In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina, made landfall as a Category 1 in Florida around Fort Lauderdale. It hit an area that was scrambling to recover from the massive damage caused by Hurricane Ivan's landing. It made landfall in Florida's Panhandle July, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane. It also destroyed a sweeping swath from Mobile Alabama east to Pensacola and then east along the Florida Panhandle.ĭennis, another potential Florida Keys hurricane glanced on by Key West. This massive storm totally decimated large sections of Highway Interstate 10. In September, 2004, Ivan, a potential Florida Keys hurricane passed by on it's way to Mobile, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle where it made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane. The extensive damage was confined to a relatively small area. This was an incredibly small, but powerful, fast moving Category 4 hurricane that made landfall around Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida. In August, 2004 Hurricane Charley passed by the Florida Keys. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, Photo Credit David Bujak This only served to increase the passive mental attitude amongst the residents. In recent years, any Florida Keys hurricane that could have posed a threat, ended up causing insignificant or no damage. For many, the real dangers of a Florida hurricane just seemed too distant and far removed from life in the Florida Keys to be taken seriously. Eventually they were ignored altogether or treated as a nuisance to comply with - depending on the individual's situation or mood. After all, evacuations take considerable time and effort, and there's always the loss of commerce to be considered. However, when no hurricanes made landfall, or passing storms caused insignificant damage, residents began to feel evacuations were unnecessary. In the beginning, when Florida Keys hurricane evacuation warnings were developed and issued, people would heed them and flee. With new warning systems in place, residents and visitors feel safer. The obvious lack of bathrooms posed a major problem, as did shortages of food and water.Įven though a particularly bad Florida Keys hurricane occurred Labor Day, 1935, the memory of that horrible day has unfortunately faded away. Everyone suffered from the effects of heat that a hot, humid Texas day can cause. As it was, with the traffic not moving, many ran out of gas. If the storm had hit during this time, the danger to this traffic chain of humans would have been severe. The end result was that thousands of people were stranded alongside the road for hours and hours. If both lanes had been used, traffic would have flowed easier. They only had traffic flowing in the north bound lanes. The hurricane evacuation that was underway was not properly planned or executed. Houston Texas Evacuation Disaster During Hurricane RitaĪ horrific scenario we can take a lesson from, occurred in Texas before Hurricane Rita made landfall. For structures inland, it means major water and wind damage. This spells total destruction for buildings closest to the water. These surges can also travel inland many miles washing away everything in their path. Unfortunately, hurricanes have incredibly strong, high storm surges which can easily exceed 10 feet or more. Commercial and residential structures have been built close to the water's edge. Many of the islands comprising the Florida Keys are extremely narrow. What makes a Florida Keys hurricane so potentially dangerous to the area are these important facts. Ironically, considering their location, the Florida Keys are usually spared a direct hit or even major damage from one of the massive hurricanes passing by. eastern seaboard and the Gulf coast deal with the possibility of one striking close to home. For half the year, residents living along the U.S. No question, a Florida Keys hurricane is a real threat. To help you understand the differences between hurricanes, here's a scale for wind speeds based upon the Saffir-Simpson wind scale. One example is Tropical Storm Aleta which formed in mid-May 2012 and threatened to become a hurricane. Nature however doesn't always follow the path of 'official' and occasionally a storm will develop early. And Storm Surge Strength The Florida hurricane season officially begins June 1 and goes through to November 30th.
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