not a slab, chunk or even a pebble remained. Wind gauge at Hurlburt field (Special ops HQ for the US) broke @ 144.


Luckily I moved to RI for my job before an even worse hurricane came though (Ivan) which lifted bridges and destroyed them (bridge to mainland from barrier island to Destin, and bridge from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola (opposite side of the island) )

Moral stay away from the coast and you'll be better off

________________________________

BTW there are communities set up around private airports, where you drive your plane to the hangar/garage and your home . But 5 kids in the same car at those speeds. Last I checked, reality always will intervene and correct you - very harshly. Sad sad sad

[Joe 1320]

. Like I said, it's greatly exagerated. .

I used to think that way. I've been in Florida since 1972 and until 2004 I would have said the same thing. Even when Andrew wiped Homestead off the map, I was living on the east coast in the Palm Beaches and it got pretty wicked. We went down to Homestead and when I saw the damage I was shocked. Even then, I said that the odds were really slim. Fast foreward another 10 years, getting a direct hit with 3 Hurricanes and lots of damage, headaches and heartaches has wiped that smug attitude right out of my head.

Enjoy it while it lasts and just pray that it doesn't happen to you. I know friends of mine in the same boat and anyone that has had this kind of destruction has changed their tune as well.

[Steel2686]

There are definitely people who think if you live in Florida, you're putting yourself in the direct path of a hurricane. I can understand being tired of hearing that same old song.

However, it's not entirely incorrect. With the weather being a cyclical animal, we're in the beginning stages of a severe weather cycle according to the National Weather Service. It can last anywhere from 20 to 50 years. It remains a fact that Florida is more likely to be hit by a hurricane than, say, New York (though the possibility is always there). Florida would be hit harder due to warm, tropical waters. The hurricane would slow quite abit by the time it hit New England (I've seen a few in my life. Nothing but pretty strong wind and lots of rain).

Statistically, you'll more than likely never get hit yourself. But the chances are still there as Joe knows all to well.