Hurricane Irma was the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded and we lived through it. Read about our experience living through Hurricane Irma.
Hurricane Irma
Having lived in South Florida for most of my adult life, I am well aware of the challenges preparing for a major hurricane may pose, not to mention lived through Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Several of these challenges may include, acquiring gasoline for all of our vehicles and protecting our dwelling. Then, acquiring items such as flashlights, batteries, etc., and the most important of all, is water and food, while lastly, there is crucial entertainment while and during the hurricane for the little ones.
This past September, when we learned that Hurricane Irma was making it’s way to our area, the first item on my agenda was fueling all vehicles with gasoline, and some extra gallons in the appropriate containers, to help keep us powered up our back up generator in case we lost power. Then, securing all window shutters. Moving along, bring in furniture and decorations items indoors. Now that my kids are older, I delegated with them to assist in conducting a walk sweep in the front and rear areas of our home to remove small and any objects that may become projectiles during one-hundred mile-an-hour winds. The last part of this section was, the items that could not be brought indoors, assure they are tied and secured firmly. As you can see from the image below, not all of our neighbors heeded the warnings and continued to illegally dump possible projectiles in our immediate and surrounding areas of our neighborhood.
The next step was going to the supermarket. As soon as the initial warnings of Hurricane Irma were published on several social media platforms, I rushed to the supermarket to acquire all pertaining items as well as extra foods to avoid the long lines later. Thankfully, I took this initiative instantly as soon as we were made aware because already, by mid-week all supermarkets and bulk super stores had run out of essential supplies.
Finally, Hurricane Irma made it to Florida in the morning hours of September 10. During this time and thanks to social media, we stayed in contact with family. We made sure that prior the hurricane, to charge all backup chargers, all laptops, phones and tablets so the kids can have something to do during the hurricane. Meanwhile the passing of the hurricane, the kids were playing on their electronic devices, and then drawing to pass the time.
Photo courtesy, U.S National Weather Service.
Thank God, our home is in good conditions and sustained minimal damage. Some roof shingles were torn off, some internal water leakage as well, and our rear fence fell over. The clean up post Hurricane Irma has been slow but timely. The most important aspect of these types of natural disasters, is to prepare and protect what you can, and to stay safe.
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How did you endure Hurricane Irma this past September 2017? I would like to hear your experiences and please leave me comments in the comment section below.