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We have been to Florida many times and have our mind set on relocating there. We have been looking all over the east coast and have found a very nice potential house in the Satellite Beach area.
I would like to get first hand experiences from the members here. Any that live there or in the area?
thanks,
jim
I lived in Melbourne for a year or two... not a whole lot to do there if you're the clubbing type, but that doesn't sound like you guys anyway. Relatively sedentary lifestyle, particularly along the coastline...normally I'd say you're in a good spot to catch Shuttle launches, but since those will be stopping soon, well...
Crime rate is reasonable in the area, some nice parks to walk the dog or ride a bike. You're not too far away from the military base North of you, so possibly some engraving/CNC work to be had there.
Have you ever been through a Hurricane?
Moving to the East Coast means accepting the fact that Hurricanes will be part of the experience. Florida is obviously a hot spot for bad weather so you should think about how you are going to feel about leaving your home and all the tools in your shop behind as you run for cover inland.........possibly several times per hurricane season.
Category 3 Hurricanes and above mean you forget about worldly possessions and only think about survival. My cousin moved to Florida several years ago right before they had a four hurricane season. He moved back to Virginia just after the fourth storm. He was certainly used to hurricanes, we have them here often enough but four bad storms in one season is tough to take.
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I don't know, Keith... I spent over 20 years in Florida (17 in Gainesville, 3+ in south Florida around the Boca Raton area, and the previously mentioned 1+ in Melbourne), and there were only a few 'canes that caused real problems for most people. Losing a small tree or some shingles every few years is a given, but a Cat 3 is rarely something to be concerned about (we usually had several of those a year). People usually stay in their homes for Cat 3s. Cat 4s get a little more dicey, and when it hits Cat 5 (like Andrew in '92), time to leave town (though a few nutjobs still hang around).
Construction in Florida has improved considerably since Andrew caused new building codes to be put into place, and at this point I would only worry about flooding... though I would still leave home for some place further inland during a Cat4/5. I remember being in Coral Springs in the mid-2000's time frame for a relatively nasty one... I was leaning into the wind at least 30 degrees to keep my feet "under me" while the dog took a potty break in the shelter of the building side. The dog was NOT happy.
Only worry about flooding! Storm surge flooding is what kills the majority of the people who refuse to leave and does much more damage than the wind.
The last cat3 hurricane we had here (Isabell I think) knocked down more trees than the entire population of SawMill Creek has ever used in lumber. We still have trees down everywhere in wooded areas, what a shame to see so much wood go to waste. Whats interesting is that the trees were surviving the wind until the water weakened their roots, then they started falling like dominoes.
When I was a young lad I remember watching the roof fly off of a house in our neighborhood and will never forget the stuff flying through the air at 90 mph and the damage the debris did to homes. We lost all of the houses on one waterfront street, there wasn't anything left.
Cat4 storms will totally destroy all residential homes.
Cat5 storms will totally destroy commercial buildings.
Last but not least I expect that if you check the records more people have died in Florida hurricanes than any other state and Florida probably has the record for financial loss.
One the plus side I remember fishing off of Key West when I was young, it was awesome.
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Florida also has a significantly higher percentage of crotchety old retired people who think they can outlast a tiny little storm because they've lived this long without a problem... and then they die trying to get out at the last minute in 10mph winds.
Old building codes that were on the books but never enforced until after Andrew were upped yet again to take care of high winds... extra bracing for gable roofs, etc.
Andrew was a Cat5, and 80-90% of the homes at the location of landfall had roof damage (but many were still standing). Just checked statistics and it looks like 117k homes in Dade County (landfall point) were listed as being destroyed or having major damage.
This is with a Cat5... a Cat4 is quite a bit less painful, so to say Cat4 destroys all residential homes, and Cat5s destroy all commercial buildings is a bit much, IMO. Flooding / storm surge is the overriding major problem in Cat3/4s for people along the edge.
Either way, this is all pedantic... Jim is right on the edge of the Earth there, so he's going to get hit with the worst winds and the worst floods of anyone even a mile or two inland. I wouldn't want to be there when a Cat4/5 hits unless my place was made of cast concrete, a huge bilge pump, and a 120V battery supply to last a lifetime.