(CNN) As Hurricane Irma rapidly approaches the southern coast of Florida, it is important to focus some time on how our citizens will handle the survival of what, is now believed, will be a Category 4 storm. In the aftermath of the 2004 hurricane season, I took a look at the more than 100 deaths associated with either Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan or Jeanne, four storms that hit Florida that year. So many of them were initial survivors of the disaster but perished in the recovery phase. There were some who did not follow the evacuation orders and decided to ride out the storm at home and ultimately drowned due to the storm surge. Hurricane Irma presents an even harsher reality as the storm surge may be higher and longer than we have ever dealt with here in Florida.

Source: CNN September 09, 2017 14:42 UTC