John;

Good advice. Having gone through Hurricane Donna in Orlando in 1960, I told the people around me after it was over, "I would rather go through an Earthquake"! They thought I was nuts. I have not changed my opinion!!!

What I recall was we went on Red alert three days before Donna hit. You never know exactly where a Hurricane will go until it hits. For three days after the eye hit us we were still on alert in case Donna backtracked. There is a great deal of tension leading up to and for days after a Hurricane strikes. Then comes the clean up as you well know!

My NCOIC was from the Everglades. As Donna hit us he had us open the windows on the opposite side from the direction of the wind. This he told us would help equalize the pressure in the building (cinder block and a truss wood peaked roof) and the building had a better chance of surviving.

When the eye hit is was so calm and tranquil. Then my NCOIC made us close the rear windows and open the front in anticipation of the winds coming from the opposite direction. What an event! I would not wish such an experience upon anyone.

When they can accurately predict when and where an Earthquake will strike and its magnitude then it will be psychologically similar to waiting for a Hurricane.

In the end Morher Nature has power we sometimes cannot appreciate.

Tom


>Hi Dave,
>
>Lucky for you, Charley got that clue and went somewhere else. Good thing, too.
>
>As most of my friends know, I was at "ground zero" for Andrew in 1992 and lost everything. In fact, still have a dent in my skull for it.
>
>Hurricanes are very bad things. Best to haul tail.
>
>
>
>>Charlie is supposed to arrive at my house in St. Pete, Florida sometime tomorrow, and I am not happy about it. Therefore, my family and I are heading over to Orlando to stay in a Comfort Suites for a few days (with free wireless, of course).
>>
>>Hopefully, Charlie will see that no one is at home and get a clue that he should just go somewhere else.
>>
>>Biggest evacuation in the history of Pinellas County -- over 380,000 people ordered to leave starting at 6 pm tonight, so we expect a bit of a traffic jam getting across the bridge into Tampa. :-)
>>
>>See you soon...