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Thanks HF and Clark. Good observations for me to pass on to those that believe we are protected by the gulf stream. I live on the Liberty coastline looking out at St. Catherine's Island. A beautiful place but beauty comes with a price - when , not if, will the next hurricane hit. I remember a storm in March 1993. Those same marshes that HF mentioned were below water with whitecaps at high tide. Even have a couple of pictures of marsh hens sitting on air conditioner units in the Yellow Bluff area. The wind kept the tide in the tidal creeks for quite a while. I know that we will certainly leave if necessary.
There were a lot of people in LA and MS who thought they were "safe" from storm surge too because they'd gone through Camille with no problems.
The bottom line is, if you're within 10 miles of the coast and you're within 15 feet of sea level, it's not a bad idea to have an evacuation plan because it's far better to leave and not need to, than to not leave and have to hunt down an axe to chop through your attic. We're at 11' of elevation on our lot, but maybe 2 miles from the GOM as the crow flies, if that. I always said I wouldn't leave unless it was a "serious" storm. After Katrina pushed all that water ahead of it, and with the close-call we had with Charley, I work on the assumption I'm leaving unless the track is clearly away from us. I'd rather go through all the aggravation and then not leave than to wish I'd left.
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