EP106: The Irma Show
Today’s Episode is the story of Hurricane Irma and an official thank you to all the notes of concern and good vibes sent our way. They all helped.
Hurricane Irma:
Hurricane Irma originated off the coast of Africa The most intense hurricanes to hit the US since Katrina in 2005
The first major hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in 2005.
Irma maintained the highest Category 5 rating with wind speeds topping 185 mph
It hit the Florida Keys as a Category 4
It was a Category 3 when it touched down on Marco & Naples with sustained winds around 140mph.
Hurricanes build their strength over warm water.
Land and mountains break hurricanes apart.
Pre-Storm:
Hurricane season is from June 1 – November 1.
They get named each season in alphabetical order starting with A, so Irma was the 9th Hurricane of the season that had potential to make it our way.
Hurricanes do not sneak up and there is plenty of time to prepare for them, but evacuating or driving north is not always the best answer because nobody really knows where it is going to hit until the hurricane center confirms its path 2 or 3 days beforehand.
By then it may be too late to leave because flights sell out, roads get jammed and as in the case of Irma, gas runs out or low and that is just to name a few obstacles in trying to leave remote areas like Southern Florida.
Hurricane Irma was the size of Texas and covered both coasts of Florida.
Evacuating has so many variables to consider and it’s not an option for many and it’s not always the best decision.
Leaving town takes a lot of time away from work and costs a lot of money to travel and stay in hotels or fly.
There are often pets and kids and it’s not always the best decision as you may end up in a worse situation than what you could have prepared for.
Homes in the tropics and sub-tropics which is what Naples is, are built for hurricanes and newer homes are nearly indestructible.
Scared:
There are two models that predict the path of a hurricane…the US model and European model. Europe they say is historically more accurate. The US model had Irma making a destructive blow on Miami and Europe had Irma head to the Southwest tip of Florida, aka Naples. Europe was more accurate, unfortunately.
Post Storm:
90% of Collier County had no power or drinkable water
Gas for automobiles was scarce and only a couple of stations had fuel and cars waited in line for hours to fill up and many were turned away.
Cars were the only way to charge phones, but with limited gas, people did not want to run out of fuel.
No power=no Air Conditioning which can be very dangerous in Florida, especially for babies and elderly
No wifi
AT&T only worked in pockets with very bad service.
Many inconveniences and some homes were very badly damaged, but…
We are safe and will get back to normal soon enough.
Thanks for the story, Irma, but you will not be missed.
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