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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hurricane Season Has Some Reconsidering Living In Florida
2004-09-27
They do that every hurricane season. What else is new?
Being a month or more without electrical power in sweltering swamp heat, due to four devastating hurricanes in any little over a month, and being made cognizant the current hurricane cycle shall being pounding the so-called Sunshine State from June through November for at least another 15 to 25 years, it's time to head back home, where the lights remain on and the water has a place to drain. Florida is only for a vacation spot during the winter months to go to the beach & Disneyworld.
The latest hurricane to slam into Florida has some residents reconsidering whether or not they want to continue living in the state, according to a Local 6 News report.
"Maudette, I think we should move the trailer house back to Des Moines!"
A Local 6 News exclusive survey found 31 percent of people asked said this year's storm season has caused them to think about leaving. However, 69 percent of those surveyed said no, that they have not thought about moving away from Florida.
"I mean, just because the hurricane blew the house away and we were attacked by alligators, why should we leave?"
The storm sliced across the state Sunday with howling wind and rain, turning streets into rivers, peeling off roofs and rocketing debris from earlier storms through the air. The storm made landfall just weeks after Frances ravaged the same stretch of coast, and hurled debris only recently cleared from earlier hurricanes. Together, Hurricanes Ivan, Charley and Frances have already caused billions of dollars of damage and at least 70 deaths in the state. "The last three weeks have been horrific," said mobile home park owner Joe Stawara in Vero Beach. "And just when we start to turn the corner, this happens."
"What comes next? Volcanic eruptions?"
Some inexpensive land near Mount Saint Helens right now ...
The hurricanes have prompted the largest relief effort in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's history, eclipsing responses for the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, Calif., and the 2001 terrorist attacks, director Michael Brown said. Jeanne is the state's fourth hurricane of the season -- an ordeal no state has faced since Texas in 1886.
Signs and portents, friends, signs and portents.
Posted by:Mark Espinola

#30  Check Arizona,TGA.In the winter you can go from mid-70(f)in Phoenix/Tucson to skiing in the White Mountains with a 2 hour drive(sorry no Autobahns here).Besides we got something AP doesn't.Great Mexican food.I'm having home made Enchiladas tonight,with hot sauce made from my own garden.By the way if you like to garden we have 3 growing seasons.Put that in your pipe and smoke it AP(just a little chuckle)
Posted by: Raptor   2004-09-27 7:43:05 PM  

#29  And yes Wakulla Springs is a beyond category 1 Spring.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-27 4:36:29 PM  

#28  Actually Lex if you do have dough St. George is a good place to be, Wakulla County if you are more shall we say, thrifty, such as myself. Taylor County has no beachs but has more magnificient scenery than you can shake a stick at (saltwater marsh wise) it's my second home.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-27 4:34:50 PM  

#27  Thanks, mous
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 4:30:10 PM  

#26  Lex -- Here is a site I found that ranks them by volume:
http://www.floridadep.org/springs/locator/Firstmagmap.htm
Posted by: Anonymous6680   2004-09-27 4:09:23 PM  

#25  And the locusts and termites are only bad outside of hurricane season, right?
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 2:45:58 PM  

#24  Lex, if you got dough St. George Island, it has been hurricane lucky (sic) so far and the sharks are mostly black tip and nurse. The rattle snakes in the middle of the island are large but fairly slow, you can easily dodge them once you get the rythem down and have cultivated your Baptist stare. The Mosquitos are only bad when the bats are migrating north. Due points above 73 degrees only occur nine months of the year.

Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-27 2:05:31 PM  

#23  Sorry to hear it. Too bad for Porter Goss and the ex-Company guys who (reportedly) make up many of Sanibel's residents.
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 1:03:39 PM  

#22  Lex, Sanibel got whacked by Charlie. Captiva (north of Sanibel) was hit even worse. There is a Little Captiva which is an islet cut from the larger island by an earlier hurricane. Well now there are 2 Little Captivas. Charlie cut a 400 yard channel right through the island. That gives you some perspective on the power of these storms. Imagine the amount of dynamite that would be required to do that. Amazing.
Posted by: remote man   2004-09-27 1:01:24 PM  

#21  This has been a harsh 6 weeks. The worst thing is that we haven’t gotten a decent surf day out of any of the hurricanes. However it is getting a little boring. The same old routine: wait in line to gas up truck, check still boarded up windows, lay on the couch listening to the wind howl and wonder if the roof is going to blow of this time, wonder how long the power will be off, wait in line to get gas again and try to remember to be thankful for surviving yet again. There is a silver lining: the post storm clean up is easier since there aren’t many branches falling off the remaining trees.
Posted by: Canaveral Dan   2004-09-27 12:08:20 PM  

#20  Two of the Hurricaine Eyes, Frances and Jeanne bot hit land in PALM BEACH COUNTY. The center of the 2000 "recount" storm.

Interesting. Hurricanes supressing voter turnout!
Posted by: BigEd   2004-09-27 12:07:50 PM  

#19  Lex, I think Sanibel is further south along the west coast. I heard there was some damage but it may only be to the back nine. The front nine seem to be playable and the cart path is still in ok shape...
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-09-27 11:59:04 AM  

#18  A6680 - have a link to a good map of these springs? Preferably sorted by volume of potable water. A great business, spring water is.
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 11:54:07 AM  

#17  A6680--he also said *mountains* ;-)
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-09-27 11:51:17 AM  

#16  TGA,
Want crystal clear lakes?
Florida is home to 75 of the top 100 fresh water springs in the world and has some fantashic spring fed rivers and lakes.
O-town native
Posted by: Anonymous6680   2004-09-27 11:49:33 AM  

#15  All great suggestions but you know someone has to keep the a**holes at bay here as well :-)

Hmmm yes but Alaska is a place I'd really like to see before I die. In summer (or early fall) though because I had my share of winter in Siberia already.
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-09-27 11:38:47 AM  

#14  Frank-you are dastardly! :)
Posted by: jules 187   2004-09-27 11:38:31 AM  

#13  or Idaho - some areas speak excellent German ;-)
Posted by: Frank G   2004-09-27 11:36:42 AM  

#12  Have we got the place 4U, TGA up in Alaska. And if you look around, we can even rustle you up a few down to earth honest people.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2004-09-27 11:32:00 AM  

#11  thanks, Seafarious. Was Sanibel Island wiped out?
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 11:31:15 AM  

#10  ... or alternatively, advice on Southern Colorado (Salida, Pueblo, Sangre de Cristo generally)-- again, out-of-towners who go there, a**hole factor, hazards for toddler etc.

thanks, L
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 11:30:46 AM  

#9  Sounds like the NW--maybe Montana or Washington state--is the place for you, TGA. The NE is also mountainous and very beautiful, and in places the people can be great, but they can be mixed in with real a**holes, too.
Posted by: jules 187   2004-09-27 11:27:08 AM  

#8  Lex, the Canucks tend to winter in South Florida (ie Miami-Dade and Broward counties). I think jellyfish are more of an Atlantic phenomenon, dunno about the shark/gator scene on the Panhandle. Oddly enough, I heard one of the residents in Escambia County (Pensacola) on the radio after Ivan...he said all the federal relief funds flowing in were already raising their standard of living even as they pick up the pieces...
Posted by: Seafarious   2004-09-27 11:24:16 AM  

#7  I guess I would love some fresh mountaineous area with crystal clear lakes and down to earth honest people...

And I like the four seasons.
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-09-27 11:18:03 AM  

#6  I have never desired to live in Florida. Naples is nice, but Florida is Florida. Cockroaches the size of a small hot dog, bugs everywhere, crocodiles wandering around gardens biting off people's excess limbs, the aforementioned jelly fish (which I encountered around Sarasota by the 100s--babies), and sweaty, stinky people nearly year round is enough to get me to put up with Chicago blizzards.
Posted by: jules 187   2004-09-27 11:13:04 AM  

#5  Can anyone give advice on the panhandle (redneck riviera) as a second home location for a young family (toddler)? Trying to understand

1) aesthetic

2) jellyfish, shark, etc

3) Canadian

factors... thanks in advance, Lex
Posted by: lex   2004-09-27 11:06:00 AM  

#4  When the next blizzard hits Chicago its all forgotten...
Posted by: True German Ally   2004-09-27 10:53:39 AM  

#3  Since I live there 9 months out of the year, I say good riddance - especially if you are 1) Canadian, 2) over 80, and 3) are still driving your 1980 Buick.
Posted by: Jack is Back   2004-09-27 10:49:07 AM  

#2  And the parrotheads! My God, the parrotheads!
Posted by: BH   2004-09-27 10:30:51 AM  

#1  Please reconsider. It's damn hot and the state soil is a myakka sand. Jellyfish are on the move and the sharks are getting restless. The aligators are making a huge (and I mean huge) comeback, they've developed a taste for dawgs and children. I counsel fleeing.
Posted by: Shipman   2004-09-27 9:29:40 AM  

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