Dear Al
The weatherman reported today that they are increasing the forecast for hurricane activity in the Atlantic to fifteen named storms and three to five major hurricanes. I know you live along the Florida coast and got hit twice last year. Have you considered moving to a safer place?
Debbie

Dear Debbie
Thanks for the note. You got that right. We got two direct hits last year. The day after each storm, it looked pretty bad around here, and it was definitely uncomfortable without electricity for a week. Luckily, there were very few injuries, but there was a lot of property damage. Except for a few places in the city, within a few months you would be hard pressed to know anything ever happened here. The second storm came several weeks after the first and was more powerful so it did more damage. It also lingered in the area longer unlike the first storm that moved through in less than a day.

Some of my neighbors did choose to leave out of fear and some still worry, wondering if they should leave also, but they are a minority. We did not because, while we have a healthy respect for the power of nature, I would rather live with the possibility of an occasional storm rather than six months of cold weather and snow. We no longer are raising a family, so perhaps we can come and go more easily. We simply left town until the storm was over. I've been told that that was the first double hit in 128 years for this area, and the first major hurricane in over thirty years so I like our odds. It snows every year without fail where we used to live.

When you think about it, how many people in the cold weather states get hurt or die each year because of driving in or shoveling and scraping snow and ice? Considerably more than in most hurricanes by far. You can live a long time in a warm climate without power and air conditioning, but that is not true if you lose your heat in the middle of winter for any significant length of time.

The biggest impact of hurricanes is the economic toll on businesses and jobs. Some people lost a week or more of work and some lost their jobs completely. Many who left the area after the storms left for that reason. Ironically, the month after the storms I sold three houses so for many people who are accustomed to this climate, it was just another exciting day in paradise.

The ideal situation would be to have a summer home in New England and a winter home in Florida or Arizona. If we sell enough books, it is in the plans.  Al