Wednesday 6 September 2017

What Are You Doing?

Posted By: imamsahara 18:35:00 Leave a Reply

mangroves on shore of the St Johns River

"What are you doing?" We don't even have to say, "What are you going to do?" just, "What are you doing?" People around here know we are asking what they plan to do about the approach of Hurricane Irma. I've learned it makes a great ice breaker with people I don't even know. I have asked my family, neighbors, people at church, and people standing in line with me at the grocery store. Everybody has something to say about it.

Evacuation zone map

Our local government has issued a map of the evacuation zones. The areas in red were told this evening to start leaving for Hurricane Irma that is expected to hit Jacksonville very late on Sunday night or on Monday. Beloved and I live in a white area, which means we don't even have an evacuation zone. That means flooding for us is unlikely (although we know anything can happen. This is based on previous storm activity).

Magnolia Castle

Our greater concern is the wind in the tall pines behind our house. We have been advised to take that under consideration as we decide to remain or leave. Admittedly, this does give us pause but with the information we have right now, we have decided to not evacuate.

Our church

Our church announced this evening there will be no services or activities this next Sunday due to the storm. Many of the membership are choosing to leave town. The rest have been encouraged to seek safe shelter and to be of help to others as we see the needs.

I have to say I'm relieved to know this. I will be ready to "hunker down" when it gets that close to the storm's arrival.

If we were to evacuate, our first obstacle (besides the heavy traffic itself) would be crossing this bridge: yes, I know the odd size of this photo spills over into the right column, but I want my readers to see just how big the bridge is.

Beckman Bridge

Over three miles long, this is not something I want to traverse as a hurricane is approaching!

I want to share with you a sampling of the responses I've received when asking people "What are you doing?"

Person #1 "Pay attention; take seriously what they are telling you."

Person #2 "No hurricane ever did what it was predicted to do 5 FULL DAYS BEFORE IT HIT. And for all my friends that couldn't find water in a store, you could start filling jugs for the next 4 days from your sink and you'll have more than that last greedy guy at Publix. Be smart, be safe, don't be afraid."

Person #3 "I'm so excited I get a 4-day weekend and don't have to go to school! I'm going to dig a hole under my house and watch the storm from there!"

Person #4 "If the Hurricane is a level 3 or more, we are evacuating."

Person #5 "We will decide tonight."

Person #6 "We aren't sure yet, but if they tell us to evacuate, we're leaving."

Person #7 "I would stay, but I have children and need to evacuate because of them."

Person #8 "You're not in an area with big flood concerns but the wind can topple trees onto your house. Gotta think about that. I have a friend who ran back into his house for something and while inside, a tree fell onto the house. He got out okay but they couldn't occupy their house for 9 months after that."

Person #9 "My house doesn't have an 'evacuation zone' because I live in a totally planned community where all the trees were removed before the houses were built. The houses were constructed to withstand hurricanes for 100 years and the drainage system was designed with flooding in mind."

Person #10 "We've got reservations in Georgia."

Person #11 "We're evacuating to South Carolina."

Person #12 "We're evacuating to Alabama."

Person #13 "We are going to do what we always do which is to wait patiently to see what the storm will do. We've seen lots of storms over the years come charging this way and then peter out or change course, so we are just waiting to see how the matter will play out."

Person #14 "We're getting on I-10 and going west, maybe to Alabama or something."

Person #15 "My family lives at the beach. We have a concrete block wall in our garage, so we feel safe there. My family will come to my house."

Person #16 "Know which shelter you can go to. It is safer at a shelter than in your home."

Person #17 "Know your evacuation zone."

Person #18 "If the storm is still out in the water, Jacksonville is in greater danger. If it's on land, we are better off."

When it comes right down to it, aside from mandatory evacuations, this is a very personal decision with probably no hard-and-fast right answers. We should judge no one for the choices they make about evacuations.

The mayor of our city has asked us all to pray that "the storm will just fall apart." After that, please pray for wisdom in the coming days.