In the early years, 60s, early to mid 70s Hurricane Season was way different.

There wasn't the media hype, we had 3 major TV channels, none of which broadcasted 24hrs. some time after the news and the late show they went off the air for the night, it was just the 'ant races' after that.

There were many things we did if it appeared a storm may hit close by.

The big things were putting tape on the windows and filling the bathtub with water.

We lived on the beach, starting when I was 4 years old.
Someone inland would be hosting a 'Hurricane Party', what the hell happened to Hurricane Parties??, nobody has them anymore.

Mom and Dad would get us in the car, we'd go inland and join a dozen other families at someone's home and our parents would drink all night. Us younger kids just made the best of it and hung out with the other kids.

There was no all night TV drama showing blow by blow every tree that might fall over or every car some idiot left where it'd flood.

Everybody would just get up in the morning, return to their residences and start cleaning up and doing needed repairs.

As we progressed into our teens we no longer were required to tag along with mom and dad to thier friends Parties.

We'd be left at home with a list of dos and don'ts.

In short the rules were pretty much, if it gets bad stay in the house.

We looked forward to this, it was fun, we'd have huge waves which is rare along Florida's gulf coast.

Being well trained by our parents, we had Parties of our own.
All the beach kids would get together at whomever home had the most available booze and we had a blast.

We'd take our surf boards and canoes out on the beach and ride those big waves, it was great!

We'd go out at the peak of the storm and watch all the crap people failed to secure blow away. Then came the eerie dead calm as the eye of the Hurricane passed over us. It wouldn't go long and the winds would be back and everything would start blowing around again.

I think kids were smarter back then, you had to know where not to stand while out in those winds. It doesn't take all that much to realize the neighbors lawn chairs were sure to come blowing by and obviously stay clear of any tree that might fall.

If the water got high enough to come in the house, you'd go upstairs, duh.

I don't recall one injury, ever, with my acquaintances.
But we'd be somewhat inebriated so we had that going for us.

The day after the storm they'd bring bulldozers down the roads and push the sand and fallen trees away and residents would start the cleanup, dry out process.

It wasn't a big deal, it was life on the beach.

I can't recall a single home along the beach that didn't have bulging baseboards, sagging cabinet bottoms and maybe some peeling paint on the lower walls from previous storm water damage covered up by multiple layers of thick paint.

It's crazy today how FEMA comes rushing in shelling out millions of dollars to repair such damage just so it can get all f'ed up in the next storm..

As we progressed into out later teens we'd get Hurricane related jobs, like taking larger boats offshore to ride out these storms.
They couldn't leave these boats tied to their docks and seawalls or they'd be beaten to death by the winds and waves.

Those jobs also required a lot of booze, it didn't take all that much effort to get a 40 footer a couple miles offshore and point it into the wind and keep it jogging along there.

The news media has taken all the fun out of Hurricanes and replaced it with dramatic gloom and doom.

History reveals there use to be more hurricane related injuries and deaths during the times I mention, but still they were few.

I never took a direct hit from a Hurricane that was strong enough to level houses, but I evaded a few by less than a 1/4 mile.

I'm sure those historic recorded deaths were the results of the antics I've described here, it's exactly what was going on.

It sure was fun!