Most of Florida and Georgia felt the brunt of Tropical Storm Irma’s 65-mph winds and torrential rains Sept. 11. (©2017 photo courtesy of NOAA)

It’s been a month since Hurricane Irma blew through the our part of the state (near the Gulf of Mexico), so I want to share how we lived through it— before, during and after.

Key Facts About Irma

A hurricane named Irma bears down on us. She looks as though she’ll be here Monday or Tuesday. An even more dangerous storm than Andrew, at 180 MPH. That is hard to imagine. Winds that strong would blow your roof off.

It appears the storm will start at the bottom of the state and move all the way up the middle, sweeping through the entire state like a gigantic broom. God is doing his house cleaning, and nature is doing a hard reset. There needs to be a cleaning of the atmosphere. I just wish it didn’t have to wipe out everything in its path first. But it’s not up to me. I just have to do my part and pray.

Survival depends on preparation.

Proverbs 27:12 (NIV)

12 The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.

The Week Before: Hurricane Preparation

Our preparation began the week before Irma was due to arrive. Here’s a detailed list of what we did.

Fill up car with gas.

Have cash on hand

Load up on water bottles

Buy dry cereal, canned soup, grapes, bananas, bread, lunchmeat, cheese

Pay up all bills for the month

Fill up plastic bottles to line the freezer.

Make up a 9 x 13 pan of energy bars

Make sure propane tanks are full for the grill

Pick up small items out of the yard. (solar lights, bird feeders, hummingbird feeders) Put in garage.

Turn over outdoor tables.

Put chairs up against house.

All plants in pots go up against the house

Clean the water softener

Fill up cooler with water for each of the bathrooms for flushing

Take showers before power goes out

Fill radio with batteries

Gather flashlights, oil lamps, lamp oil

Catch up on all laundry

Make full pitcher of tea

Fill up coffee urn with coffee

Sunday, September 10

Like a mother awaiting birth of her baby, we’ve been preparing and now await the arrival of Hurricane Irma. We’ve done our part, and are now hunkered down as the labor pains begin. The worst of the storm, for us, will be from about 2-6 a.m. on Monday morning. It seems these things always happen during the deep of the night, when you are trying to sleep—but cannot.

Power flickered out about 9 p.m. and would be off for several days. The refrigerator and freezer are lined with frozen bottles of water and will stay shut. The air conditioning has been turned down low for several hours and the house will stay cool—at least for a couple of days.

Irma Hits the Keys

10 a.m. The Keys were hit this morning with winds of up to 130 mph

Up next: Dodging a Bullet

Have you lived through a disaster? How did you survive? Please feel free to comment.

PenelopeBTR2tiny

Penelope Silvers is founder of PhilosBooks.com,
where Independent Authors are introduced to the World!
She is a freelance writer, publisher, and radio host of
Penelope’s Book Chat on Blog Talk Radio.

 

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