Your past hurricane experiences

[Gev]

Have you been there on holiday in the past during a hurricane?
We were there in 2004 when Hurricane Jeanne arrived. It was a Cat 3 hurricane hot on the heels of Charlie and Hugo. We arrived at the villa on the Friday afternoon as Jeanne arrived Saturday night. We were lucky enough to get enough water and supplies (including beer!) to see us through a few days.
We were under curfew until the Monday morning not, as we thought, to keep us safe, but to keep the roads clear for emergency services.
We had bought loads of tinned stuff on the advice of the MC, but all we all fancied to eat was boiled eggs! We were lucky in that the power stayed on as all the power lines were underground, and we filled the 3 baths and hunkered down.
We had taken some dvds with us, so we watched Eddie Murphy in Haunted Mansion, which turned out very atmospheric with the wind howling outside!
DH ventured out by the pool "just to see what it was like" and could lean into the wind.
The Monday morning brought clear, bright blue skies. But it also showed the roads and pavements covered with hundreds and hundreds of frogs! Many had been run over, but it looked like a plague!
The storm's passing really cleared the atmosphere and it was one of the hottest holidays we had out there. Disney Village (as it was back then) reopened at noon in the Monday.

[WhereIBelong]

We were there for the edge of Georges in 1998 - that was bad enough. We had got up and gone out early so missed the message from TC saying stay in and find somewhere safe.

We were in Kennedy all day and drove back towards an ominous looking sky. Sunlight, then grey then rain so thick and hard you could not see the end of the bonnet of the car, let alone the car in front. Thank god EVERYONE slowed and pulled up. When the skies cleared enough to move on there was debris all around, stuff from the garage forecourts, from overhead signs, bits of palm tree etc. But the damage to property was minimal.

This hurricane was a cat 4 and had killed over 600 people in Haiti/Dominican republic - it tracked into the gulf of Mexico and so Orlando/Central Florida only felt the very edge of it.

I would not want to be there for a hurricane that tracked anywhere near.

[Blast Furnace]

Was in Orlando 1989 when Hugo run up the east coast making land fall in South Carolina. Orlando was largely spared the high winds but rainfall was immense

[jo_usa]

In 2004 when Jeanne hit we were at Manchester Airport all checked in when we were told 1st the flight was delayed then was cancelled and there wouldn't be another till at least Monday we don't live too far from Manchester so we went home and flew on the Monday when we got to Orlando it was like something from a disaster movie debris everwhere signs down when we got to villa the place was a mess half a tree in the pool toilets blocked, the management company was great they sent someone out the next day (was quite late when we arrived) and moved us
Me and hubby were also there last year for Matthew we were due to fly home on the Friday on the Thursday we got a message from Thompson to say we were being moved to the Marriott on Disney property and wouldn't be flying Friday There was a curfew and we were told to stay indoors all the parks closed. Luckily it changed course and we only got the edges of it but was still quite scary
Must say though Thompson were brilliant they paid for the extra days car hire all parking at hotel plus all food for 2 days and the staff were around all the time to answer any question/worries we eventually flew home Saturday
Hope everyone stays safe out there now xx

[Sandra & co]

Got engaged in Barbados when we got the tail winds of Hurricane Hugo and all the power went and we had to use candles. Last year had Hermine and a washout for four days in Bradenton, there isnt much to do at the coast with constant rain. We went on a boat trip after it brightened but all the Dolphins were still hiding, apparently a Aligator was spotted swimming in the flood water. The sat nav tried to send us down a flooded street, dh lost power in the car and scared us for a few minutes. We manged to get back to the Villa safe and sound

[taffgirl]

Yes, we were there in 2005 when hurricane Wilma struck. We were staying at the
Quality Inn International at the time (yuk)!

Lots of people had come up from Miami, and other southern areas, to stay in Orlando.

We'd been shopping to Walmart, and when we got back to our room, there was a note from the hotel, telling us to stay in our rooms, the next day, and to close the curtains.

This we did, but we were able to venture out later in the afternoon.

We were at Pirate's Cove, and we got chatting to a family from Scotland. We agreed between us, that with us coming from Wales, and them from Scotland, that the tail end of hurricane Wilma, was really like one of our storms back home!

[Moogles Smith]

In about 2005 we were stuck in a hurricane in cayo coco in Cuba. An enforced evacuation and us being in a hotel that opened only a month before meant we were bussed to an old hotel down the road. We were given a small bread roll each and a bottle of water to share and told to stay in our room. We did peak out before we got boarded up and it was a sight! Pretty scary but once we got out we realised how lucky we had been considering people's entire livelihoods had been destroyed, whilst we went back to our luxury hotel to be wined and dined

[colin39]

1987 when micheal fish said "no itll be fine its not going to happen"
That was my last one

[7beebee]

I was in some run down hostel in New york during hurricane Sandy in 2012, so scary, the place was dodgy enough and then the power all went out. National guard all down the street making sure people were okay, vans giving out food and water, ambulances racing through the street moving patients to other hospitals. I remember drinking fireball whisky to keep warm and wearing four layers of clothing to sleep at night. I felt so unsafe.
I was also in Orlando last year for hurricane Matthew which wasn't as bad (for me anyway ), but I was very relieved that the winds where we were weren't as strong as predicted otherwise I'd have had a tree through my window.

[g1970]

Hurricane Earl thankfully stayed out at sea the first year we went in 2010. We didn't see a drop of rain for 10 days, which is unheard of in Aug/Sept and I was actually disappointed not to see any of thunderstorms that people raved about.

We landed in Orlando the day Hurricane Sandy hit NY in 2012 (after having to cancel and rearrange our plans as my partner had a DIY accident), so not there during a hurricane but it was chilly for a few days after.

We've been every year since 2010 and usually go over there around now...but decided to try May this year for a change. Hoping anyone stuck over there is safe and anyone delayed going manages to make alternative arrangements.