NN, I learned a valuable lesson during Andrew in ‘92. You don’t have to be in the path of a killer storm to see local impacts on your stores. I live in central FL and the refugees from Dade county ran for their lives with what they could carry. Once they arrived inland, they hit our stores and cleaned out the food, survival supplies, gasoline and medicine from pharmacies.
As Charlie approached with a Tampa Bay projected path, I warned all the locals to prepare as the refugees would come inland and clean out the stores. Charlie came through central FL, making a direct hit and we had the refugees, too. On top of that, we didn’t recover here and 2 weeks later had a direct hit from Francis, and two weeks after that, Jeanne.
My point is... even if you aren’t in the path, prepare as if you are. Food/Water, fuel and meds.
Your voice of experience is rich with wisdom. If SE FL gets an order to evacuate, the entire state of FL is affected by the relocation of populous Miami-Dade-Palm Beach counties. Local Sarasota Wx guy suggested two days ago that we check our storm supplies. He is not an alarmist, and he got my attention.
“The 2004 season had numerous unusual occurrences. With six hurricanes reaching at least Category 3 intensity, 2004 also had the most major hurricanes since 1964, a record which would be surpassed in 2005.[22] Florida was severely impacted by four hurricanes during the season – Hurricane Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. This was the first time four tropical cyclones produced hurricane-force winds in one state during a single season since four hurricanes made landfall in Texas in 1886”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Atlantic_hurricane_season
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I’ve had an irrational hatred of Hurricane Season since 2004... 2005 didn’t help with that... seems it’s the price we pay for living in Florida.