What is the problem with hurricanes?

Answer 1

The problem with hurricanes? Well let's see. If it is a Category 1 or 2 hurricane, they really aren't too bad. It's more like a really bad rainstorm with extra wind. The next day will involve a great deal of yard work, back strain and removal of the plywood from the windows. If it is a Category 3 or 4, you may have a problem. I've been through it, take my word on this, it's terrifying! It begins with the long wait for landfall. You wait, listening to the wind and rain steadily increasing while you watch the news reports. Eventually, the power will go out. You stumble about to light candles and grab flashlights. If you are lucky, you have a radio and can kill time with that. If not, you sit listening to the storm, hoping to make it through it in one piece. Soon, the storm hits, you listen to the sound of trees literally popping and hope they do not hit your house or cars. You watch your property fly across the yard, shingles mid-air, backyard fence crashes and landscaping is destroyed. You hope the roof makes it and the house does not wind up flooded. Now keep in mind, this is a drawn out and lengthy process. Hours!!! Waiting, hoping, listening. If you can manage, the best thing is to sleep and deal with the damage in the morning. If it is a Category 5, hopefully you have packed all your belongings into your cars and have gone as far north as you can get. Most evacuation routes will turn into parking lots. Most hotels will be booked or will not allow you to bring Fluffy into your room. If you are lucky, you get your family and your belongings and wait it out in a Ramada. Now once the storm has ended and the sun has risen, you get to do the following: Assess the damage caused by the storm. (How much of my house and car are intact?) Call insurance companies. Massive amounts of yard work. Remove the plywood off the windows. Wait for 4 - 9 days (depending on your area it could be longer) for the power company to get around to fixing the damaged poles and getting your power back on. So in the mean time, no TV, no hot water (unless you have a gas water heater), candle lit rooms at night and NO A/C!! So what's the problem with hurricanes: They are scary to sit through and a pain to clean up after. You live without power, most likely under a citywide curfew and if you need supplies...forget about it. Supplies have either been wiped out or the trip to obtain them will be difficult, as the roads haven't been cleared AND THE GROCERY STORES DON'T HAVE POWER EITHER!! You spend a week or much longer with no power, hot, miserable, praying for ice, trying to restore your property to its pre-storm condition and then ask the question again.