Have You Been at Ground Zero of a Major Hurricane?

[CrazyC83]

I agree on this much. Andrew was much smaller than Katrina. The damage was extreme, but confined to a small area. Katrina's wind damage was less extreme, but spread out over a much larger area. Also the water (storm surge and rainfall) did the lion's share of the truly devastating damage in Katrina, unlike Andrew. It is like comparing Apples and Oranges (as the old saying goes) people.

Andrew was more like a 15-mile-wide F3 tornado in its eyewall...

[Jim Cantore]

I was in the western eyewall of Floyd as a cat 1, only saw 50-60mph winds

[hurricanesurvivor]

Was near Ground Zero (20 miles north of the Mississippi Coast) for Camille which was a Cat 5 and Katrina, which was a Cat 3. Also numerous other hurricanes and tropical storms in which the eye came over or was near.

[HurricaneHunter914]

Would hurricane Charley at Category one with winds gusting at major hurricane status count.

[Droop12]

I was in Pensacola for Ivan and Dennis, but the strongest portion of Ivan was a bit west of Pensacola so I probably only expirenced Cat 3 gust. My house was under the eye of Dennis and the winds were probably borderline 2/3 I'd think. There were several well built homes around here with walls and roofs blown in and off. Also, lots of damage from flying debris(my house included). Anyways, I think thats it for major hurricanes.

[Jim Cantore]

I was in Pensacola for Ivan and Dennis, but the strongest portion of Ivan was a bit west of Pensacola so I probably only expirenced Cat 3 gust. My house was under the eye of Dennis and the winds were probably borderline 2/3 I'd think. There were several well built homes around here with walls and roofs blown in and off. Also, lots of damage from flying debris(my house included). Anyways, I think thats it for major hurricanes.

Opal would count as one

[Frank P]

I've been through a bunch of storms but NONE of them can come close to the devastation that was brought to the MS coast by Hurricanes Katrina and Camille...

Not many people can say that their house has been affected by a 26 foot and 22 foot storm surge..... NOT MANY PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO EITHER.....

Losing your home is like losing a family member... you mourn deeply for it and all your collections that you've accumulated over the years... but you also know that you can bring them back stronger and better.. that's what keeps you going... that's what keeps me going... My house will be better, stronger, and more importantly HIGHER.... hehe

[HurricaneHunter914]

Can someone answer my question 4 posts above?

[gatorcane]

In the northern eyewall of Andrew...That was an interesting early morning!In the northern eyewall of Andrew...That was an interesting early morning

I bet it was Glad you survived. That was one powerful cane with reports of 180mph gusts in Homestead.

[bobbutts]

scary but we were safe.. had the eye come over and experienced the NW and SW eyewalls. Took a look quick look out the front door during the eye and observed large flying debris in the eyewall only a few hundred yards away to the west and quickly returned to the safe room. Spent the actual eyewall away from any windows so didn't get a chance to see much.. Damage in this neighborhood was not quite as bad as the E side of where the eyewall hit a few miles south and east in Punta Gorda and Deep Creek.

During the storm the winds were quite loud.. not freight train levels, but plenty of screaming and howling.. the roof shifting and creaking was scary and we could hear the shingles tearing off too. Thankfully it was over very quickly with less than an hour of eyewall conditions. I think if the duration had been longer more structures (and people's sanity) would have failed.

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Other than Andrew in Florida I know that when the Center of then Tropical storm Bertha in 1996 passed a tad SE of my area, the winds were so high that it actually woke me out of a sound sleep. Funny Bob (1991) and Bertha were about the same intensity in my area, 50 kt sustained, but for some reason Bertha seemed more intense wind wise at it's peak. Go figure.

[flashflood]

In the northern eyewall of Andrew...That was an interesting early morning!In the northern eyewall of Andrew...That was an interesting early morning

I bet it was :eek: Glad you survived. That was one powerful cane with reports of 180mph gusts in Homestead.

Indeed it was. Here is a picture of my friends home. Fortunately he stayed at my house during Andrew, or he may have not survived. All was left is the concrete slab everything else gone with the wind. I took this picture while Andrews outer bands were still overhead. Also, we never found his "prize" comic collection (among other things) that he was so proud of.

edit: this is in the "redlands" for those who know that area. Also, the first picture was too big, so I reduced it some

[Scorpion]

Andrew is the best example of what Cat 5 winds will do to an area. Demolish everything. I am not so sure I would ride out a Cat 5 anymore.

[f5]

that picture looks like midwest style tornado damage

[gatorcane]

and based on some of our MCP and MPI estimates, it could get worse than Andrew unfortunately.

[Thierry_Gironde]

I've only got one category three (Opal) under my belt, but I did live in San Francisco when Loma Prieta struck in '89, and after moving to the Oakland Hills after the quake...panic attacked my way through the firestorm there in 1991.

Ok, so the last two aren't hurricanes, but after seeing some of your lists, I felt a bit inadequate. Ok, so Opal was pants-wetting scary, ruined a house and beach/area that meant (still means! i love you navarre...sigh) a lot to me, and introduced me to the world of panic attacks and ativan...but I can hardly imagine what an Andrew or Camille or Hugo et al. must've been like.

The earthquake in '89 wasn't so bad--I can hardly remember if I got dressed this morning, let alone almost 17 years ago. The fire though...ugh...afterwards, the remains of the houses--the chimneys--stuck out from the charred hills like tombstones and even with a major highway nearby, the only thing you could hear were the ashes that the wind picked up and carried into the haze. I suppose that's my Camille, really.

There is something so fascinating about the strength of these forces, something beautiful about their raw power. At the same time though, it is hard to reconcile that fascination and respect with the reality that something so ferociously powerful invariably carries with it the chance of devastation; but I think if anything, it is quite the human quality to give certain aesthetic qualities to processes/forces for which we are little more than fallen leaves.

Hm, ok. Insomnia plus storm-talk appears to equal, for me at least, wandering off topic into nonsense land...heh.

[Hurricaneman]

Thankfully, Ive never experienced one of cat 3 strength

[weatherwoman132]

thank god andrew wasnt a huge hurricane. category 5 winds would be into central florida...that would have been total destruction everywhere.

[x-y-no]

According to the post-analysis, the neighborhood I was in for Andrew saw sustained winds right around the cat3/cat4 boundary. So I count it as having been high-end cat3.

Loudest, scariest thing I've ever experienced. I was convinced the house was going to fly into pieces at any moment. several nearby houses did lost much of their roofs (sheathing, raters, everything).

[gatorcane]

According to the post-analysis, the neighborhood I was in for Andrew saw sustained winds right around the cat3/cat4 boundary. So I count it as having been high-end cat3.

Loudest, scariest thing I've ever experienced. I was convinced the house was going to fly into pieces at any moment. several nearby houses did lost much of their roofs (sheathing, raters, everything).

I was living in Clearwater at the time so I didn't experience that. Glad you survived okay .