The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from June 1 to November 30. To date, two named storms – Alberto and Beryl – have already formed off the U.S. east coast.
My family has lived along the Gulf Coast of Florida since 1995. Our late summer arrival was neatly tucked between Hurricane Erin and Hurricane Opal, both of which made landfall in the small harbor town near where we live.
Opal, which at its peak grew to a Category 5 Storm (maximum sustained winds >156 mph), is now a retired name. She wiped out a two-mile stretch of Highway 98 along the gulf coast between Fort Walton Beach and Destin. It took more than two months before the road reopened.
In our home less than three weeks, we were on the road and evacuating the area within five hours of pending landfall reports. Our kids and I wouldn’t return for two weeks – how long it took to restore electricity. When the Mister got back a few days after evacuating, laden with three coolers filled with bagged ice, our neighbors greeted him with offers of $10 for a bag. He gladly parceled it out free to any who needed it.
In the intervening years, we have evacuated for at least three other storms, and rode out maybe another three. Our neighborhood has been designated a mandatory evacuation zone. Meaning if a Category 3 Storm – or higher – is expected to make landfall near us, we are required to leave. Typically with less than 12 hours notice.
We have it all planned out. I start thinning out the freezer and fridge – in case we lose power. I stock up on canned goods and make sure I know where our manual opener is. We have at least two propane tanks filled and ready for cooking, and lay in supplies of fresh water.
Numbered plywood boards, cut to fit our back windows that face the bay, are waiting to be nailed in place. I have sedatives on hand for the pets to make their evacuation stress-free – for them and us.
Packing is down to a science. We even have our escape routes mapped out and family notified of our pending arrival. The worst part is we’re never sure what we’ll return to, and often don’t know until we get home.
During the past 17 years we have been exceptionally lucky. In all that time we have never been flooded, and only had minimal property damage.
Every year, I’m still anxious over what could happen. Predictors are no use. I don’t think they have ever been close to being right. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2012 Hurricane predictions call for a normal storm season, with a 70% possibility of nine to 15 named storms, with four to eight reaching hurricane status. Of those hurricanes, one to three are expected to become major storms – Category 3, 4 or 5.
So… your guess is as good as theirs.
If you’re keeping track, the 2012 storm names are:
| Alberto | Beryl | Chris |
| Debby | Ernesto | Florence |
| Gordon | Helene | Isaac |
| Joyce | Kirk | Leslie |
| Michael | Nadine | Oscar |
| Patty | Rafael | Sandy |
| Tony | Valerie | William |
The Saffir-Simpson Scale ranks tropical storms based on maximum sustained winds:
Tropical Depression – 38 mph or less
Tropical Storm (named) – 39-73 mph
Category 1 – 74-95 mph
Category 2 – 96-110 mph
Major Hurricanes – Catastrophic damage expected
Category 3 – 111-129 mph
Category 4 – 130-156 mph
Category 5 – 157 mph or higher
Thin spiral notebook 
I am as far away from the coast as you can get .. in the middle of America but I LOVE the weather.. all types and where I never which anyone harm or property damage the hurricane season amazes me. I watch the storms gather up steam and predict what they are going to do.. but I’m a dork like that. I wish you a safe and stress free hurricane season.
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I know just what living waiting for the next one is like. I went to high school in Miami and part of that time lived on the water. There were no designated evacuation zones then, so we rode them out, includig Donna, Cleo and Betsy, three of the ten worst in Florida history, and doing everything you mentioned. Then. four years ago, we bought a condo in a coastal evac zone on the east coast, but we close the shutters in June and head north, hoping for the best. I was sure a hurricane would hit last year. And it did – Irene was a direct hit, in MASSACHUSETTS. You just never know.
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I saw Beryl and thought of you last week. It sorta freaks me out that they’re starting so early – and I’m in the Midwest. I think I’d have a hard time with hurricanes. Yes, we have tornadoes here, but I (knock on wood) have never seen one nor known anyone who’s had damage from one. But wow Mother Nature is scary, isn’t she? Fingres crossed for you!
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You seem able to handle the storms and evacuations with calm and a good plan. I’m not sure I would. I’m more comfortable with the idea of winter blizzards.
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I’m predicting a wicked storm season . . . only because I’m planning to visit Florida!
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This weekend when I was visiting the lake near my parents’ house, I was thinking, ‘we need a couple of hurricanes’. The water is so low, the lake is nowhere near the size it used to be. They really are nature’s way of balancing things out.
Then last night, when we were out of power for 4 hours just because of TS Beryl, I was eating my words. lol
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Be safe.
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Stay safe indeed. I love Florida. I would live there in a heartbeat. I want to live there. I would face all the uncertainty for the chance. Stay safe. I’m in Montgomery if you need a waystation.
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For the last two sumemrs, since we’ve known each other, your family is in our family’s thoughts. I love Florida but I love it as a visitor. We’ll be in Disney in mid June.
I’m very uncomfortable with Leney’s name being attached to these Hurricanes. I want you to love her, not fear her. That sucks.
Stay safe, Tar Rah.
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Lance – Helene is a hurricane. Consider her wild behavior after her first success. But she’s also beautiful. Hurricanes bring in the astounding Gulf Coast shells. The description is more apt than you might want it to be š
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