PSA: To those who are not evacuating -- Standard Operating Procedure for the National Guard and emergency services is to not send out first responders during hurricane force winds. Flooding is no joke. If your house floods from storm surge you will die. 911 cannot help you. Evacuate if you are told!

When I was a kid, I lived in FL. We always headed for Orlando. It's both higher ground (approx 80ish ft. above sea level vs. where I lived being approx 10 ft. in view of the ocean) and

My parents evacuated from the beachside to Orlando, thankfully. They told me before they were planning on just evacuating the mandatory area and staying in Melbourne but re-thought when it was clearly not turning and going to be a Cat 4 direct hit (or close to). We'll see what happens, and I'm praying for their house. But I know they'll be plenty safe in Orlando (they went West, near Disney, in a newer construction hotel that was built after Charley and is up to all codes).

So, you can go North (or South in some cases), you can go inland, you can go to the opposite coast, etc. Heck, they would have probably been fine in Melbourne (not where they live but on the mainland), but they would've been more likely to lose power for a long time in a hotel or deal with massive inconveniences. Plus you just never know. So I'm glad they went further inland.

/r/TropicalWeather Thread Parent