When the topic of exotic, ideal locations for vacations comes up; island paradises and tropical locales are always popular. The water, the beaches, the warm winds are very attractive conditions. However, they are also the originating locales for tropical storms and hurricanes.
The dark side of the tropics is that all of the water and warm temperatures make up the key ingredients for cooking up massive storms. The low pressure areas allow the build-up of violent wind movement that is fuel by warmth and water. The hurricane season is a long parade of storms that form, build in power and size and then move toward land, and property……and people.
Often the major worry is “what is the storm’s category?” A storm’s potential life cycle goes may go from Normal Conditions – Tropical Depression – Tropical Storm – Hurricane (Category 1 up to Category 5).
Naturally it makes sense to be highly concerned about the size of storm surges (water and waves pushed by storms) and wind speeds; but less powerful storms do not automatically mean that there is less danger! Even when a storm does not maintain hurricane status, it can cause tremendous problems as it travels hundreds, even thousands of miles!
A slow-moving tropical storm or low category hurricane may not cause as many problems with wind damage; but may create wide-spread, substantial damage by inundating large areas with torrential rains. Massive amounts of water, smashing through areas where they shouldn’t be, is capable of washing away cars, trucks, boats, homes, businesses, bridges, roads and even lives.
In the aftermath, the incredible challenge is to rebuild and, without proper protection – such as flood insurance – the challenge may become impossible. The wish may be that you never have to deal with flooding caused by huge storms….the hope is that, if you do, you CAN deal with it. Flood insurance can be the key to your recovery!
