I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, 63 plus years, hurricanes are a part of life, the issue is with the number of people moving to Florida who have never experienced a hurricane.
Not everyone, but a significant percentage of people moving to Florida want to live as close the ocean as their finances will allow, the closer you live the more money you pay and the more damage you will suffer from a hurricane. If you live in the middle of the state you might be without electricity for some time, but in terms of storm damage not much chance if you are prepared, remove major trees that can fall on your property, stock up and ride it out, I’ve lived thru a number of major storms, once the storms hit land they die out quickly except for the rain, don’t live in a flood prone area and it’s not so bad.
same age as you, been here all my life. I just sold my beach condo in NSB as it’s getting completely out of control on the coast. Inland, like you say, not so much.
What part of the state are you in?
I attest to your concern.
On a biz trip thru all of South Fl. in '04,( Charlie, or Jeanne, or Frances) pushed north, also flushing the masses north. Paths were uncertain, so both coasts tried to evacuate north.
Visiting from Arizona, we panicked and soon faced the reality of no home, no motel, no power, and no gasoline. The 11am, 2, 5, 8, and 11pm updates seemed life and death to us rookies who knew nothing of the dangers and imagined only the worst.
Reflecting now, it was extremely exhilarating, but scary as hell then---as may be the reaction for rookie hurricaners.
We got the last flight out of Tampa back to the desert. TPA closed 15 minutes after departure....so it must have been Frances.
What a year for Florida with Katrina, Wilma and Ivan to deal with as well.