How come Fort Myers, Fla., misses the most severe hurricanes?
Actually, Fort Myers, Fla., doesn’t miss the most severe hurricanes. A set of papers on the coastal hurricane threat, compiled by the National Hurricane Center in Miami, shows the Fort Myers area was hit by eight category 3-4-5 storms between 1901 and 1990. Some of these were direct hits and some came very close. In 1910, a category 3 hurricane with winds over 110 mph slammed ashore causing 30 deaths. Hurricane Carol, another category 3 storm, swung up Florida’s west coast in 1954, crossing directly over Fort Myers. Other storms struck close to Fort Myers. Unless you were in the Fort Myers area before 1965 when Betsy smashed through southern Florida, you won’t remember the most severe storms because there simply haven’t been any in recent years. On average, a major hurricane should hit the Fort Myers area every 20 years. In reality, the period between storms could be much more or much less than this average. In the ten-year period 1926-1936, four major storms struck southwest Florida.
