Why risk living in U.S. states prone to hurricanes?

[Dr. Detroit]

This is absurd - The risk you take driving every day is by far the greatest danger in life. I sure hope you've upgraded to something with a 5-star crash rating.

Living your life in fear is no fun.

Those pesky earthquakes sure do kill a lot of folks here in California.......... 63 died in the Loma Prieta SF quake back in '89 - which was 30yrs ago and if I had to guess I'd say the population in the bay area back then exceeded 3-million.

 

[Newbian]

Why risk living in 3rd world war torn countries by be born there?

Why risk your life posting threads here?

 

[frozentundra123456]

Everything has negatives and risks. In Minnesota, we will probably break the all time record for February snowfall of nearly 30 inches by the end of the weekend. We also have had several days this year where the high temperature was below 0 F. I stay because my job and my family are both here. I would say those are the two most compelling reasons to stay in any location.

 

[purbeast0]

I guess the OP also wonders why people live in Caribbean islands too.

 

[Jeeebus]

Speaking on behalf of Florida man...

- no state income tax
- no snow shoveling (we were fishing offshore Friday night in shorts/t-shirts - I'll take that over freezing my nuts off)
- beach/ocean (see point above)
- my house was built mid-1980s. A lot of powerful hurricanes have come through since then (including Andrew in 1992) and it's still standing. Hurricanes don't generally wipe out the state and major ones don't swoop through every year. Now if you're living in a mobile home park along the beach in the Keys, your house is probably getting swept out to sea.
- Farmer Jeeebus has around 50 - 70 tropical fruit trees and produces thousands of pounds of homegrown goodness per year.
- Can't remember the last time a flash flood, earthquake, volcano, or category Death tornado swept through and killed hundreds. We know about hurricanes at least a week in advance. That's plenty of time to freak out, raid the grocery stores, stand around for hours at the gas station, and watch idiot reporters stand on some beach being blown around by the wind.

 

[feralkid]

Did you know that many coastal areas are at or near sea level?

Oh, I could tell you why the ocean's near the shore.

 

[purbeast0]

Speaking on behalf of Florida man...

- no state income tax
- no snow shoveling (we were fishing offshore Friday night in shorts/t-shirts - I'll take that over freezing my nuts off)
- beach/ocean (see point above)
- my house was built mid-1980s. A lot of powerful hurricanes have come through since then (including Andrew in 1992) and it's still standing. Hurricanes don't generally wipe out the state and major ones don't swoop through every year. Now if you're living in a mobile home park along the beach in the Keys, your house is probably getting swept out to sea.
- Farmer Jeeebus has around 50 - 70 tropical fruit trees and produces thousands of pounds of homegrown goodness per year.
- Can't remember the last time a flash flood, earthquake, volcano, or category Death tornado swept through and killed hundreds. We know about hurricanes at least a week in advance. That's plenty of time to freak out, raid the grocery stores, stand around for hours at the gas station, and watch idiot reporters stand on some beach being blown around by the wind.

If there were jobs (in my field) in Florida, I'd probably be down there myself. I would love to live 2-3 hours from the middle keys.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Everything has negatives and risks. In Minnesota, we will probably break the all time record for February snowfall of nearly 30 inches by the end of the weekend. We also have had several days this year where the high temperature was below 0 F. I stay because my job and my family are both here. I would say those are the two most compelling reasons to stay in any location.

Snow is not going to completely destroy your house though. It's just a minor inconvinience having to shovel and brush off the car etc every day but it's business as usual other than that. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods etc will destroy your house. You then lose everything and have to start over.

All the other disasters don't have a big chance of killing you if you have proper underground shelters, but it still sucks having to rebuild your house all the time, not to mention the financial aspect.

 

[Chaotic42]

If there were jobs (in my field) in Florida, I'd probably be down there myself. I would love to live 2-3 hours from the middle keys.

Agreed. Unfortunately I'm stuck here until I retire or dare to switch industries.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Excellent backfire, OP.

 

[zinfamous]

Much of the Northeast, parts of the South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, parts of Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas), states close to water.

You've got it backwards. Whatever damage or even exposure the northeast has to Hurricanes is absolutely dwarfed by that in the southeast. How do you not know this? Even the interior deep southern states get it worse than much of the northeast.

 

[Fern]

Don't hurricanes hit Florida like every year, the storms tend to be the size of the entire state. Oddly it seems we hardly hear about the aftermath though. What's the main difference between say, any place in Florida, and Porto Rico? Is everything just built ridiculously strong like all steel and concrete, and just less vulnerable? Like how does Disneyworld survive these every year? Like the rides and such?

The highest winds are near the eye, which is not typically very broad. As you move from the eye you're basically just in a tropical storm.

Disney World is inland and about as far from the coast as you can get in FL. Hurricanes degrade quickly when over land. IIRC they've only had a direct hit once, trees and power lines were about the only damage they took.

Crappy building codes in PR. FL has upgraded its building codes several times over the years iirc.

Fern

 

[highland145]

Crappy building codes in PR. FL has upgraded its building codes several times over the years iirc.

Sis's house in Mexico Beach survived fairly well last year, built 1999. The buildings built in the 50/60's....see below.

 

[TXHokie]

I used to spend thousands each summer and all day travel just to spend a week at some beach living up northeast and the midwest. Now I live where people go to take vacation. I can swing by the tourist beach after work, have a mojito, watch the sunset and be home for dinner. Coming up on year 7. Winter depression is a real disorder and I remember being depressed when fall comes. Now it's sunshine everyday. I don't mind the heat/humidity at all but really hate cold. My A/C is kicking in today while friends/family at previous places I've live at are freezing their buns off.
My house is still a mile from the beach and 25ft above sea level. Never know with the polar cap melting, I might just have a waterfront property soon. Plenty of lead time with a hurricane for me to get out of the cone like the last Irma did. Anything above a Cat 2 and I'm outta here. As far as property goes, that's what insurance is for.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I own real estate a few hundred yards from the beach in South Carolina......well, actually, it's a timeshare that cost me $700 to buy in and I have an annual tax/maintenance liability of under $900..... I assume, in my lifetime, if the doomsday folks are right, it will eventually be oceanfront property. If that's the case, I got in when it was cheap.

 

[highland145]

I own real estate a few hundred yards from the beach in ......well, actually, it's a timeshare that cost me $700 to buy in and I have an annual tax/maintenance liability of under $900..... I assume, in my lifetime, if the doomsday folks are right, it will eventually be oceanfront property. If that's the case, I got in when it was cheap.

Practically neighbors.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Why do people risk living in large cities?

jerbs!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

jerbs!

Plenty of jerbs in smaller towns. Is the increased wages really worth the increased crime, commute, stress, cost of living... I truly believe inertia and fear of the unknown that keeps so many folks locked into big cities.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you get lucky you can still land a decent job in a small city. I make around 80k or so which I never would have dreamed of achieving especially at my age. Does not meet ATOT standards but it's still way higher than I could imagine myself doing. There's no position at my company that pays as much outside of management. You can make 100k working in the mines though but not really the type of work I want to do unless I lost my current job and could not find anything in tech.

 

[Sgt. York]

You haul 16 tons and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Yeah all those natural disasters...those are really bad...but I just refuse to live in any state that can get hit by a meteor...I hate those things..forget the wall, let's build a roof.

 

[snoopy7548]

Yeah all those natural disasters...those are really bad...but I just refuse to live in any state that can get hit by a meteor...I hate those things..forget the wall, let's build a roof.

Yeah, and we'll make Mars pay for it!

 

[highland145]

Just everify and ban them.

 

[PowerEngineer]

There seem to be risks associated with living pretty much anywhere in this world, and I suggest that the risks where we each live become so familiar to us that we tacitly accept them as a part of life. On the other hand, the unfamiliar risks tied to other locations seem scarier to us. For example, I tend to agree with the OP that hurricane risks along the Gulf Coast are something I want to avoid. But then I do live within sight of an active volcano.

 

[feralkid]

I own real estate a few hundred yards from the beach in South Carolina......well, actually, it's a timeshare that cost me $700 to buy in and I have an annual tax/maintenance liability of under $900..... I assume, in my lifetime, if the doomsday folks are right, it will eventually be oceanfront property. If that's the case, I got in when it was cheap.

Timeshare owns you.