General 4x4 Discussion - Guide to Hurricane (or tornado) survival

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Guide to Hurricane (or tornado) survival

Printed From: Rocket City Rock Crawlers
Category: General
Forum Name: General 4x4 Discussion
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URL: http://www.rocketcityrockcrawlers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1838
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 11:02pm
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Topic: Guide to Hurricane (or tornado) survival

Posted By: Al
Subject: Guide to Hurricane (or tornado) survival
Date Posted: 12 June 2006 at 8:16am

Long (re)post of one South Florida resident posted last year after the hurricane experience was still fresh; taken off of Arfcom. Long read, well worth it, take what you can use from it:

"OK, as a longtime resident of South Florida and a veteran of hurricanes from Andrew to Wilma I feel I am qualified to comment on this subject.

If you live in the SE United States anywhere near a coast you will want to save or copy this one.

BEFORE THE STORM:

1. Should you stay or should you go?

Consider leaving. There are all kinds of reasons people stay from not having a place to go, concern about property and friends or things like that. But probably the thing that makes most people stay is they "think" they know what a hurricane hit is like when most don't. If you are in a hurricane warning and the storm ends up hitting 150 miles away and it was a small hurricane you did NOT experience a hurricane but the outer storms associated with one. This causes most people to feel they have been through a hurricane and know what to expect when they are wrong.

That said, even those who HAVE been through a hurricane probably won't bail for a Cat 1 hurricane. The problem is hurricane forcast is NOT an exact science but a collection of best estimates. Hurricane Wilma was "forcasted" to be a Cat 1 storm by the time it reached us but what we in fact got was 122 mph sustained storm that gusted up to 144 mph and did the kind of damage normally associated with a Cat 3 storm. The short version is by the time you know FOR SURE where it is going and how strong it will be it will also be too late to leave.

So if you have a hurricane forcasted to "possibly" hit your area and you can leave it is probably a good idea. I personally use Cat 3 as my demarkation point. Having seen what they do if we "might" get a Cat 3 or stronger storm I explore my options to leave. Might be a good week so secure the house and take a short visit to see your family up north.

2. Secure your home.

Secure your home to protect it from the storm and from looters after the fact if you leave.

The rest of it:

http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=472796 - http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=472796