Its a great question. Most people, I am sure would speculate that it wasn't even close.
By a wide margin it is assumed that most would believe the Southwest Florida coastal town of Naples, Florida has a much better chance of being in harm’s way of a tropical hurricane. After all, Naples enjoys a subtropical climate, where New York obviously enjoys a much different climate. Lets look at at the data. In the 153 years since hurricanes in Florida have been tracked,a hurricane of at least a Category 1 has brushed Naples on average every 7.7 years. There has never been a direct hit on the coastal beachfront city. The closest was Hurricane Donna in 1960. Donna came ashore at Everglades City, 36 miles from Naples.
More recent history is very telling. The last time a hurricane effected Naples was Hurricane Wilma in 2005. That is eleven years since a hurricane landed within hundreds of miles. Since 2005 New York and vicinity has been host to 8 hurricane events. These storms bringing high winds and storm surge hit close enough to New York to cause severe flooding, coastal erosion and damage, downed trees, millions of dollars in damage to buildings and infrastructure, and loss of life (53 New York deaths were attributed to Hurricane Sandy). Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, caused widespread damage and fatalities over a number of states, including New York and New Jersey, losing $62 billion of damage to New York and surrounding areas. There was flooding in the New York City Subway system, road tunnels entering Manhattan, and many suburban communities. Hospitals had to evacuated, thousands of homes and approximately 250,000 vehicles were destroyed. Large parts of the city lost electricity for several days, and voice and data communication was disrupted in lower Manhattan.
Naples’ distinctive location at the southern tip of Southwest Florida makes it difficult for hurricanes to form a direct hit. The majority of hurricanes travel up the east coast of Florida, then up through the Atlantic states. Storms that enter the Gulf of Mexico, would have to make a very sharp and extreme right-hand turn to land within Naples’ shores. The storms continue north heading for other Gulf states (Louisiana, Texas, etc.) and other Florida locations.
Nova Homes of South Florida builds every one of their custom homes to meet the highest standards required for any storm. The comfort and safety of their homeowners is paramount to the building philosophy of Nova Homes. For more information please call 239.307.6116 or visit www.novahomesbuilder.com.