Let’s all admit that it was scary to see a 180 MPH Category 5 hurricane heading to Florida.
Fortunately, we were all very lucky. The storm did weaken to a Category 3. And the storm never wobbled off track towards South Florida. It remained on the forecast track and hit central Florida.
Milton, and to a certain extent Helene, were great reminders to respect the power of a hurricane. It also reminds us that no two storms are the same. Helene created a storm surge over a far greater area than Milton before it tore through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and even Tennessee.
Milton on the other hand created a record number of tornadoes, some of which were much more powerful than we’re used to see in Florida.
What did we learn this season? We learned that larger storms create far more storm surge along a larger area. Even if the storm is a weaker category, the larger windfield creates a cumulative effect along a wider area.
We also learned that if a hurricane is coming while a cold front is pushing down, that variance between colder air and warm tropical air will setup the fuel to create a greater number of tornadoes and more powerful tornadoes.
Like I said, each hurricane teaches us a lesson.
I know some people were upset that Miami-Dade County kept schools open when Helene was nearby. But guess what? They were right. Miami-Dade did just fine with Helene. However, as I’m sure you noticed, we definitely received stronger Tropical Storm force winds when Milton came by. And Miami-Dade County did the right thing by closing the schools. Of course, now kids need to go back to school after getting not one, but two days off. I’ve got a feeling attendance may be light on Friday. We’ll see.
Locally, the City of Miami Springs did its part and provided free sandbags for residents. I know in hindsight we can see that we didn’t get a whole lot of rain. But it’s better to be prepared than unprepared. And we’re blessed to live in a wonderful city that does everything it can to take care of its residents.
Miami Springs Public Works and the Miami Springs Police Department were busy filling up sandbags and distributing it to residents ahead of the storm.
And the Village of Virginia Gardens was doing its park cleaning up palm fronds and small branches after the Tropical Storm Force Winds hit the area.
While Milton is gone, Hurricane season isn’t over yet. It continues into November. Oh, and even after November, we can still have a Hurricane. There have been Atlantic Hurricanes that have formed every month of the year with the exception of the month of April. There’s never been a record of an April storm in the Atlantic basin…at least not yet.
What did you learn from this hurricane season? Would you change anything? Let us know in the comments or via social media.