Ian wasn't supposed to be this way: What
I saw when the Cat 4 hurricane blew through Florida
American Thinker,
by
M.B. Mathews
Original Article
Posted By: PageTurner,
10/4/2022 5:27:46 AM
Ian wasn’t supposed to be a giant-killer.
The Gulf coast of Florida is not usually a place where notable hurricanes hit. Usually they hit on the east coast of Florida or they beeline it across the Gulf to Alabama or Louisiana, or they just peter out and skitter into the Gulf of Mexico to die.
But not this. Ian devastated parts of the Gulf coast of Florida, went inland and continued to wreak havoc there. Small Gulf cities like Englewood and Venice, Ft. Myers and others, were decimated by flooding and fallen trees.
Ian started his rampage out in the Caribbean and circuitously sneaked his way into the Gulf.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Howard Adams 10/4/2022 6:51:50 AM (No. 1294848)
And as we saw with Harvey in Texas in 2017, hurricanes happen all around the world, but isn't it wonderful to be an American! We are blessed to have courageous, loving, generous, selfless neighbors. Thank you God and God bless America
17 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 10/4/2022 8:09:19 AM (No. 1294907)
If I were king I’d put Publix in charge of the entire supply chain. Even during the height of the pandemic they managed to keep the shelves pretty well stocked across the board. Folks were buying water big time up here in the Panhandle before Ian entered the Gulf, but I don’t think they ever ran out of water or much else for that matter.
13 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
felixcat 10/4/2022 9:50:07 AM (No. 1295016)
I survived Hurricane Hugo in 1989 living in North Charleston. Kind of like Ian, up until the afternoon on the evening it hit SC it was tracking for Jacksonville, FL area and then it turned north. Hugo was also a Cat 4 when it struck the SC coast but fortunately I was well away from storm surge/ flooding water. My property damage was from downed trees, especially the live oaks. Almost two weeks before I got my electricity back so I think FPL, etc have done a phenomenal job in FL restoring power so quickly after such a devastating storm.
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 10/4/2022 9:57:03 AM (No. 1295023)
I lived in a hurricane zone for six years. It is a horrible feeling to drive away from your home, not knowing if it will be there when you return, then sit in bumper to bumper traffic for hours. For that reason, I will never again live in a coastal region.
1 person likes this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Samsquanch 10/4/2022 10:07:10 AM (No. 1295040)
Im sure the Dims with BLM and Antifa are rushing to help.
3 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
DVC 10/4/2022 10:11:36 AM (No. 1295047)
Florida building code for many decades has been requiring specific features to withstand high winds since the 60s, getting progressively better and stronger over time as more lessons were learned, and new strengthening features designed.
The first that I became aware of, in the middle sixties, while helping my father build a home in central Florida was "hurricane clips". The conventional roof rafter or roof truss of those days was fastened to the top of the wall structure on a frame home with one or two "toenails" which are just a nail driven through the rafter into the top plate. These are fine for sideways loads, but if the wind causes suction that lifts the roof...those nails pull out easily. The hurricane clips were simple, inexpensive metal straps, only a couple of inches long which had a couple of nails through the steel strap into the rafter or truss and a couple of nails into the top beam. Now, the lifting forces would have to tear out the nails sideways through the wood, not pull the nail out in the direction it was hammer in. This shearing load is far stronger.
There are multiple different kinds of these design features built into Florida homes by building code which add up to homes able to withstand a lot of wind. But, those big trees falling on a house are still very bad.
I wasn't aware of those corrugated polycarbonate shutters....sound like a really good idea. Lexan is a DuPont trademark for polycarbonate, a very strong and tough sort of polymer. The corrugations would stiffen the panels greatly, so they could resist wind loads and impact loads much better. Great idea.
And I repeat. Living on barrier islands requires one to understand that evacuation for a hurricane will be mandatory, and losing the home, or severe flooding damage, are extremely likely in a strong storm.
9 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
lakerman1 10/4/2022 12:04:06 PM (No. 1295189)
The word 'decimated' means reduced by 1/10th.
Caligula decimated his army each year by killing 1/10th of the troops.
Jack Welch of GE decimated his managerial corps - decimated them - by firing 1/10 of them each year.
The root word is deca, or ten.
Perhaps the definition of decimated is evolving, but I'm not.
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 10/4/2022 2:41:52 PM (No. 1295299)
Bravo #7, another of my many pet peeves about misuse of words by people who only learned their "definition" by guessing in context and never bothered to crack a dictionary, or in this case, study history.
2 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
Timber Queen 10/4/2022 5:08:36 PM (No. 1295393)
#7 & 8 - My pet peeve also.
I am heartened by the hurricane aftermath stories, as with all natural disaster stories. We deal with earthquakes and fires here in California. The common denominator is the human factor, and more often than not the good in people is what shines forth the most. When the trappings of the modern world are stripped away and all your familiar surroundings are turned upside down, the steady hand of a friend on your shoulder is worth more than gold. When nature's fury is unleashed beyond her usual gentle boundaries the human soul comes into contact with inescapable Power. Believers acknowledge the God they know and although frightened, they find peace and generally make wise decisions. Unbelievers encounter a God they cannot comprehend and become frightened, panic and generally make poor choices.
3 people like this.
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Comments:
Brilliant piece telling us all the firsthand stuff that doesn't get noticed by the press.