STORMS

Terry,
It all depends ... hurricanes are a force of nature and they are unpredictable. We can tell you what parts of the island were not hit hard in previous storms but not what part of the island is safer.

And it depends on your idea of safer, I had a place on the east end of town that was totally protected from the wind but had five foot water marks in the closet from flooding. Then the current place I am in has little to no chance of flooding but the wind will whip around like crazy.

Find a place that you like and work on protecting it from a storm is the best bet. Ask the neighbors how they did in Hurricane Marilyn or Hugo to get an idea.

Good luck.
Pamela.

I concur with Pamela. There were places all over that were devastated in Marilyn. Hurricanes are tricky. The winds are counterclockwise in this hemisphere, however, if it passes to the north of the island you'll get one kind of wallop, if it passes to the south, a different kind. And if it goes right over the top of it... In general, you don't want to be too exposed to wind nor do you want to be exposed to surge or high water.

With regards to direction, they usually come out of the East (USUALLY, not always...remember Wrong-way Lenny?). But, that doesn't mean that the winds will be out of the East. It depends on which part of the 'cane the island is in. What I mean is, storms are cirular, so if it was to be a direct hit, where the eye comes over us, the winds will be out of one direction, primarily, for the first half of the storm, then from the opposite direction for the 2nd half. Does that help?

Last Hurricane fringe to pass this last season was from the SW. Winds here on the South side of the East end. generally breeze by from the SE.

Here is a question that I have, I was told that since there is no continental shelf around the islands that storm surge was not an issue like on the mainland? Is this true or just real estate salesman jargan? I know I would rather be building to resist wind over water!

I have heard that it is not as big a deal as the mainland because the water can flow around an island. However, the building I was in during Marilyn was at the water's edge and had HUGE boulders pushed up under it. I would still prefer to be back from the shore...