September 4, 2008
Hurricanes
Written by Shana in Jaunty Post
I love living in Houston. There’s lots of things I like about it—my friends, my job, my favorite stores and hangouts. But as much as I love Houston, there’s one thing I hate.
Hurricanes.
Every year from June 1-until sometime in October, I start stressing out. This is hurricane season, and I live in dread of getting a direct hit. The last direct hit for Houston was in 1983. Hurricane Alicia was a category 3, and even though I was young I recall the winds and the rain and the power being out for days.
The city was shut down and 21 people died. My family had just moved to Texas from Michigan, and that was not the welcome we had hoped for.
The last major tropical event to impact Houston was Tropical Storm Allison, which hit in 2001. We had a tropical storm a few weeks ago, Edouard, and it wasn’t a very big deal. But Allison stalled over Houston and dumped inches and inches of rain. Once again, the city was shut down. People drowned in their cars trying to get home. In the house where I live now, there was over 2 feet of water.
So you can understand why I’ve been watching the news a lot lately. Hurricane Gustav struck fear into the hearts of many Houstonians. We didn’t want it to hit Louisiana, but we didn’t want it to hit here either.
In fact, even after it was clear that Gustav would hit Louisiana, I had a conversation with Ultimate Sportsfan about the possibility of moving further inland. Austin and San Antonio are nice cities—and they’re not affected by hurricanes!
For now we’ll stay put, and our future plans include knocking our house down and building it up higher. We live in a flood plane, which doesn’t ease my worries. Until then I guess I’ll just have to keep my eye on the weather.
What about you? Does your weather make you want to move?
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AndreaW Says:
Hi, Shana! Until a few years ago, I lived in Florida my entire life so I’ve seen my fair share of hurricanes. They are one of the reasons I’m glad I don’t live there anymore. Though, I still watch the weather religiously as I have family there.
Amy Addison Says:
When I was a kid, we moved to Houston in ‘83, right after Alicia came through.
I live in Oregon now. My weather makes me want to move 9/12 of the time. But mostly because I’m a wimp about the rain and cold.
Then I hear about hurricanes, monsoons and earthquakes. Rain seems a small price to pay to avoid all that.
Kathryn Says:
I love the weather where I live, in Quebec not far from Montreal… basically because I like having all the seasons. We have lots of snow, beautiful autumns and relatively hot, humid summers. I hate November and April, though, gray, dreary, muddy and cold. And as I get older, I am tolerating the cold less and less… -25 to -35 was never that appealing, but less and less so now! I like winter when it’s hovering just around freezing, sunny blue skies and fresh snow. I could be very happy if winter lasted from December 10 to January 31.
RobynDeHart Says:
The thing I hate most about TN weather is that all the really bad thunderstorms (with tornado warnings) seem to come at night. I have an unnatural fear of tornados, I think because my school was hit when I was in the 3rd grade and I remember seeing the twister out the window. So anytime we get really bad storms, I’m up all night, my stomach gets upset, I’m just a mess. Of course this happened when I lived in TX too, but more often than not, that weather came during the day when you could still see outside and the smaller trees really enabled you to see those storms rolling in. Made you feel a bit more prepared.
Jenna Petersen Says:
I’m with you, Robyn. I hate tornados (we live at the very top of tornado alley). Actually it’s funny you wrote this Shana. We’re probably going to move in the next few months and Houston was on our list and then I said, “But what about the hurricanes?” And voila. You talk about Houston hurricanes.
Laura Says:
Like you, I live in the Houston area. I don’t like the hurricanes but more than that, I hate, hate HATE the humidity here. I know it’s good for the skin but I hate it! I would move to a dryer climate in a heart beat! Oh, but just to be clear, my few experiences driving in snow has made a snowy climate a no go for me too.
I think that’s it.
EmilyMcKay Says:
Ack. I had a beautiful, insightful and witty response. And my computer ate it.
To sum up: Yes, move to Austin!
We have great weather, except for the stifling heat in the summer. But you’re probably used to that. For some reason, I never worry about tornadoes.
Shana Says:
I’m with you, Laura. The humidity can be a drag. It was such a pleasant surprise this morning when it was in the low 70s and breezy–almost no humidity. It didn’t last long, of course.
Jenna, Houston is a great place to live–except the hurricanes. I might not stress about them so much if I lived a bit north of the city, in the ‘burbs. But living in a flood plane is just no way to earn peace of mind.
Karen H in NC Says:
Here in NC, we just got done with TS Hanna. The Raleigh area got about 5″ of rain but very little wind damage. In some areas of the coastal region surprizingly, they got more wind damage and less rain..go figure.
Back when I was planning my exodus from MI, I chose NC and decided on the Raleigh area because of its central location. Far enough from the coast to avoid most of the hurricanes but close enough to travel there for the day. It’s also far enough from the mountains to avoid their longer, colder, snowier winters and still close enough to go for a weekend.
I love the 2 month mild winters we get here. Sure beats 6 months of cold & tons of lake effect snow anyday. It’s 75 right now, mostly sunny and should hit 90 later today. I’m happy
Delilah Marvelle Says:
Hi Shana!
I have to say I’m pretty fortunate to live where I do in Oregon. We do have floods (and those are anything but fun..) but in comparison to all the things that can go wrong, I suppose there is no ideal place where mother nature doesn’t somehow affect us. I love the mild weather out in Oregon (seeing I used to live in Chicago) and the wonderful summer days that don’t get too hot (or humid) except for a few sparse days in July. I love, love, love where I am at. Fortunately.