Welcome to Polk County Professional Firefighters
Hurricane Season 2004
Polk County lies in the heart of South Central Florida, approximately 60 miles east of the Gulf of Mexico and 85 miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. In 2004 when Hurricane Charley roared inland from the Gulf of Mexico onto the Florida Peninsula on the evening of August 13, 2004, high winds inflicted damage to trees and man-made structures within a 50-mile radius of the hurricane’s eye. At landfall, Hurricane Charley was a Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds of 140 mph near the eye. Three weeks later, over the Labor Day weekend, Hurricane Frances crossed through the state from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. Polk County again took the brunt of this storm with the eye passing within 13 miles. Peak wind speeds were again over 100 mph and rainfall was measured to be over 7 inches on the day of the storm. A third hurricane, Jeanne, entered Polk County on September 26, packing wind gusts greater than 90 mph and bringing further national attention to the county for its meteorological bad luck.
QUICK LINK
News
• Radar: Current Storms | Wide View | Bay Area
• Live Track | Weather Radio
Are you ready for a Hurricane? Go here to see our comprehensive hurricane preparedness checklist. While you are there you can also print it out.
Follow the path of a storm with a printable tracking map courtesy of TBO.com
A Hurricane Overview
What Is a Hurricane?
A hurricane is a powerful tropical storm that measures several hundred miles in diameter. Hurricanes have two main parts. The first is the eye of the hurricane, which is a calm area in the center of the storm. Usually, the eye of a hurricane measures about 20 miles in diameter, and has very few clouds. The second part is the wall of clouds that surrounds the calm eye. This is where the hurricane's strongest winds and heaviest rain occur.
How Hurricanes Form
Hurricanes need warm tropical oceans, moisture and light winds above them. If the right conditions last long enough, a hurricane can produce violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains and floods. Hurricanes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an "eye." Hurricanes have winds of at least 74 miles per hour. There are on average six Atlantic hurricanes each year; over a three-year period, approximately five hurricanes strike the United States coastline from Texas to Maine.
Tropical Depression
A tropical depression is an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 38 mph.
Tropical Storm
A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of 39-73 mph.
When a Hurricane Strikes
When hurricanes move onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and heavy waves can damage buildings, trees and cars. The heavy waves are called a storm surge. Storm surge is very dangerous and a major reason why you MUST stay away from the ocean during a hurricane warning or hurricane.
Safe Rooms
Every year, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe windstorms rip through hundreds of towns and cities across the United States, injuring and killing people and causing millions of dollars in property damage.
You can protect your family from injury caused by the high winds and flying debris of a windstorm by constructing or installing a safe room in your home.
A safe room is different from the other rooms in your home because it has been specially designed and tested to withstand wind speeds of up to 250 miles per hour and the impact of a 15 pound 2 by 4 flying at a speed of 100 miles per hour.
Typically, the safe room should be located in a central, interior, ground-floor area of the home for additional protection as well as accessibility. The basement of a home can also be used as a location for a safe room.
A safe room can be incorporated into the construction of a new home, or it can be retrofitted into an existing home. The safe room can function year-round as a usable area, such as a bathroom, closet or utility room.
Safe rooms can be constructed out of reinforced concrete, reinforced concrete masonry or combinations of wood frame and steel sheathing or concrete masonry infill.
Safe rooms can also be manufactured, assembled and installed on site.
Here are some things to consider when constructing or installing a safe room:
- Safe rooms must be structurally isolated from the main structure of your home.
- Safe rooms must be securely anchored to the foundation.
- Safe rooms installed in or over a crawl space must have a separate foundation.
- Safe rooms must have adequate ventilation.
- All components of safe rooms, including walls, ceilings, and door assemblies, must be designed and tested to resist the specified wind forces and prevent perforation by windborne debris.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has ready-to-use plans for homeowners to build a shelter in an existing house or in a new house.