As realtors and as Floridians, we've heard a lot of people give a lot of reasons for being hesitant about moving to The Sunshine State. Three that come up fairly regularly are that we have hurricanes, sinkholes, and alligators.
And it's true. We do. But we roundly reject the notion that these are valid reasons to rule out a move to Florida—hands-down one of the greatest retirement and vacation home locations anywhere in the US or the world.
What About the Hurricanes?
A lot of people outside Florida have this perception that the state gets decimated by hurricanes once or twice every year. We don't mean to minimize the danger and destruction and heartache they can and do cause, because it's all very real, but the situation isn't quite what many people think it to be.
As of this writing, in mid-October 2015, it's been 10 years since a hurricane made landfall in Florida. Yep, you read that right. The last one was Wilma, which touched down in the state on October 24, 2005. Admittedly, this current stretch is abnormally long, but the fact is that hurricanes aren't the ever-present torment many believe them to be.
Also, Central Florida is safer from hurricanes than the rest of the state. The coasts, the southern tip, and the panhandle are most often hit. Consider that in its 45-year history, Disney World has only closed twice due to hurricanes, in 2004 and 2005, at a highly unusual, devastating time for hurricane activity here.
Some people live with earthquakes. Some people live with blizzards. Midwesterners deal with many horrendous tornadoes. Some people have monsoon season, others droughts. There's something to worry about pretty much everywhere. And, unlike with tornadoes and some other natural disasters, you at least get a relatively good heads-up about oncoming hurricanes.
What About the Sinkholes?
While it's certainly not the only state affected by sinkholes, Florida does have more than any other in the country. They form because of the porous carbonate rocks underlying much of the peninsula, which can dissolve. If this occurs to the point that the clay and dirt above it no longer have adequate support, they collapse.
Our response is mostly anecdotal... none of us here at Central Florida 55 Plus Realtors have ever been personally affected by a sinkhole, nor do we know anyone who has. They're out there, but like we said above talking about hurricanes, there's always something.
If you just can't shake the fear of sinkholes, just stay out of Hernando, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties in the Tampa Bay area; that's where two-thirds of all the state's sinkhole damage claims come from, according to reports filed with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
What About the Alligators?
This is one of the more amusing concerns from non-Floridians. On the rare occasions when we Floridians are able to venture out because the hurricanes have died down, if we're not getting swallowed by a sinkhole, we're trying not to get swallowed by gators, right?
That's not a particularly accurate picture of life here.
We do have a lot of gators—about 1.3 million. Sure, you hear about alligators ending up in people's yards and lounging in their swimming pools, especially in more rural areas. And yes, they are something to be aware of when enjoying the state's many beautiful lakes. And yes, everyone in Florida (and the rest of the South) should have a healthy respect for the potential danger.
Yet with all those big scary reptiles roaming around, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, your chances of being attacked by an alligator in Florida are 1 in 24 million. There have been 22 confirmed fatal alligator attacks in the last 67 years in Florida. More people than that are killed by dog attacks each year in the US. Then another 27,000 people have reconstructive surgery annually in the US to repair damage from dog bites, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Are you also scared to move anywhere you'll encounter dogs? Because that's much more rational.
