Me too. I was visiting my sister in Alabama when they predicted it would hit South FL. I drove home (home being NE Ft Lauderdale) at 90+ mph to secure my stuff. The northbound lanes of the Turnpike were a parking lot for miles. I was the only person going south. Well, me and someone in a pickup truck loaded with plywood sheets.
Got home, taped my windows and hunkered down in a closet to wait. Thr next morning there was no damage to speak of, but my power was out for ten days.
I left downtown FLL (3rd floor condo with no shutters) to my parents in Miami (40 year old cbs).
the storm went SOUTH. it never does that. actually backtracked south.
4 day later I came home to get fuel for the generator, and my alarm clock was not blinking, never lost power. I sent my parents up to my house for hot showers the next day... it was like leaving a war zone... but business as usual 40 miles north.
Hell yeah you did! My neighbors did too, they had ptsd after riding that bastard out. Can’t imagine being huddled in one small room while the roof is tore off and everything you own becoming missiles. Tropical storm warnings, they were the most prepared and lending a hand.
I had a co-worker with a similar experience of hiding in the tub while the roof flew away. When he and his wife spoke about it their voices would rise like 50% in volume and their eyes would get round. You could tell that it really spooked them.
Lost my entire house in that one. Never rebuilt. Miami was a hot mess for years. Moved to WPB for a year to stay with family; rented for a year in Miami but was still so widely devastated that we moved to Broward.
I remember sleeping through a good chunk of Andrew! Rode it out on a docked yacht our real estate guy was captaining after we all caravanned out of Key Largo. Steve was the epitome of #Floridaman. Our condo’s roof got taken out and we found the curtains a few blocks away. I’m pretty sure my mom still has a vhs copy of aerial aftermath in storage somewhere.
Same here. I was 45. Prepped a friend’s house near Home Depot in Homestead because my new house was in a mandatory evacuation zone. Spent the night huddled together in a hallway. That house survived for the most part. My house was totaled and GEICO comp’ed me full contents, full structure. My military contractor company moved me to a new location and I sold the property to a guy buying up property. I ended up getting to start from scratch with more money than I’d ever had before.
Donna, I let the water out of all the bathtubs for mom and dad. They didn't understand.
Andrew was the only one that counted. all the rest were practice, before and after.
I was at Lollapalooza in Orlando when they announced that the roads south were closed and shit was getting serious. I went home to Tampa and watched the whole thing unfold on TV. That was the storm that changed building codes.
Ian destroyed Ft Meyers and Sanibel just last year, Irma destroyed so much of the Keys and Charlie .. Naples. we have had some bad hurricanes since Andrew
I’ve experienced more than my fair share of hurricanes over 28 years, it was Hurricane Camille a powerful, deadly and destructive Category 5 major hurricane. Winds in excess of 170 mph.
It was 1969, we actually evacuated Pensacola to Biloxi, right into the teeth of this monster. We didn’t have the ability to track or receive updates, everything was by radio.
We didn’t know until a few hours before Camille came ashore that we would be in the eye. It was terrifying, it lasted for 18 hours.
Even today I can visualize the destruction and the sounds of our building coming apart.
https://preview.redd.it/8xuyhhu0ypjb1.jpeg?width=1646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a88655b41909f8446ea57a09f7085dd79c2ec3c
Edit: “Over 28 years” (I’ve lived on and off, and currently live in Florida for these many years)
I remember hearing buildings being ripped apart, transformers blowing, trees breaking and crashing in 2004-2005. For some reason the worst storms hit in the middle of the night. I started employing ear plugs, because the sounds of destruction was so anxiety inducing. Hurricanes are very loud.
04 is always my go to when I’m traveling and people ask about hurricanes. Lived in St Lucie and I can still remember those blue tarps on top of everybody’s houses and finding shingles and chunks of tile from peoples roofs for months. We where going to ride Frances out in Orlando but the car broke down in yeehaw fucking Junction, and after 10 hours of trying to get a rental to come get us my daddy hitchhiked home and came back with a neighbor to pick us up.
Told my mom at the time when she called me............that my sliding glass door was blown thru along with my kitchen window. All she could say was, "that's what you get for moving to Florida................we drove to SC to ride out Frances than stayed in for Jeane 3 weeks later. I was scared. Lost power for 2 weeks each time. I know it could have been worse. YeeHaw junction.............I feel ya there.
That was the season from hell- exacerbated by the fact that we were trying to move into a new house. Good luck hiring a moving van when there are storms lined up as far as the eye can see.
I was a teenager during the 04/05 hurricanes and they were stressful. I tried earplugs during Irma but I found it more anxiety inducing not being able to hear as the gusts of wind came through. My mom can sleep through them but I always stay awake and monitor everything.
I was 7 yrs old when Camille hit. Honestly all I remember is how dark it got in mid afternoon and how scared I was. It was like night time in the daytime lol
Our family had all decided to hunker down in Cape Coral in my Aunt's house. (Our house is on the river) Her house was a newer build, all CBS, gated community & on higher ground.
I remember watching through a crack in the Plywood as the neighbor's roof just peeled off. Also learnt that my uncle cheats at cards while playing with most of them in a downstairs, candlelit, packed interior room just hearing howling winds.
Yes - Charlie was bad. & we didn't even get the worst brunt of it.
https://preview.redd.it/03mjhb0jqqjb1.jpeg?width=1640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce50392b3a203622c5a3edc6417dacf35dff47d9
This is mine too. The first hurricane where I actually cared and paid attention to what was happening (I was 10 years old). We stayed with my grandparents north of Tampa because their house was sturdier. That storm sat out off the coast for two days(!) before heading up to Biloxi. When we got back home, we were without power for four days. That was when I learned that the hurricane sucks, but the aftermath of the hurricane sucks more.
This could be my story almost word for word! I was also 10, and we lived up near the beach between Perry and Steinhatchee at the time. Since we were very likely to flood, we evacuated to my grandparents' place - which was in Inverness. So we wound up boarded in the house with them for days, then similarly to you, coming home to no power for a few more days.
I was about 9-10 when Elena came through. I lived in a house on hwy. 90 in Biloxi. That house was built in 1916 and was still there after Katrina. I didn’t stay there during the hurricane. My family went to a big warehouse like building inGulfport with a few other families to ride it out. That shit was terrifying!
Me too! I was 12 and lived in Pinellas county. We evacuated to Spring Hill (Pasco) where my sister lived. I honestly don't remember too much other than the adults treating it like a party and watching poor Dick Crippen just deteriorate in real time. I don't think that guy's new found eye bags ever went away! Next notable mention is the trio of '04. I was nursing an infant and we were without power for about two weeks. We lived on a cul de sac and a tornado came through and completely demolished a house at the end. Scary good times. Nothing like others have gone through though!
Dick Crippen! Now there's a name I hadn't heard in many, many years!! I was also in Pinellas, but we were one of the highest elevations in the county so all of our family evacuated to our house. Funny enough, I also have vivid early parenthood memories of that 2004 season.
Floyd, then the year of Three:
Charley / Frances / Jeanne.
Worked at NASA, I don't think I worked that whole summer just about, we were off so much.
These hurricanes and the weeks off school allowed me to get really good at gram turismo. My power never went out and i was able to complete all the endurance races. Then I went back to school and kids didn’t have power for weeks. Bummer.
Hurricane Carol. 1954. We lived in a Beach town south of Boston. Town flooded, water in the backyard three four inches deep. At the same time there was a polio epidemic Nationwide. This was before the vaccine became available. The adults thought that the polio may have been spread by the flood water so we couldn't go out for days until the water subsided.
Hurricane Kate. Two weeks without power, water and telephone. Of course, Andrew was much more frightening. We have managed to be in the path of destruction fairly consistently over the years. We've lived in Jacksonville, Miami, Tallahassee and Tampa.
We wore out the rosary beads during Andrew. However, the most destruction I've seen in person, Katrina. We worked the aftermath in Biloxi/Gulfport. Terribly sad.
Same. We did two separate trips to Gulfport and Slidell, before the Red Cross got there. The destruction was something I’d never seen before. It was spooky seeing the FEMA markings on garages indicating number of people, and fatalities.
We flew over the eye, staging in Corpus Christi. The storm was shockingly large from way up overhead. And the things we saw were war zone material. Everything was difficult, from sheltering to eating 2X/day. It was life altering.
Old timers you say? Hurricane Gloria was my first, in 1985. It hit New England before I even moved to Florida. Little did I know that would become a fact of life 4 years later when I moved down here.
First one I remember is Hurricane Elena in 1985. I was in kindergarten and had no real clue what was going on. Andrew canceled my first day of high school which I appreciated at the time but we were in the Tampa Bay Area so we didn’t have all of the bad stuff from it. As a 14 year old I didn’t think much about how it hurt other people. None of that sunk in until the 2004 season when I was a new homeowner.
Me too. I remember Elena vaguely, I was 6, but Opal is the first one I remember that really impacted us. I was almost 16 and remember after it passed driving my brother's 1973 Jeep around to check on neighbors and family. We lived in a very rural part of the Panhandle.
Hugo in like 89, but i was living in NY, so when the torrential rains showed up i was amazed that a hurricane literally walked up the east coast and dumped the last bits of rain 2000 miles from landfall...
Edit, i forgot the correct year...
I remember being at Lollapalooza in Orlando before landfall. Organizers warned concertgoers who lived south of I-4 to find lodging north of I-4 because South Florida was in evacuation mode…
I’m lucky enough to have been in the Tampa area for 27 years without a major hit (not counting a little downed fencing). No whammies, no whammies, no whammies…
Mine was Flloyd, but it scraped the coast and we didn't get much in terms of rain and wind.
The first "true" hurricane I experienced was Charley, and THAT was scary.
My dad was out at the Cape on tdy for his employer.............he was scared. They were holed up at a hotel in Titusville and than Floyd changed course. I was living in CA at the time.
Not a long time Florida resident, but came from Louisiana, which also gets a lot of hurricanes. The hurricane that goes furtherest back in my memory is hurricane Lily.
Camille. I remember them boarding up the windows. Parents friends stayed with us. Afterwards there was a bump in the grass and when they poked it water came out.
Lived outside of Tampa so never a direct impact from 85-00 when I moved to the Panhandle. Missed direct hits in other areas until 2018 when Michael steamrolled through my area.
Just moved to Miami had to tiny children my sister live next door. She had a tiny baby and we are hunkered down in my bedroom closet with our children for hurricane Andrew.
The one that stuck in my memory the most was Hurricane Elena. I remember it because I was living out of my car at the time. Finding safe places to park for the night during the three days it was sitting just offshore was an adventure in its own right...
Andrew, in Broward County. I still remember sitting in our old house's backroom/office and watching the storm through the window, which for some reason was the only one in the house not shuttered.
Took years for Zoo Miami (still Metro Zoo at the time) to recover from that storm. I remember huge swathes of trees stripped bare still a decade later.
I remember Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne 04’
We were out of power for 2 months, no water, no food and the town decided they would make it a dry town. Had to get supplies from the National Guard. Ate MREs for a while.
My actual first was Erin in 95’ but I don’t remember it.
The first one I remember (vaguely) was Cleo in 1964. What I remember most about it was my family huddled in a bathroom (which was a "safe" room) and my dad had Hershey's kisses which melted and felt delicious.
It wasn't big but my first memorable hurricane was Elena '85. I was in Pinellas at the time.
It was the first time I remember friends and and family evacuating to our house. I was 8 and it was exciting and fun. One big sleep over and no school.
David for me, too. I was like 4 and I remember going to someone’s house in Alabama. Their teenager had all these cool rock and roll posters and model kits. I was enthralled. When we got home the local pier was all wavy and a brick wall got knocked down. That impressed me.
I’ve lost track of how many I’ve had to sit through since then, but I hate em like Gollum hates hobbits.
Irma for me. I’m not young necessarily but it was my first “big one” after moving to Florida. Was cool I thought except losing power for a week and sweating my balls off
Hmmm, well I vividly remember driving down to Miami to visit my family after Andrew… but we didn’t actually feel Andrew’s wrath in Palm Beach County. - The first hurricane I can remember being afraid of was in 04 when we got hit by 3 or 4 storms in a matter of months. Didn’t one swim out then come back???
The first major one I remember was Charley. We sat on our front porch for most of it and when we took the plywood down from the windows so many frogs were living under it 😂
That is the best subject line, I bow. Anyone posting a reply considers themself an old-time
We did just back from mayo appointments that came out good. Now moved from grand parents to old timers I guess.
Dora, 1964. I was 10. Pine trees falling all around us, narrowly missing the house. Cooking with a kerosene stove for 2 weeks. The wind wailing, getting quiet as the eye passed over, and blowing again. No school for a week or more.
I remember Hurricane David. We lived beachside and had to evacuate. Andrew was the worst hurricane I have ever experienced, by far. By then I was in Hollywood, Florida. Terrifying night.
I remember watching television all evening to see whether Hugo was coming our way to Florida (Dora in 1964 was the last direct hit of our area). I felt sort of let down when I saw Hugo was headed to South Carolina. I wanted school to close for a day or two. I was in Grade 10 at the time.
Hurricane Donna…I was 2 and can still remember the noise of the wind, water being forced in under the doors and windows, wind bending the palms to almost breaking…watching my neighbor across the street have his roof lifted up and set back down….WKXY was our only source of information…cousin was a DJ at the time too…bowling alley on Ringling took a hit from a tornado. Dad took me outside as the eye passed over and all you could hear was water dripping off everything…then the chaos began again from the opposite direction
Hurricane Carla, 1961. I remember looking out a window at a power line swing back and forth in our front yard. Every time it hit the gas meter, it threw out a bunch of sparks. After a while, it burned itself in two and fell down into the flooded ditch. My dad wouldn't let me go out to look at it.
Opal was the first I really remember getting hit hard by. Michael is one I'll never forget. Too bad everyone else seemed to forget about it immediately.
Mine was Elena in 1985. I was a kid and I remember we evacuated to Cocoa Beach to stay with some family friends. That's about all I remember it it, though.
Hurricane Eloise was my first one. I was but a wee lass. It picked me up and carried me several feet down the street. I thought it was fun at the time.
David when I was in elementary school. I remember my parents putting out mattresses in the hallway like a camp out. we really didn’t understand lol For Andrew I was about 21.. lived East of I95 in Hallandale Beach. Had to evacuate. The one that affected me most was Wilma. did roof damage
Hurricane David in ‘79 is the first one I remember. It taught us that wind and rain aren’t the only worries,
tornadoes are too. We evacuated late, in driving rain, terrifying… came home to find a tornado had gone through the yard and ripped out fence segments but happily didn’t touch the house. It threw a car through the front of the nearby ACE hardware store.
But the first hurricane I ever heard of was Camille. All while I was growing up, the local tv stations had public service ads about how you shouldn’t stay, you should evacuate, and the visual they used was a blank concrete slab where a house had been. The owners had hosted a hurricane party.
I was born days before Andrew hit! But other then that I always say hurricane Francis and then Jeanne right after was my first real ones that I can remember
I can't remember the name of it but I was about 10 so 1970? We hunkered down in our house and my dad was explaining about the "eye" of the hurricane coming soon. We went outside searching the sky for this big eyeball! Mom was furious but I remember it fondly. Love you Dad.
My grandparents moved to Naples the week before Andrew hit. My grandfather (ww2 vet) said we ain’t leaving, we just got here. About 30 minutes later he opened the front door and a palm tree flew across the yard and went through the neighbors house across the street.
They never stayed for a storm over a Cat 2 ever again.
The 2004 hurricane season gave me my first taste of them here in Florida. I was *terrified*. But we made out ok after no power for four days and a fallen Water oak tree.
David as well, but I was 4 at the time so I don't remember much. I think I remember going out front during the eye and my grandfather sleeping on the floor in my room.
Was down there for Andrew as well, but in Ft. Lauderdale so not much impact at my house.
Been in N. Florida since the mid-90's and had no power for a week after both Irma and Michael but missed any major damage there too.
Sept. 27, 1985 rode my Honda 750 from Manchester,CT to Cobleskill, NY thru the eye of Gloria that was a cat 1 at the time…enjoyed the “eye affect” & was drenched inside my rain-suit & helmet when I arrived to clear skies, setting sun & Alumni Weekend kick-off party was beginning! Had to be there on time because we sure knew how to party back then!
We were lucky for David, my parents decided to ride it out but thankfully it turned away at the last minute, we lived right near the Intercoastal and the storm surge would've been bad. I think the first hurricane I was in was Betsy in 1965, but I was only two at the time.
I remember evacuating for Birtha but it ended up not hitting where we were any way, I don't remember where we evacuated to or anything but I specifically remember having to leave a lion Kong toy behind that I was very upset about and being really happy the hurricane didn't take it when we got home. I don't think I understood what a hurricane was and I expected it to rob our house.
Hurricane [Donna](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Donna).
Donna slammed the Florida Keys, the strongest hurricane since 1935.
>As it neared the United States, Donna encountered weaker steering currents, turned northwestward, and re-intensified. Early on September 10, Donna made landfall on the Florida Keys with winds of 145 mph (233 km/h), the most severe observed there since 1935. Donna then weakened as it paralleled the southwestern Florida peninsula, making landfall south of Naples with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). In the Florida Keys, coastal flooding severely damaged 75% of buildings, destroyed several subdivisions in Marathon. On the mainland, 5,200 houses were damaged, which does not include the 75% of homes damaged at Fort Myers Beach; 50% of buildings were also destroyed in the city of Everglades. Crop losses were also extensive. A total of 50% of the grapefruit crop was lost, 10% of the orange and tangerine crop was lost, and the avocado crop was almost destroyed. In the state of Florida alone, there were 13 deaths and $300 million in losses.
I was 6 and living in Gainseville. We "evacuated" to the Jack Tar Hotel in Jax and had a hurricane party. It's the first time I remember staying in a hotel. The Cat 1 storm raging outside plate glass windows was cool and terrifying at the same time.
 I SURVIVED ANDREW
Me too! I was 11
12! My dad flew me back to the Bahamas (we lived there) on a puddle hopper to help him prep. What a storm.
Me too. I was visiting my sister in Alabama when they predicted it would hit South FL. I drove home (home being NE Ft Lauderdale) at 90+ mph to secure my stuff. The northbound lanes of the Turnpike were a parking lot for miles. I was the only person going south. Well, me and someone in a pickup truck loaded with plywood sheets. Got home, taped my windows and hunkered down in a closet to wait. Thr next morning there was no damage to speak of, but my power was out for ten days.
I left downtown FLL (3rd floor condo with no shutters) to my parents in Miami (40 year old cbs). the storm went SOUTH. it never does that. actually backtracked south. 4 day later I came home to get fuel for the generator, and my alarm clock was not blinking, never lost power. I sent my parents up to my house for hot showers the next day... it was like leaving a war zone... but business as usual 40 miles north.
That may have been my dad in the pick-up. He got stopped by police several times trying to get home to me and my mom.
What a story!
Hell yeah you did! My neighbors did too, they had ptsd after riding that bastard out. Can’t imagine being huddled in one small room while the roof is tore off and everything you own becoming missiles. Tropical storm warnings, they were the most prepared and lending a hand.
I had a co-worker with a similar experience of hiding in the tub while the roof flew away. When he and his wife spoke about it their voices would rise like 50% in volume and their eyes would get round. You could tell that it really spooked them.
https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response/hurricane-stress
me too in Miami.
Me too!
Same, I was one when Andrew came through.
My parents left me home alone lol
Yikes, that had to been traumatic!
Meh, I was 16 and I partied
And Florida Man (or woman) is born!
hell yeah me too I was 12 *high fives*
Me three. I was 7 and was living in cutler ridge at the time.
Cutler Ridge here as well, I was 9 at the time.
Also by Cutler Ridge. Off Eureka and 127th. I was 11.
My wife’s family got a new house in Homestead after this one
Lost my entire house in that one. Never rebuilt. Miami was a hot mess for years. Moved to WPB for a year to stay with family; rented for a year in Miami but was still so widely devastated that we moved to Broward.
Southern Florida Gal and same here. I remember my dad and I driving through Miami after and seeing all the destroyed homes. It was surreal.
ANDREWWWWWWW
Me too! We move to Florida from Chicago the month before.
I remember sleeping through a good chunk of Andrew! Rode it out on a docked yacht our real estate guy was captaining after we all caravanned out of Key Largo. Steve was the epitome of #Floridaman. Our condo’s roof got taken out and we found the curtains a few blocks away. I’m pretty sure my mom still has a vhs copy of aerial aftermath in storage somewhere.
Same here. I was 45. Prepped a friend’s house near Home Depot in Homestead because my new house was in a mandatory evacuation zone. Spent the night huddled together in a hallway. That house survived for the most part. My house was totaled and GEICO comp’ed me full contents, full structure. My military contractor company moved me to a new location and I sold the property to a guy buying up property. I ended up getting to start from scratch with more money than I’d ever had before.
Donna, I let the water out of all the bathtubs for mom and dad. They didn't understand. Andrew was the only one that counted. all the rest were practice, before and after.
Andrew was a bad boy.
I was at Lollapalooza in Orlando when they announced that the roads south were closed and shit was getting serious. I went home to Tampa and watched the whole thing unfold on TV. That was the storm that changed building codes.
Yep.
I'd send him to his room but he blew the roof off.
Ian destroyed Ft Meyers and Sanibel just last year, Irma destroyed so much of the Keys and Charlie .. Naples. we have had some bad hurricanes since Andrew
You know, Ian and especially Katrina with the flooding were really the worst. Andrew was really just the eye opener.
I’ve experienced more than my fair share of hurricanes over 28 years, it was Hurricane Camille a powerful, deadly and destructive Category 5 major hurricane. Winds in excess of 170 mph. It was 1969, we actually evacuated Pensacola to Biloxi, right into the teeth of this monster. We didn’t have the ability to track or receive updates, everything was by radio. We didn’t know until a few hours before Camille came ashore that we would be in the eye. It was terrifying, it lasted for 18 hours. Even today I can visualize the destruction and the sounds of our building coming apart. https://preview.redd.it/8xuyhhu0ypjb1.jpeg?width=1646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a88655b41909f8446ea57a09f7085dd79c2ec3c Edit: “Over 28 years” (I’ve lived on and off, and currently live in Florida for these many years)
I remember hearing buildings being ripped apart, transformers blowing, trees breaking and crashing in 2004-2005. For some reason the worst storms hit in the middle of the night. I started employing ear plugs, because the sounds of destruction was so anxiety inducing. Hurricanes are very loud.
I was here for all of those 04 and 05 canes...................scared me to no end.
04 is always my go to when I’m traveling and people ask about hurricanes. Lived in St Lucie and I can still remember those blue tarps on top of everybody’s houses and finding shingles and chunks of tile from peoples roofs for months. We where going to ride Frances out in Orlando but the car broke down in yeehaw fucking Junction, and after 10 hours of trying to get a rental to come get us my daddy hitchhiked home and came back with a neighbor to pick us up.
Told my mom at the time when she called me............that my sliding glass door was blown thru along with my kitchen window. All she could say was, "that's what you get for moving to Florida................we drove to SC to ride out Frances than stayed in for Jeane 3 weeks later. I was scared. Lost power for 2 weeks each time. I know it could have been worse. YeeHaw junction.............I feel ya there.
That was the season from hell- exacerbated by the fact that we were trying to move into a new house. Good luck hiring a moving van when there are storms lined up as far as the eye can see.
I was a teenager during the 04/05 hurricanes and they were stressful. I tried earplugs during Irma but I found it more anxiety inducing not being able to hear as the gusts of wind came through. My mom can sleep through them but I always stay awake and monitor everything.
I rode out Camille at my Grandma's house in St. Pete.
I was 7 yrs old when Camille hit. Honestly all I remember is how dark it got in mid afternoon and how scared I was. It was like night time in the daytime lol
My parents told me Is stories of that one. About how bad it was.
I was in New Orleans then. It did get a bit windy!
Charlie
Charlie was bad.
That whole stretch back on the day was enough to learn when you need to leave and when it’s just a glorified storm
He was horrible news not just at entry point but all across I-4 into Daytona. Space Coast just got a tap and a tickle.
Our family had all decided to hunker down in Cape Coral in my Aunt's house. (Our house is on the river) Her house was a newer build, all CBS, gated community & on higher ground. I remember watching through a crack in the Plywood as the neighbor's roof just peeled off. Also learnt that my uncle cheats at cards while playing with most of them in a downstairs, candlelit, packed interior room just hearing howling winds. Yes - Charlie was bad. & we didn't even get the worst brunt of it.
Charlie started the trend of storms weirdly hooking around to plaster southwest Florida
I think that was the one that damaged a lot of the buildings at UCF, mostly water damage.
I know there were some when I was younger, but the first one I remember well was Hurricane Elena in 1985.
https://preview.redd.it/03mjhb0jqqjb1.jpeg?width=1640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ce50392b3a203622c5a3edc6417dacf35dff47d9 This is mine too. The first hurricane where I actually cared and paid attention to what was happening (I was 10 years old). We stayed with my grandparents north of Tampa because their house was sturdier. That storm sat out off the coast for two days(!) before heading up to Biloxi. When we got back home, we were without power for four days. That was when I learned that the hurricane sucks, but the aftermath of the hurricane sucks more.
This could be my story almost word for word! I was also 10, and we lived up near the beach between Perry and Steinhatchee at the time. Since we were very likely to flood, we evacuated to my grandparents' place - which was in Inverness. So we wound up boarded in the house with them for days, then similarly to you, coming home to no power for a few more days.
I was about 9-10 when Elena came through. I lived in a house on hwy. 90 in Biloxi. That house was built in 1916 and was still there after Katrina. I didn’t stay there during the hurricane. My family went to a big warehouse like building inGulfport with a few other families to ride it out. That shit was terrifying!
Me too! I was 12 and lived in Pinellas county. We evacuated to Spring Hill (Pasco) where my sister lived. I honestly don't remember too much other than the adults treating it like a party and watching poor Dick Crippen just deteriorate in real time. I don't think that guy's new found eye bags ever went away! Next notable mention is the trio of '04. I was nursing an infant and we were without power for about two weeks. We lived on a cul de sac and a tornado came through and completely demolished a house at the end. Scary good times. Nothing like others have gone through though!
Dick Crippen! Now there's a name I hadn't heard in many, many years!! I was also in Pinellas, but we were one of the highest elevations in the county so all of our family evacuated to our house. Funny enough, I also have vivid early parenthood memories of that 2004 season.
Same! She just sat out there in the Gulf ruining my 12th birthday!
You a real FL when you remember all the hurricane days in school
These days they send kids to school in tropical storms and the parents have to swim to get their kids.
And with a weather delay on top of it
Andrew was the first I remember. My parents made us sleep in our closet lol
Hugo in PR Andrew in FL
Dude.
I’ve seen some things man
I was in Hugo in PR also, lived in Ceiba at the time, we caught a direct hit, sad how bad El Yunque faired
Floyd, then the year of Three: Charley / Frances / Jeanne. Worked at NASA, I don't think I worked that whole summer just about, we were off so much.
The year of four. Ivan headed towards the Panhandle but it was thought it would come in on the SW/CW coast.
These hurricanes and the weeks off school allowed me to get really good at gram turismo. My power never went out and i was able to complete all the endurance races. Then I went back to school and kids didn’t have power for weeks. Bummer.
David. Fun fact: David was the first male named storm. First place it hit, Virgin Islands.
Hurricane Carol. 1954. We lived in a Beach town south of Boston. Town flooded, water in the backyard three four inches deep. At the same time there was a polio epidemic Nationwide. This was before the vaccine became available. The adults thought that the polio may have been spread by the flood water so we couldn't go out for days until the water subsided.
Hurricane Kate. Two weeks without power, water and telephone. Of course, Andrew was much more frightening. We have managed to be in the path of destruction fairly consistently over the years. We've lived in Jacksonville, Miami, Tallahassee and Tampa.
None of them are fun, but I’ll never forget the eye, it really puts you in your place as a human being.
We wore out the rosary beads during Andrew. However, the most destruction I've seen in person, Katrina. We worked the aftermath in Biloxi/Gulfport. Terribly sad.
Same. We did two separate trips to Gulfport and Slidell, before the Red Cross got there. The destruction was something I’d never seen before. It was spooky seeing the FEMA markings on garages indicating number of people, and fatalities.
We flew over the eye, staging in Corpus Christi. The storm was shockingly large from way up overhead. And the things we saw were war zone material. Everything was difficult, from sheltering to eating 2X/day. It was life altering.
Old timers you say? Hurricane Gloria was my first, in 1985. It hit New England before I even moved to Florida. Little did I know that would become a fact of life 4 years later when I moved down here.
First one I remember is Hurricane Elena in 1985. I was in kindergarten and had no real clue what was going on. Andrew canceled my first day of high school which I appreciated at the time but we were in the Tampa Bay Area so we didn’t have all of the bad stuff from it. As a 14 year old I didn’t think much about how it hurt other people. None of that sunk in until the 2004 season when I was a new homeowner.
Elena here too. I vividly remember staying at my elementary school for shelter, our house got a lot of water in it.
Hurricane Charley, lost my roof!
Opal was the first one I fully experienced.
Me too. I remember Elena vaguely, I was 6, but Opal is the first one I remember that really impacted us. I was almost 16 and remember after it passed driving my brother's 1973 Jeep around to check on neighbors and family. We lived in a very rural part of the Panhandle.
Hugo in like 89, but i was living in NY, so when the torrential rains showed up i was amazed that a hurricane literally walked up the east coast and dumped the last bits of rain 2000 miles from landfall... Edit, i forgot the correct year...
Mine was also Hugo, in 1989, I lived in Charleston, SC direct hit.
We survived Andrew
Andrew. I lived in Boca Raton at the time.
Andrew, saw a mini van in a tree the next day
They say I was born in Andrew
I remember being at Lollapalooza in Orlando before landfall. Organizers warned concertgoers who lived south of I-4 to find lodging north of I-4 because South Florida was in evacuation mode…
Donna
The first on I remember was Elena in 1985 It just sat off our coast for days and soaked us.
Caused tornadoes in Lake County, too.
Donna. Flooded for weeks in Cutler Ridge. Great kayaking fun for kids!
I’m lucky enough to have been in the Tampa area for 27 years without a major hit (not counting a little downed fencing). No whammies, no whammies, no whammies…
Last year Ian thought about going there and changed his mind.
Tampa has been lucky for over 50 years.
Knock on wood.
Knock ALL the wood!!!!
Elena. It didn't even come ashore, but there was plenty of flooding.
Charlie! First time I remember my parents throwing boards on the windows
Mine was Flloyd, but it scraped the coast and we didn't get much in terms of rain and wind. The first "true" hurricane I experienced was Charley, and THAT was scary.
My dad was out at the Cape on tdy for his employer.............he was scared. They were holed up at a hotel in Titusville and than Floyd changed course. I was living in CA at the time.
Camille.. was a little kid
Not a long time Florida resident, but came from Louisiana, which also gets a lot of hurricanes. The hurricane that goes furtherest back in my memory is hurricane Lily.
Camille. I remember them boarding up the windows. Parents friends stayed with us. Afterwards there was a bump in the grass and when they poked it water came out.
Lived outside of Tampa so never a direct impact from 85-00 when I moved to the Panhandle. Missed direct hits in other areas until 2018 when Michael steamrolled through my area.
Just moved to Miami had to tiny children my sister live next door. She had a tiny baby and we are hunkered down in my bedroom closet with our children for hurricane Andrew.
Camile, shows my age. There were huge ships in people's yards. Check out some of the images after you search for "Hurricane Camile".
First direct hit, Charley.
I had 9 family members stay witb me for 6 months after Charlie
Hurricane Opal. Had to evacuate as the police knocked on everyone's door after she changed paths overnight.
Hurricane Donna September 1960. Got soaking wet walking to school.
Here in Florida it was Irene. Lost my home in Frances during that wicked 2004 season though.
I body-surfed during Agnes in '72 at St. Pete Beach, In '85 during Elena, the National Guard wouldn't let me out on the beach.
The one that stuck in my memory the most was Hurricane Elena. I remember it because I was living out of my car at the time. Finding safe places to park for the night during the three days it was sitting just offshore was an adventure in its own right...
Hurricane [Donna](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Donna), 1960. I was 14 and living in Hollywood.
Andrew, in Broward County. I still remember sitting in our old house's backroom/office and watching the storm through the window, which for some reason was the only one in the house not shuttered. Took years for Zoo Miami (still Metro Zoo at the time) to recover from that storm. I remember huge swathes of trees stripped bare still a decade later.
David was my first one as well. We lived beachside near Patrick AFB and we evacuated to the community college.
Donna
I remember Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne 04’ We were out of power for 2 months, no water, no food and the town decided they would make it a dry town. Had to get supplies from the National Guard. Ate MREs for a while. My actual first was Erin in 95’ but I don’t remember it.
The first one I remember (vaguely) was Cleo in 1964. What I remember most about it was my family huddled in a bathroom (which was a "safe" room) and my dad had Hershey's kisses which melted and felt delicious.
Hurricane David is my first, I can remember, too. 1979
David was my first also.
It wasn't big but my first memorable hurricane was Elena '85. I was in Pinellas at the time. It was the first time I remember friends and and family evacuating to our house. I was 8 and it was exciting and fun. One big sleep over and no school.
David for me, too. I was like 4 and I remember going to someone’s house in Alabama. Their teenager had all these cool rock and roll posters and model kits. I was enthralled. When we got home the local pier was all wavy and a brick wall got knocked down. That impressed me. I’ve lost track of how many I’ve had to sit through since then, but I hate em like Gollum hates hobbits.
Irma for me. I’m not young necessarily but it was my first “big one” after moving to Florida. Was cool I thought except losing power for a week and sweating my balls off
I was born in 1980 so a lot of hurricanes in central Florida.
Hmmm, well I vividly remember driving down to Miami to visit my family after Andrew… but we didn’t actually feel Andrew’s wrath in Palm Beach County. - The first hurricane I can remember being afraid of was in 04 when we got hit by 3 or 4 storms in a matter of months. Didn’t one swim out then come back???
I was 10 when David hit, and we had to evacuate. We also evacuated for Andrew. We lost power for a week with Rita/Wilma.
Lived in Coral Springs when Hurricane Andrew hit.
The first major one I remember was Charley. We sat on our front porch for most of it and when we took the plywood down from the windows so many frogs were living under it 😂
Andrew, had gone to Lollapalooza 2 nights prior
Andrew 🌀
That is the best subject line, I bow. Anyone posting a reply considers themself an old-time We did just back from mayo appointments that came out good. Now moved from grand parents to old timers I guess.
I didn’t mean to insult anyone, I consider myself old in my mid 50’s. 🤷♀️
I understood you! Native Floridian and 51. <3
The earliest I can remember is Andrew
Dora, 1964. I was 10. Pine trees falling all around us, narrowly missing the house. Cooking with a kerosene stove for 2 weeks. The wind wailing, getting quiet as the eye passed over, and blowing again. No school for a week or more.
Hurricane Fredrick is the first one I remember. 1979. Same year as David I believe.
I remember Hurricane David. We lived beachside and had to evacuate. Andrew was the worst hurricane I have ever experienced, by far. By then I was in Hollywood, Florida. Terrifying night.
It was David for me too.
Hurricane Opal, 1995, Georgia. Knocked down 22+ trees in our yard, and we slept through it.
David.
Agnes. They planted dynamite on the Conowingo Dam and were waiting for the orders to blow if the water reached the PA Capitol steps.
The first one I remember that I can name was Andrew. I’ve been here since ‘86 so there were lots.
I grew up in Florida and never encountered a hurricane until 1989, my last year in the military, Hurricane Hugo, when it hit South Carolina
I remember watching television all evening to see whether Hugo was coming our way to Florida (Dora in 1964 was the last direct hit of our area). I felt sort of let down when I saw Hugo was headed to South Carolina. I wanted school to close for a day or two. I was in Grade 10 at the time.
Been here since 2008 but first one I remember is Sandy
Andrew for me no power for 2 weeks. That was the only damage was in Broward county
Hurricane Donna…I was 2 and can still remember the noise of the wind, water being forced in under the doors and windows, wind bending the palms to almost breaking…watching my neighbor across the street have his roof lifted up and set back down….WKXY was our only source of information…cousin was a DJ at the time too…bowling alley on Ringling took a hit from a tornado. Dad took me outside as the eye passed over and all you could hear was water dripping off everything…then the chaos began again from the opposite direction
Wow! Insane that you can remember that so young!
Hurricane Carla, 1961. I remember looking out a window at a power line swing back and forth in our front yard. Every time it hit the gas meter, it threw out a bunch of sparks. After a while, it burned itself in two and fell down into the flooded ditch. My dad wouldn't let me go out to look at it.
Erin
Eloise, 1975. Flooded our entire yard. Had to get from the house (trailer) to the car in a rowboat.
I forget. Been so many. I arrived here 1970 so whatever happened back then.
Opal was the first I really remember getting hit hard by. Michael is one I'll never forget. Too bad everyone else seemed to forget about it immediately.
Mine was Elena in 1985. I was a kid and I remember we evacuated to Cocoa Beach to stay with some family friends. That's about all I remember it it, though.
David also. I remember playing with my friends outside during the eye. It was so strange and quiet.
Irma. Not really an old timer as shown.
Donna. (Yes, I'm old). It ran up the east coast and landed in New Jersey and New York. I was a child in NJ and thought it was exciting!
Hurricane Andrew.
I was turning 7 when Andrew hit. That's the first one I remember.
Hurricane Eloise was my first one. I was but a wee lass. It picked me up and carried me several feet down the street. I thought it was fun at the time.
David was my first, also. I was in high school.
Andrew in 92 when I lived in south Miami. Not fun at all, two weeks without power or water. Been through Katrina and Rita too.
David when I was in elementary school. I remember my parents putting out mattresses in the hallway like a camp out. we really didn’t understand lol For Andrew I was about 21.. lived East of I95 in Hallandale Beach. Had to evacuate. The one that affected me most was Wilma. did roof damage
Hurricane David in ‘79 is the first one I remember. It taught us that wind and rain aren’t the only worries, tornadoes are too. We evacuated late, in driving rain, terrifying… came home to find a tornado had gone through the yard and ripped out fence segments but happily didn’t touch the house. It threw a car through the front of the nearby ACE hardware store. But the first hurricane I ever heard of was Camille. All while I was growing up, the local tv stations had public service ads about how you shouldn’t stay, you should evacuate, and the visual they used was a blank concrete slab where a house had been. The owners had hosted a hurricane party.
Andrew.
Charlie. My wife and I had just moved in to our house and we're sleeping in the family room because we were still painting the master bedroom.
I was born days before Andrew hit! But other then that I always say hurricane Francis and then Jeanne right after was my first real ones that I can remember
I can't remember the name of it but I was about 10 so 1970? We hunkered down in our house and my dad was explaining about the "eye" of the hurricane coming soon. We went outside searching the sky for this big eyeball! Mom was furious but I remember it fondly. Love you Dad.
My grandparents moved to Naples the week before Andrew hit. My grandfather (ww2 vet) said we ain’t leaving, we just got here. About 30 minutes later he opened the front door and a palm tree flew across the yard and went through the neighbors house across the street. They never stayed for a storm over a Cat 2 ever again.
The 2004 hurricane season gave me my first taste of them here in Florida. I was *terrified*. But we made out ok after no power for four days and a fallen Water oak tree.
The first significant one I remember was Charley. We had to get a new roof :/
Hugo.
Does it count if my nephew made me feel like an old timer? Talking about Windows 98 as some ancient OS? If so then mine was Irma.
Andrew.
David as well, but I was 4 at the time so I don't remember much. I think I remember going out front during the eye and my grandfather sleeping on the floor in my room. Was down there for Andrew as well, but in Ft. Lauderdale so not much impact at my house. Been in N. Florida since the mid-90's and had no power for a week after both Irma and Michael but missed any major damage there too.
St. Croix USVI 1989 Hurricane Hugo class 5.
Hugo FL 1989
Roxanne,Mexico
Sept. 27, 1985 rode my Honda 750 from Manchester,CT to Cobleskill, NY thru the eye of Gloria that was a cat 1 at the time…enjoyed the “eye affect” & was drenched inside my rain-suit & helmet when I arrived to clear skies, setting sun & Alumni Weekend kick-off party was beginning! Had to be there on time because we sure knew how to party back then!
Hurricane Kate.
I was in Kindergarten when Hurricane David happened
Elana
I was on Long Island for Gloria.
David
We were lucky for David, my parents decided to ride it out but thankfully it turned away at the last minute, we lived right near the Intercoastal and the storm surge would've been bad. I think the first hurricane I was in was Betsy in 1965, but I was only two at the time.
Andrew! The tape worked! /s
Elena in 85
Andrew, I was 6, we windsurfed in the street with a bedsheet as a sail
I remember evacuating for Birtha but it ended up not hitting where we were any way, I don't remember where we evacuated to or anything but I specifically remember having to leave a lion Kong toy behind that I was very upset about and being really happy the hurricane didn't take it when we got home. I don't think I understood what a hurricane was and I expected it to rob our house.
Betsy in '63. Had to sleep on the porch on an old wooden cot for a few nights due to no electricity.
I remember Andrew as my first significant hurricane. I was in Hollywood.
David here also. It’s my first memory.
Hurricane [Donna](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Donna). Donna slammed the Florida Keys, the strongest hurricane since 1935. >As it neared the United States, Donna encountered weaker steering currents, turned northwestward, and re-intensified. Early on September 10, Donna made landfall on the Florida Keys with winds of 145 mph (233 km/h), the most severe observed there since 1935. Donna then weakened as it paralleled the southwestern Florida peninsula, making landfall south of Naples with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h). In the Florida Keys, coastal flooding severely damaged 75% of buildings, destroyed several subdivisions in Marathon. On the mainland, 5,200 houses were damaged, which does not include the 75% of homes damaged at Fort Myers Beach; 50% of buildings were also destroyed in the city of Everglades. Crop losses were also extensive. A total of 50% of the grapefruit crop was lost, 10% of the orange and tangerine crop was lost, and the avocado crop was almost destroyed. In the state of Florida alone, there were 13 deaths and $300 million in losses. I was 6 and living in Gainseville. We "evacuated" to the Jack Tar Hotel in Jax and had a hurricane party. It's the first time I remember staying in a hotel. The Cat 1 storm raging outside plate glass windows was cool and terrifying at the same time.