Shutters...

[depotoo]

Do you guys (and gals) think it is safe now to take down all hurricane shutters? Here in se florida?

[kevin]

Yep.

[Brent]

Yes.

[TampaFl]

I am finally gonna take mine off this week They are made of Lexan which is clear and allows the sunlight in. But with lower humidity and hopefully "cooler weather soon , will be able to open the windows:D

Robert

[depotoo]

[fci]

Taken mine down today and 2nd floor ones this week.
HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ColdFront77]

Yes and No, IMO. Climatologically, a landfalling tropical cyclone making landfall along the Florida coast is possible;
but at the same time October and November can be quite slow, however, not as quiet and June and July.

The majority of storm shutter owners, normally take them down after a storm, don't they?

[hial2]

I wouldnt take any shutters down in SE Fla until the end of October..Climo indicates NW Carib storm favorable in October, and if a storm materializes there SE Fla is a likely target

[TampaFl]

Coldfront, I took mine down 2 1/2 weeks after Hurricane Charley only to have to put them back up 4 days later for Hurricane Frances. From that point on I just left them up like many have here in the Tampa Bay area and most of Central, Southwest, & South Florida. Glad I did, what with the threat from Hurricane Ivan then a hit by Hurricane Jeanne. Hopefully when I take them down this time, I will not need them for a long, long, Loooooooooooooooooooooong time.

Robert

[rjgator]

It seems each time I take the ply wood down another storm comes. This time Mold was actually forming uner them. Hopefully I can throw it away in a few weeks or burn them.

[TampaFl]

[karenfromheaven]

Cool! A shutter burning party!! I'm visiting my parents near Largo FL, and while blowing the pine needles off the roof this afternoon I noticed the next door neighbor still had plywood up over his windows. Yikes, gotta be dark in there... Karen

[Agua]

Heh, I boarded up for Ivan, but it seemed there has continually been some potential threat since then to justify my leaving them up. It is just plain weird living in such a dark house: you can discern whether it's 10 a.m. vs. 10 p.m. solely by little cracks of light around the edges of the windows.

I think I'll start taking down a few each night starting tonight.

[depotoo]

yes, we just took down a few to let in at least SOME light! We didn't do it this weekend - will see how next weekend looks...

[gtalum]

Jeez take them down already. It's not that hard to put them back up if necessary!

[mascpa]

I took mine down the day after Jeanne hit. I figured after two almost direct hits in a three week period, the odds were pretty good I was done for the year. I also took them down two weeks after Frances just to put them back up five days later. Went much quicker the second time around.

[yzerfan]

We took our plywood down two days after Ivan. Would have taken it down sooner, but we figured it would protect the glass when they took the tree off of our garage.

We felt like we had to get some light back in the house, plus it's really dangerous to have shutters or plywood still up if your house catches fire. Better to take down ASAP and put it back up when there's need. Since you don't need to measure and cut again, it'll be easier to reapply them the next time.

[fci]

I wouldnt take any shutters down in SE Fla until the end of October..Climo indicates NW Carib storm favorable in October, and if a storm materializes there SE Fla is a likely target

Aren't most NW Carib storms more of a FL west coast threat than SE Fl threat??

[crice]

Hurricane shutters can be very dangerous if a house fire starts while they are still up, not only do they impede escape they trap heat,smoke,and poisonous gases formed during combustion. (got this from my brother, a captain with Hoover Ala's fire dept.)

[alicia-w]

There's also a mold and mildew issue. Dont you want to breathe real air and see the light???