Irma's incursion: My Hurricane Andrew (1992) experience – Jim Palmer

SAN FRANCISCO – Hi Tom. Excellent live production earlier today (Fri 9/8) with Mark Michaelson. I don’t want to be an alarmist, but based on my Hurricane Andrew ’92 experience I can’t emphasize enough for everyone in Florida to heed Mark’s brief comment and seek shelter in concrete/steel reinforced buildings. The property damage from Irma is going to be catastrophic, but people need to remember their first priority is to stay alive. Perhaps you can ask Mark to elaborate in your Saturday FB broadcast. For reference, when Andrew made landfall south of Miami in ’92 as a Cat 5, the rapid drop in atmospheric pressure was so great and rapid that well-sealed energy efficient structures literally blew their roofs off – the difference in interior air pressure and exterior pressure was that significant. This pressure drop in conjunction with hurricane force winds literally enabled Andrew to blow entire neighborhoods of wood framed homes in Homestead into pieces with only their foundations remaining. My wife survived Andrew’s eye in the bathtub of her friend’s roofless apartment while the apartment she evacuated near the coast farther north was basically unscathed. Keep up the great work. –Cogent advice from our Facebook and sailing friend Jim Palmer, in a message after this morning's live show with Mark. Thanks, Jim, for sending along the hurricane category graphic.

Facebook and sailing friend, and author of the foregoing, Jim Palmer (USA, Newport Beach, right) with his son Kevin. Photo courtesy of Jim's Facebook page.