Tuesday, 5 September 2017

Hurricane Prep

Posted By: imamsahara 14:06:00 Leave a Reply

St Johns River from river walk on the south side

So, we take the bad with the good. Isn't that what they say we have to do? This certainly applies when moving to a new place.

Yesterday Beloved and I spent part of the Labor Day holiday checking out the south side river walk in downtown Jacksonville. We visited the north side a couple of weeks ago and now it was time to complete that investigation.

We parked the car in the museum parking lot and made a very short stroll over to the water's edge, just in time to see three (3)!!! dolphins jump out of the water, over there in the distance. That was a thrill, to be sure. So that's some of the good part of living here.

Of course, some of the not-so-good is that later in the day, our governor declared Florida to be in a state of emergency due to the approach of Hurricane Irma. I assume this woman (I refuse to call her a 'lady' since she has destructive tendencies) seeks to not be outdone by her family member, Harvey.

The local media has been talking about hurricane prep for several weeks already because "'tis the season'" and that's what responsible Floridians do, just like visiting the dentist regularly and changing furnace filters.

Wait. I don't think we have a furnace here. We have air conditioning and heat pumps. But still, we have filters to change.

Anyway, the gal on TV said we should always have storm prep in mind and that way it's not such a panic when a hurricane threatens.

That's my long-winded way of saying we already had a good supply of water per the recommendations. But since we are kinda new at this, yes, "panic" definitely crossed my mind when the newscaster said now is the time to gather supplies.

Beloved and I were each sitting in our recliners, just turning that over in our minds. I wanted to rush out immediately to get more water but I felt a little silly. I do tend to be impulsive and over-the-top, so my judgment might be flakey. Then Beloved asked my opinion. At first we decided we would wait until the next day. The storm's not supposed to get to our area until the weekend, after all. But after a short discussion, we decided we would make a run up to Publix, in spite of the fact that Beloved had already put on his jammies for the evening.

Publix

I have to admit that although the water shelves were almost completely empty, there was a certain smugness in my private thoughts that we had made the right decision to go to the store sooner rather than later.

It was a shocking sight. I mean, we've seen this sort of thing on TV for years from the comfort and safety of our home in Colorado. But now it was us standing in front of an empty shelf!

Beloved picked up one of the remaining packages of bottled water and we left. In the car heading home, he asked me if I wanted anything else, since it looked like the rush had begun and would only get worse.

Well, yes, there was something else. I wanted a pair of boots. I donated my snow boots before we left Colorado, and they wouldn't have been appropriate for flood waters anyway. I kind of hoped to get something bright and cutesy to wear if we get inundated with water and have to get out in it for some reason.

my hurricane boots

But we were headed for Walmart, so I knew my chances of finding something cute (and in my size) were limited. I was right. They had very few truly useful boots for ladies and even less of that in my size. "This is a time of emergency," I told myself. Don't be picky. Buy them and get yourself home. By the way, the picture shows how I found them. They are what you might call, "self-storing."

Walmart

Just because this is kinda new to us, we walked back to the water aisle of Walmart and saw that they, too, were quickly getting depleted.

Since that time, Surfer Girl has told me she can't find more water in her area, and my local Face Book friend Pat says her Walmart is completely out.

I struck up conversations with people in line at the registers at both stores and was again confirmed, that yes, when the TV tells you to get ready, you better drop what you're doing and get to it! The storm may still be days away, but the crowds will hit the stores long before that. We were also told to avoid the home improvement stores unless we really need something they have.

With all the horrific scenes from Hurricane Harvey in Houston, I have imagined the worst here at my house....hence the boots.

trees behind our house

Beloved has a different apprehension. It's the pines behind our house. We have a small back yard, so if any of these tall boys decide to fall over, we could end up with a deluge on the second floor instead of (or in addition to) the main floor.

taking pictures for insurance purposes

With all of that said, we are doing pretty well. We have conversed at length about all the possibilities that come to mind, made a plan of action, and notified our family. Interestingly enough, we have 15 family members beside just the two of us, who are also preparing for this hurricane. Unless the flooding is of biblical proportions (and yes, it was in Houston), we plan to stay here. We do not live in an area prone to flooding (according to our county authorities).

One more thing we are observing is that non-stop TV coverage of this storm will demoralize a person very quickly. We watch the weather reports and related stories long enough to get the essential message. Then when they begin to repeat it, we turn it off or switch to a completely unrelated channel.

One must work to maintain a level head in this atmosphere. Praise music has been a panacea for me, both lifting and calming my spirit.