Hi Serena,
I lived in Dothan, AL, and thought retiring to the beach was a great idea for me. I looked very closely at one down on Panama City Beach, and I did a lot of research online.
I found the park models are lovely, small, cost considerably more to buy and then place in a park than a regular MH, and fare even worse during a hurricane, or even a severe thunderstorm.
I decided to leave the Gulf after Ivan got me-18 hours in a bathtub with a 11 year old Boxer, not knowing where my son and grandson were, and hearing several 'freight trains' at the same time made the choice a no-brainer.
It took another year, though before I could really leave; Katrina hit west of us on my birthday (29th August), and I was outta there on the fourth of October.
I put that lovely little expensive park model right out of my head when I saw the photos of PC Beach after Ivan, and Biloxi after Katrina.
Evacuating the area you choose should be your second consideration-Ivan and Katrina traffic was insane as far inland as Dothan, and several people died in traffic wreaks evac'ing all three of the big ones-Ivan, Katrina, and Rita. Roads out are few, people were in huge panic...
Plus, as I said above, I spent 18 hours in a Dothan bathtub because the sheriff said we wouldn't need to evacuate in our area, then we were hit with the East side of Ivan; it came up so fast that I did not have time to get out and to a Red Cross shelter or friend's-one minute it was just sprinkling, and we were all praying for the folks south, then WHAM, the tornado warnings started.
I finally yanked the batteries out of my weather radio because it kept going off and then stayed on as tornado after tornado was sighted close to my house and a new warning issued.
BTW, Harry, I was in Melbourne for Andrew, my brother still lives in West Palm. He refused to come north to Melbourne for Andrew, although he did bring his boat up
And I've got to tell you, my cat loves your avatar, he sits on my lap and tries to catch the fly.