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Comment by wil421 | Hacker News Reader

I’ll take a chance of a Hurricane every couple decades vs a single season of snow.

• Hurricane Gabrielle (2001) – Venice, Category 1 • Hurricane Charley (2004) – Punta Gorda, Category 4 • Hurricane Frances (2004) – Hutchinson Island, Category 2 • Hurricane Ivan (2004) – Near Pensacola, Category 3 • Hurricane Jeanne (2004) – Stuart (Hutchinson Island), Category 3 • Hurricane Dennis (2005) – Near Pensacola, Category 3 • Hurricane Katrina (2005) – South Florida, Category 1 • Hurricane Wilma (2005) – Cape Romano, Category 3 • Hurricane Hermine (2016) – Alligator Point, Category 1 • Hurricane Irma (2017) – Cudjoe Key and Marco Island, Category 4 • Hurricane Michael (2018) – Mexico Beach, Category 5 • Hurricane Ian (2022) – Cayo Costa / Fort Myers area, Category 4 • Hurricane Nicole (2022) – Vero Beach, Category 1 • Hurricane Idalia (2023) – Keaton Beach (Big Bend region), Category 3 • Hurricane Debby (2024) – Steinhatchee, Category 1 • Hurricane Helene (2024) – Aucilla River mouth near Perry, Category 4 • Hurricane Milton (2024) – Siesta Key, Category 3

Only one of those hit the area my family has a vacation home in the past 40 years. There was another big one in the 90s. So 2 times in 50 years and both were not catastrophic.

Florida is only the region directly surrounding your vacation home?

Not sure what you mean. The GP listed out a bunch of hurricanes since 2000. Only one of those hit the panhandle in a way that was slightly impactful to my families vacation home(s). 2 storms in 50 years isnt enough to say I wouldn’t live there because of storms.

Insurance costs might scare me away more than the chance of a storm.

Listing all the hurricanes that hit any part of Florida isn't useful for evaluating the real risk faced by a family with a home in Florida. Most hurricanes that hit Florida won't effect most of the homes in Florida. If you just look at the raw number of hurricanes you might think the average Floridian home can't last more than two years without being flattened, but that's not reality.

Personally I'd take 10 feet of snow year round over a single week of Florida's muggy heat. I get that old people like it because they're always cold, but why anybody young lives anywhere in Florida, besides maybe Miami, is completely beyond my comprehension.

> I get that old people like it because they're always cold, but why anybody young lives anywhere in Florida, besides maybe Miami, is completely beyond my comprehension.

To get jobs tending to those (often well-off) old people. It's not for nothing that Florida is a top destination for pharmacy grads.

You'll actually be taking your chance with a couple of major hurricanes every year.

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