Hurricane Ian

So true.

All things considered, I'll endure something like last night every few years if it means not messing with winter. The question is, if I can afford it, will I retire on the Atlantic coast. At least over there the dunes put houses ten feet over high tide, and everything has hurricane shutters.

I thought Gonch’s whole house was eaten by a tornado.

At least a third of it. That's extraordinary bad luck. Tornadoes are, by comparison, targeted in their destruction.

Jeff:

The question is, if I can afford it, will I retire on the Atlantic coast.

Wait. Even Floridians move to Florida to retire?

ApolloAndy:

thought Gonch’s whole house was eaten by a tornado.

A decent chunk.

We also had an apartment 4 blocks from the ocean when Andrew hit Miami in 1992.

...and lived in Jacksonville when Floyd sideswiped the area in 1999.

I'm a bit jaded when it comes to stuff like this.

Edited to add - also, had the tree crush our car at Disney in 2001, the week before 9/11.

I'm basically invincible.

Some may have seen this on Jeff’s FB, but… (Edited to add, I am actually in Florida right now at WDW)

I hereby propose Andy change his CBuzz screen name to State of Emergency Asian.

Lord Gonchar:

We also had an apartment 4 blocks from the ocean when Andrew hit Miami in 1992.

...and lived in Jacksonville when Floyd sideswiped the area in 1999.

Edited to add - also, had the tree crush our car at Disney in 2001, the week before 9/11.

Big deal - I live in Northeaster Ohio and it has already been proven that one night in a hurricane is far less traumatic than spending a winter in Ohio. So 3 hurricanes < Ohio winters.

But Ohio winters > RRR

I dunno... I think the calculus changes if you're right on the coast.

I agree with that. Just trying to keep Gonch in check.

While I really like vacationing on the coast, and I sometimes think how awesome it would be to retire there, I would imagine that I would be very stressed out about when the next hurricane is going to hit. And the images from this week really cement that for me. Not sure the constant worry that I would be living with would make me very happy.

One thing that I noticed was that while Ft Meyers got clobbered, I didn't see the "east coast" style of houses that you mentioned earlier. Are they not a thing on the gulf coast?

Much of the Atlantic coast and is built up on big dunes, so a house is maybe ten feet or more above high tide. The Atlantic is also much deeper, faster, so storm surge is a different beast. By contrast, the gulf coast might be only a few feet above sea level miles inland, and the gulf is only 100 feet deep until you get closer to the middle. That's why the gulf water is warmer, and can get sucked out and pushed back in with the surge. There's nothing to stop the water once it gets there, because it's so flat.

Shades:

Big deal - I live in Northeaster Ohio and it has already been proven that one night in a hurricane is far less traumatic than spending a winter in Ohio. So 3 hurricanes < Ohio winters.

I've been in Ohio for the last 16 winters.

However, it is SW Ohio and we often curse the relative mild winters.

Did you miss the part about invincibility?

Invincibility > Ohio Winters > RRR

But your invincibility is based on soft SW Ohio winters and sissy hurricanes, both of which fall far short of NE Ohio winters and the traumatic experience that they bring to us dumb asses who live here.

I guess that makes my invincibility better than your invincibility. Although I do wear my seat belt so maybe I am not invincible?

If you need winter street cred, I grew up in western PA where we got the tail end of all that same lake effect snow...and I had to walk uphill both ways not just to school, but to get anywhere.

Oh, and we got hit with a huge ass nor'easter one of the winters we were in Allentown. (2002 or 2003) I want to say it was something like 27 inches of snow in one storm. We loved it.

I assure you snow/cold is the lowest level of weather torment.

And yeah, seat belts are for pussies.

Gonch > Invincibility (I think I just leveled up)

Well to tell the truth, I live in southern NE Ohio. We are south of the lake effect.

Curses - Gonch wins yet again.

I'm right in the path of lake effect in NE Ohio... Wah wah, whine whine... Or something like that, I guess?

Winter is fine... Cold is fine... Grey skies are perfectly fine and cozy with a fireplace on and good company to enjoy it with.

My dog still gets his long walks every night regardless of cold/ice/snow/whatever... There really is something therapeutic about an hour walk in fresh powder after a big storm where you have to trek through the streets because sidewalks are impossible.

Make the best of it, folks.

Shh, don't let on that winters up here are not actually that hard to deal with! Keeps my Chicago rent very reasonable ;)

It's really awful, folks! Such cold! Much wind!

You can't just "make the best of it" when gray skies make you clinically depressed. Mental health is not a reflection of character.

I can't speak for anyone else but "making the best of it" is my antidepressant. When it turns from snow to rain and I can't ski or ride my bikes the depression comes screaming right back.

There is definitely a difference in winter for folks with seasonal affective disorder vs. those who don't suffer. My partner definitely feels it; full-spectrum lights help them, but don't completely negate it.

The grey/dark doesn't change my baseline, and as long as I am getting out and about in the sun when it is around, I'm good. That's been a lot easier since I bought some ice spikes for winter hikes. They've been transformative.