Did you see the article about Hurricane Micheal and what some in the area of Mexico Beach and the Florida Panhandle thought process was on the Tree Cover in the Florida Panhandle. The powers to be thought the Tree Cover especially the large OAK TREES in the FL Panhandle would slow down the high winds.
WOW were they wrong and MAJOR miss calculation Hurricane Michael eye hit Mexico Beach and leveled most of the area in its path. The before and after picture are mind boggling.
In the same article about the tree cover it mentioned the damage was 70 mile in from the coast. Bringing down big very old oak trees into many homes from the coast to 70 miles in land. One reporter on the weather channel showing the aftermath of Hurricane Micheal said, “It looks like a weed whacker hit the area. The name of that weed whacker was Hurricane Micheal The Weed Whacker.
Again once a hurricane hits land it reduces speed and becomes a tropical storm sooner rather than later not in Hurricane Micheals path. It was a Cat 4 and maybe a Cat 5. Then went into Georgia as a Cat 3. And the folks in the Carolinas and Virginia got hit a second time with Tropical Storm Micheal after Hurricane Florence major flooding.
After Hurricane Andrew in 1992 the Miami/Dade County did a re-write on their building codes and it become the model for all of Florida. Unfortunately some areas of Florida did not pay attention to the new codes.
PLUS it added some major coasts to building a house. Especially stilts for a house will add at least 100K to the cost of the house. And there is no living space permitted and stuff on the first floor will not be insured if living space is built in the first level. With Storm Surge of 9 to 13 feet. Stilt requirements could be 20 feet that $100K just increased to $150K to $200K before the house floor joists are installed or a concrete rebar enforced floor is built on the stilts.
Hurricane Micheal will make many towns along the entire Florida coast re-write building codes. AND inland will be a major factor as well.
I think the damage of Hurricane Micheal was a MAJOR wake up call to the governmental powers to be, There is more to do with building codes in Florida making the costs to build increases cost prohibitive to many people that want to live on the beach and in land along the coast.
Sadly Hurricane Micheal has impacted people in its path that will have consequences no matter where they move to the mental impact will NEVER be forgotten.
The financial toll will be a major impact on people, local and state and federal governments. There will be some insurance companies that will not write policies due to the Billions of dollars of losses in the Florida Panhandle. The cost of insurance will increase. The cost of pecans will increase due to Georgia hit on the pecan industry. There are other costs as well but the human cost will be the highest price paid for in this natural disaster called Hurricane Michael. There is no price that can be put on a human life and in the future when evacuation orders are given I really hope people will listen and not stay in the path of the next Hurricane.
Hurricane season from June to November is part of living along the coast of Florida AND in many other coastal states. When the powers to be says certain areas are to be evacuated, it time to PACK UP AND GET OUT. Take personal papers with you. But Houses and other furnishing are NOT important. They are things and things can be replaced. A persons life and pets too can not be replaced. The emotional toll that a disaster leaves on a persons mind is something that will never be forgotten and I never want to experience. If the next storm is headed in my direction take the pets and family close the door behind me and drive in the opposite direction of the storm. I am thankful we were not in the path of a Hurricane this season and hope that a late storm does not hit Florida this late hurricane season of October and November.
Stay safe!!!
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