Questions about Hurricanes for Long Time SoWal Residents

We came over the 331 bridge the day (evening) after Ivan and there was a sailboat on the left side of the road before you start over the bridge southbound but it was not blocked. We had no power at our house in Seagrove on 30-A that evening when we rolled in, however One Seagrove Place was lit up like a Christmas tree and we spent the night in one of our condo's there. Talk about eerie, the guard, Sweetie, FFF and I were about the only ones in that big ole high rise. The following morning we went to our house in Seagrove started checking it out and the power came on, so we had power about two days later. I will post pics later, they are not on this computer.

One thing that stands out in my mind is that next day we passed Criolla's and there was a big sign out there for free food that evening. It made me well up and start crying. The fellowship we have in SoWal is incredible.

I remember I found SoWal after Dennis and some guy named Smiling JOe kept going out and checking on people's houses/property for them and giving them reports.

Actually, I stayed through the storm, and water level was too high to get out from my house for 3 days. That was the excuse I heard about the boat, why they wouldn't let people in sooner.

I was on the north side of the bay for Ivan and what we kept hearing from EOC was that the bridge needed to be checked for structural safety. Meanwhile, on Friday, I had all of my inlaws I could stand, and Squirt, I and the cats came home via 79. Got home, no phone, no electricity. No cell phone. House OK, went to Tom Thumb @ 331/98 to use pay phone to call Fuzz. Found that bridge had been opened while I was going around the long way. Went back home, sponge bath, noted that FSU had a home game the next day, grabbed game tickets and headed for Tallahassee, electricity, a warm shower, and air conditioning.

Came back Sunday. Something to add to the list above (#8? #9?): if you are lacking a generator, and you have perishables that have already been without power for two days but they aren't too stinky yet, go ahead and suck it up, and get rid of them. Do NOT put it off for two more days.

I'm only a 3-year SoWaller, but I've already learned this:

1-Any time there's even a remote threat of a hurricane (i.e. starting about this Thursday if Dean tracks poorly), I only accumulate 50 miles on a full tank of gas before filling up again. If there's an evacuation, gas will sell out in a heartbeat not only in SoWal, but also in an extended radius. I want a full tank to get me to either where I'm staying or filling up on my way to the old homestead in Memphis.

2-Confirm that your generator will start and run properly. During the "Great Memphis Ice Storm" of 1994, my generator wouldn't start. Our power was out for a week and I had to endure 3 days without lights (at least warm, thanks to our antique gas boiler/radiator system) while the Honda place fixed the generator.

I don't know if I would agree with this. We don't shoot at rescuers. I have been here through Opal, Erin, Dennis, Ivan and all inbetween. The community here has always banded together and taken care of each other. I would definitely plan to have 3-4 days of supplies on hand, but even after Opal, I didn't see people unable to get additional supplies any longer than that.

You buy your four days, and if I have some extra stores of food, I'll share. I don't believe SoWal lost its bridges in any of these storms, but if we do, I might be sharing some meals with people who didn't properly prepare. Really, what is the cost of buying an additional 5 days supply of cheap, canned food, when it could save your life, or the life of someone who lost their supply of food because their house got wiped out? You cannot plan for the perfect storm. You must prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I'm sorry. My comment wasn't clear. Buy food, of course, I was trying to point out that some of the circumstances were quite different in NOLA vs. our local community. We don't shoot at people trying to help, and we have a tendency to help each other and ourselves rather than sitting waiting for some government agency to show up.

After Opal, four families got back in my neighborhood. One brought a couple of HUGE fishing type coolers filled with ice and a pick up filled with water. We took our grilles down to one house, emptied the freezer, cooked what we could on the grille, wrapped it up and put it in the freezer. Then, if you were hungry, we all shared.

Of course, we DID run out of liquor WAY before we ran out of food......

Opal has been the worst storm since we've been here. We spent it on 2nd Court, right near the SRB Golf Club and I slept through it

Friends of the family were on 393N (north of Nursery road, near the bay) went to bed the night before the storm and woke up to water at the level of their bed!

They're scary and fun. Gas up, likes been said before and have plenty of water & food.

Oh, and the last food that Quick Center on 393/98 runs out of is souse, so stock up on anything else you can find!

ok, here's my stupid question on the subject- how do you store up on water?? I went out and stocked up on gallons of water last summer and within no time, they were leaking and shriviling up. I know this is a silly one but....

The last one we evacuated for was Opal. My kids were very young and I heard at 3am that it was a Cat5 and headed right at us at 55mph. Thank God it slowed down. But in Montgomery we kept hearing Destin was gone and that 331 was closed but we headed back anyway and drove right to our house with no problems.We had some trees down but no damage to the house. No power for 10 days but great neighbors, one house was set up as the shower house, one setup as the "diner" and one setup with TV, radio video games etc.I can remember washing machines and refrigerators in the middle of 30A from the houses on the beach.
Ivan was a nightmare because it hit at night (I HATE those) But as you can tell from the pictures of Dennis we were not afraid at all and were out taking pictures. But getting gas became a problem for a while after Ivan. Whenever someone would find a place that had it we would call everyone we knew to let them know and top off the vehicles.
IF YOU PLAN ON STAYING: get plenty of of food, drinks, batteries, medicine etc. (Dont forget the poptarts and beer). DO NOT expect the government or FEMA to take care of you, you will have to be self sufficient for a minimum of 5 days.(Sometimes they get here sooner, but I dont like to take chances) Get a good generator and keep it tuned up and have plenty of gas to run it. Also, it is a good idea to get a cheap 110v electric A/C that will run off a generator. You can not imagine how hot and humid and miserable it is trying to sleep. And the nights are REALLY long with no power.

ok, here's my stupid question on the subject- how do you store up on water?? I went out and stocked up on gallons of water last summer and within no time, they were leaking and shriviling up. I know this is a silly one but....

The trick is to store them in the house. The heat is what gets to them.

Another little trick that we learned after Ivan. Your hot water heater will give you a couple of days of warm showers, but then it's COLD showers....which isn't always bad. But, if you want warm showers, go to Bass Pro and get a solar shower bag. It is a 5 gal. bag that you leave out in the sun and it does work!

Warning! I would recommend that you take it out of the sun for 2-4 hours before using it. It can be almost scalding if used directly after being in the sun.....

Many, many years ago, when we lived on Okinawa, I can remember always filling up the bathtubs when on typhoon watch and having a salt water barrel on the driveway- maybe to manually flush toilets (?)- I was a kid but that's what I remember. Oh, and the adults playing cards and drinking all night!

Also stock up on bleach. It never hurts to be able to sanitize things. Peroxide and anti-bacterial cream for any cuts etc. The best investment other than a generator was a propane fish fryer. It came in so handy to heat water etc.

ok, here's my stupid question on the subject- how do you store up on water?? I went out and stocked up on gallons of water last summer and within no time, they were leaking and shriviling up. I know this is a silly one but....

Get a large plastic jug (similar to those for storing gasoline). Mine came from Home Depot or Home Helpers, I can't remember.

Many of us who are now locals, have not been here long enough to report on the storms which actually hit Walton County. I believe the last direct hit was Opal, back in 1995, which reportedly hit in Dune Allen. If you want to read about the mother of storms, I believe it was back in 1929, or sometime around then, and it was bad. I've heard some stories about that storm which sound a bit exaggerated, but who knows?

While the storms of 2004 and 2005 did major damage to the dunes and beach, and many homes built directly on top of the dunes, they didn't really affect most properties, nor did they actually hit directly in SoWal. Had homes not been built directly on the dunes, it is safe to say that the damage would have been nominal, and people wouldn't have spent millions of dollars for seawalls and sand, nor would we be paying for beach nourishment.

i was reading about this one yesterday...in an awesome little book by the three arts alliance....apparently the 1929 hurricane pretty much decimated the area and took the turpentine industry with it. Between that and the yellow fever...only hardcore folks were able to hang on here.

Many, many years ago, when we lived on Okinawa, I can remember always filling up the bathtubs when on typhoon watch and having a salt water barrel on the driveway- maybe to manually flush toilets (?)- I was a kid but that's what I remember. Oh, and the adults playing cards and drinking all night!

Memories ...I remember when the adults finally got some ice and had hurricane beer!!! (beer over ice ) I also loved how my daddy used to get out in the car with his HUGE video camera and drive the neighborhood giving a commentary of the damage. He missed his calling to work at TWC!!!!

Many of us who are now locals, have not been here long enough to report on the storms which actually hit Walton County. I believe the last direct hit was Opal, back in 1995, which reportedly hit in Dune Allen. If you want to read about the mother of storms, I believe it was back in 1929, or sometime around then, and it was bad. I've heard some stories about that storm which sound a bit exaggerated, but who knows?

While the storms of 2004 and 2005 did major damage to the dunes and beach, and many homes built directly on top of the dunes, they didn't really affect most properties, nor did they actually hit directly in SoWal. Had homes not been built directly on the dunes, it is safe to say that the damage would have been nominal, and people wouldn't have spent millions of dollars for seawalls and sand, nor would we be paying for beach nourishment.

Smiling Joe. You said Opal hit Dune Allen Beach, but you don't mean the eye came ashore in that area do you? I saved newspapers from that storm that pinned it right west of Ft. Walton near Navarre.

Smiling Joe. You said Opal hit Dune Allen Beach, but you don't mean the eye came ashore in that area do you? I saved newspapers from that storm that pinned it right west of Ft. Walton near Navarre.

As I said, I wasn't living here when Opal hit and I was corrected by someone (BeachSiO2, I think) else about Opal directly hitting WalCo. I guess people say that we were hit by Opal, meaning they were "affected" by Opal. If Opal hit Navarre, WalCo would have been on the strong side of the storm, but not in the center of the storm.

ok, here's my stupid question on the subject- how do you store up on water?? I went out and stocked up on gallons of water last summer and within no time, they were leaking and shriviling up. I know this is a silly one but....

Mine did that, too, during the first year. Maybe the expiration dates on the water are really for the containers, and not the water. I scored some empty 5 gal. water jugs, like the big ones you see at drinking fountains. They are extremely durable, and when empty, they weigh nothing. No need to fill them with tap water until evacuation time. I also have one 7gal water container with a spigot for dispensing the water efficiently. That has solved my water problem. You can also make sure your bathtubs don't leak water slowly over time. Clean them thoroughly and fill those to the top when the storm is approaching, thereby giving you even more drinkable water, or water for flushing toilet.

I wouldn't mind getting a good water filter pump (for camping) to use if I ran out of water. A good one can filter out all the bad stuff and you could drink water right out of a creek. It would strictly be used for emergency.

Smiling Joe. You said Opal hit Dune Allen Beach, but you don't mean the eye came ashore in that area do you? I saved newspapers from that storm that pinned it right west of Ft. Walton near Navarre.

I think the most logical thing that could have happened to the DA area would have been a tornado. The damage there was far worse than the surrounding areas.

Memories ...I remember when the adults finally got some ice and had hurricane beer!!! (beer over ice ) I also loved how my daddy used to get out in the car with his HUGE video camera and drive the neighborhood giving a commentary of the damage. He missed his calling to work at TWC!!!!

Daddy Cantore

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Daddy Cantore

Funny you mention "CANTORE" .... I can remember seeing him on 30A once and telling him to "leave the area please" because I knew that if he was here we were ****ed.

Hurricane Opal brought in a surge of about 13 feet at our beach which resulted in the Gulf coming right through our house. Two of my neighbors' houses literally floated away. When we came back in, it appeared that a bomb had gone off in our neighborhood. We had to wade through two different debris lines and about a foot of standing sea water complete with eels! Thankfully our house was still standing thanks to a concrete subfloor and a great foundation. Overall about $65,000 in damage, but more importantly no one was hurt.

Unlike New Orleans, no looting, no riots, no shooting and overall no complaining. People were self sufficient and everyone pulled together to help others out. It took a little while, but we rebuilt.

Lesson learned: Life is more important than any material items. When they tell you to evacuate, get out. Error on the side of caution.
Be self reliant and do not depend on first responders to bail your rear out. They have better things to do....... Self responsibility is the over all principle that will get you through (as it is in general life)

Funny you mention "CANTORE" .... I can remember seeing him on 30A once and telling him to "leave the area please" because I knew that if he was here we were ****ed.

We saw him down by the Back Porch as IVan was approaching...told my bro "we might as well bend over and kiss our ***es goodbye"

Course my bro used to work for NOAA and he rolled his eyes and said "whatever- he's a dork". Flea replied "Jealous?"

Memories ...I remember when the adults finally got some ice and had hurricane beer!!! (beer over ice ) I also loved how my daddy used to get out in the car with his HUGE video camera and drive the neighborhood giving a commentary of the damage. He missed his calling to work at TWC!!!!

:funn:
I can just picture your Dad with videocam whopper... boy, they were fairly large way back when...

I think the most logical thing that could have happened to the DA area would have been a tornado. The damage there was far worse than the surrounding areas.

Storm surge. I knew an elderly lady (since deceased) that lived in one of the small concrete block homes on the west side of Oyster Lake. She and her son had water four feet deep in their house.