Let’s face it. Even though life can get scary and hurricanes cause massive destruction, life is about risk and people are fascinated by hurricanes. Just as we as human beings are in awe of all things created by Mother Nature, extreme weather is a very interesting aspect of life. Especially in Florida, where extreme weather and hurricanes are a regular occurrence.

In an earlier blog post, we alerted our readers to the fact that today is the official beginning of the 2018 Hurricane Season, which will run through the end of November. In that blog post, you will find the 2018 hurricane outlook and advice on how to prepare your home, family, and business for the upcoming season.

The Fascinating History of Florida Hurricanes

We hope you take advantage of the information we have provided above to protect yourselves this 2018 Hurricane Season. But since it’s Friday, let’s have a little fun. Today Noble Public Adjusting Group would like to discuss the fascinating history of Florida hurricanes.

To do this subject justice, we are going to refer to a great article from The Daily Beast. The article is titled, The Sunshine State’s History of Hurricanes. It was written by Sarah Rogers, a native Floridian, as she witnessed life with hurricanes during her years growing up. What makes it especially interesting too is that Ms. Rogers wrote The Daily Beast article in September 2017, as Hurricane Irma was approaching landfall.

Here is the beginning of the article for your reading pleasure, “As a kid growing up in Florida, we didn’t have snow days. We had hurricane days. Most of my childhood, I knew hurricanes to be massive, terrifying storms that would inflate in the Atlantic and then dissolve into tropical storms by the time they hit Florida. During September, it was common to have days off from school as a precaution, and often it was just a few days of rain and not much else. In 2004, as Hurricane Charley barreled toward Florida, I invited a handful of friends over for a hurricane party. Typical teenagers, we mocked the Category 4 hurricane and smugly thought we would ride out a glorified thunderstorm sneaking beers from my parents’ stash. Little did we know, we would later be huddled under the stairs of my childhood home as the back porch detached completely and flew into our front yard. We’d watch in horror as the sliding glass door in the living room bowed with the 150-mph gusts.” 

You really should take a few minutes to read that whole article from Sarah Rogers at the Daily Beast. She makes you really see what it is like to go through hurricanes. Below Noble has summed up the major hurricanes that have struck Florida over the years. This information is courtesy of Wikipedia. A very interesting thing can see below is that hurricanes didn’t begin receiving names until Hurricane Easy in September 1950.

• Storm	Saffir-Simpson Category	Date of landfall	Year	Landfall Intensity (in knots)	Landfall Location
  Great Middle Florida	3	August 23	1851	100	Panama City
  Unnamed	3	August 17	1871	100	Jupiter Island
  Unnamed	3	October 7	1873	100	Captiva Island
  Unnamed	3	October 3	1877	100	Panama City
  Unnamed	3	September 10	1882	100	Navarre
  Unnamed	3	August 16	1888	110	Miami Beach
  Unnamed	3	October 9	1894	105	Panama City
  Unnamed	3	September 10	1896	110	Cedar Key
  Unnamed	3	October 18	1906	105	Marathon (1st landfall)/ Near Flamingo (2nd landfall)
  Unnamed	3	October 11	1909	100	Marathon
  Unnamed	3	September 29	1917	100	Okaloosa County (Ft. Walton Beach)
  Unnamed	4	September 10	1919	130	Dry Tortugas
  Great Miami	4	September 18–20	1926	125	Palmetto Bay (1st landfall)/ Orange Beach, AL (2nd landfall)*
  Okeechobee	4	September 17	1928	125	Palm Beach
  Unnamed	3	September 4	1933	110	Jupiter
  Labor Day	5	September 3	1935	160	Craig Key
  Unnamed	3	October 18	1944	105	Dry Tortugas
  Unnamed	4	September 15	1945	115	North Key Largo (1st landfall)/ Florida City (2nd landfall)
  Unnamed	4	September 17	1947	115	Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale)
  Unnamed	4	September 21–22	1948	115	Saddlebunch Keys (1st landfall)/ Near Chokoloskee (2nd landfall)
  Unnamed	4	August 26	1949	115	Lantana/ Lake Worth
  Easy	3	September 5	1950	105	Near Cedar Key
  King	4	October 18	1950	115	Downtown Miami
  Donna	4	September 10	1960	115	Conch Key (1st landfall)/ Near Naples (2nd landfall)
  Betsy	3	September 8	1965	110	Tavernier
  Eloise	3	September 23	1975	110	Bay County
  Elena	3	September 2	1985	100	Gulfport, MS*
  Andrew	5	August 24	1992	145	Elliott Key (1st landfall)/ Near Homestead (2nd landfall)
  Opal	3	October 4	1995	100	Pensacola Beach
  Charley	4	August 13	2004	130	Cayo Costa (1st landfall)/ Near Punta Gorda (2nd landfall)
  Ivan	3	September 16	2004	105	Near Gulf Shores, AL*
  Jeanne	3	September 26	2004	105	Hutchinson Island
  Dennis	3	July 10	2005	105	Santa Rosa Island
  Wilma	3	October 24	2005	105	Cape Romano
  Irma	4	September 10	2017	115	Cudjoe Key (1st landfall)/ Marco Island (2nd landfall)

Noble Public Adjusting Group would really appreciate it if you would share this blog post on your social media page, or email it to a friend. We want you to know that when the times comes to file your hurricane damage insurance claim, we are here for you. That is our job, to make sure you as a Florida policyholder receive the largest settlement possible from your insurance claim. Remember, insurance companies become easily overwhelmed after a hurricane strikes, with too many claims to process and not enough staff. By hiring Noble to handle your claim, you have instantly put yourself at the head of the list and will receive a much better settlement than if you had handled the claim yourself.

Call us today to discuss the history of Florida hurricanes, to have us handle your insurance claim, or for any other concern you may have. Noble’s home office is in Panama City Beach, but we can file an insurance claim for policyholders anywhere in Florida.

Noble Public Adjusting Group 
107 Amar Place Suite 103
Panama City Beach (West End), FL 32413
(850) 249-MY-PA