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- Since moving to Florida in 2016, my family and I have faced several major hurricanes.
- Florida may seem dangerous, but the people who live here know the risk of hurricanes is worth it.
- My husband, teenagers, and I have no plans of leaving Florida.
Tired of winters so cold my kids’ cheeks would chap and bleed, my husband and I relocated our family from Maryland to Florida in 2016 and were greeted with Hurricane Matthew before we’d even closed on our house. I still remember taking my kids, who were 6 and 8 at the time, to our family doctor to get established with the practice right in the middle of Matthew prep.
“I know what you’re thinking,” our doctor said to me. “You’re wondering what you did moving your family here with these storms, but they rarely happen and you will love living here. We all do. It’s why we stay.”
We’ve been through 6 major hurricanes since moving to Florida’s Atlantic coast
Our home on Florida’s Atlantic coast made it through Hurricane Matthew with minimal damage and we moved in soon after. The following hurricane season, Hurricane Irma rolled through my town, causing the barrier island I live on to be evacuated for the second time in less than a year.
Since then, we’ve relocated to hotels, we’ve stayed put, we’ve braved week-long power outages, and we’ve invested in a really good generator. Through Dorian, Elsa, Idalia, and, most recently, Milton, we’ve put up hurricane shutters, eased our kids’ fears, and watched other parts of our state be destroyed knowing that one day, it could very well be us facing devastating storm surges and high-category winds.
Despite the dangers of living in Florida, I love living here
Seven years after moving to the Sunshine State, I know my family doctor was right. Sure, hurricanes are a part of life in Florida, but they’re just a blip among sunny days, beach walks, theme park outings, fishing trips, al fresco dinners on the lanai, and dips in the pool in the middle of winter.
Hurricane season, as scary as it can be, ushers in the best six months of the year to live in Florida — weather that’s not too hot, beach bonfire season, and days where it’s just cool enough that you can break out Uggs and a hoodie and not sweat.
Another wise nugget we received when we moved to Florida — uttered by a guy who helped us change to Florida drivers licenses at the motor vehicle administration — stayed with us. “This is why we live in Florida,” he said, “the weather from October to April.”
There are so many things to love about living in Florida
There are more things I love about Florida than I can count. For one, it’s theme park central and I love making memories with my family everywhere from Walt Disney World to Gatorland. There’s the very unique ways we celebrate holidays that used to be too cold to even go outside for, from lighted boat parades at Christmastime to sunrise beach church services on Easter Sunday morning.
My kids, now 14 and 16, are growing up surrounded by nature, from sea turtle conservation efforts to some of the most gorgeous places to walk and take in wildlife.
Because Florida is so large — more than 65,000 square miles — there’s tons to explore without even leaving our state. From weekend car trips to historic St. Augustine to short flights to the Florida Keys, one of the things that surprised me most about the state is that it’s not all gators, Mickey Mouse, and beaches. There’s history here, along with museums, really good food, actual cities, and way more culture than we expected.
Since moving to Florida, I started homeschooling my kids, to allow us more time to explore our area and get out into the sunshine and beauty that’s all around us.
Florida is my family’s home, and we aren’t leaving any time soon
While pondering why we have no plans to leave a state that’s wracked with hurricanes each year, I asked the people in my community why they stay. “The sunsets,” said my waxer, “and the beautiful weather.” While on our Saturday morning walk down the beach to our favorite coffee shop, my best friend said, “Because most days are like this, not like they are when a hurricane is coming.”
She’s right. In the nearly 3,000 days we’ve lived in Florida, no more than 15 of them have been taken up with hurricane prep, riding out a storm, and the necessary post-hurricane yard clean-up.
As Floridians, we know we take a risk living so closely with hurricanes, but it’s no different than earthquakes on the West Coast, tornadoes in the Midwest, or any other natural disaster risk. We love our home. We carry really good insurance. And we enjoy the 360 days of the year when we’re not tracking meteorologist Jim Cantore’s whereabouts to the fullest.
If you ask me why we stay in Florida in spite of the hurricane risk, the answer is easy for me. Florida is our home. It’s where our kids have gone to school dances with friends, opened gifts under the Christmas tree, lost their first tooth, and learned to love a good beach day. It’s a beautiful place where most of the country comes to vacation, so why wouldn’t I want to count myself among those lucky enough to live here, storms and all?
