In this day and age, hurricanes and meteorlogical events are becoming more and more serious and causing more and more damage.
Growing in up in Florida, I've only ever left for one. That was Hurricane Irma. We loaded my truck with our dog, my cousin, our son and supplies. We loaded my Mommas van with supplies and my Momma. This was the first hurricane with out my Dad, so I think mine and my Momma's mindset was different.
We got on the road approximately 36 hours prior to Hurricane Irma's arrival. We live in Cape Coral, Florida for reference. We drove back roads through Port Charlotte then got on the interstate. At that point there was no turning back. LITERALLY.
We were heading to our place in Tennessee to seek saftey. This was a trip we had all made hundreds of times. It was an 11 hour trip by the back roads. Unfortunately, not this time.
It took us 26 hours to arrive. We rested and then slept through the night. The next day, my husband and I went shopping to get essentials we thought we would need once we returned to our homes. We purchased gas cans and filled them, tarps, bleach, water. That night we pack both the vehicles back up to return.
At this point we had been gone for three days. We had no clue what we had coming!
We loaded up and started out in the morning, as per usual, on the back roads. We were on a four lane highway somewhere in Georgia, NW of Atlanta. My Momma kept saying "We're driving through the storm!", to which we all said that we were not. At one point, we drove through an intersection and the stop lights were parallell to the road. That's when our son, who was 15 started freaking out and saying we had to stop. The wind was throwing our truck around, which was a Ram 1500, and throwing my Mommas van around. So we turned at the next light.
We pulled into an Advanced Auto Parts to determine our next move. As I was talking to my husband, who was driving my Mommas van, the roof of the Auto Parts store started ripping off. Our son, once again, started freaking out.
We got on the road and kept driving. A little while later we needed gas, but had no cell phone service. We ended up at a gas station with many very, very long lines. We got in line and I went in to pay, find out where we were, and what was going on to cause the long lines. I was told we were right outside of Atlanta and in the eye of Hurricane Irma and everyone came out to get gas.
The return trip to our home took us 25 hours.
Upon arrival, after dropping my Momma off, we pulled onto our street and I came to a complete stop. Our house sits on the corner, and as I looked down our street, I asked my husband why our side of the street was wet. We got out and put on our mud boots and started surveying our property, on which every tree up to about 20 were leaning at a 45 degree angle. We did not get far, and stepped deep into water.
Our largest tree had been blown and ripped up our water pipes connecting. us to the street and our water had been running for 3 days!
So today we are facing Hurricane Milton. We have chosen not to leave. We have covered our windows with shutters, stocked water, ice and food and are paying close attention.
It is a personal decision whether you leave or not. You have to go with your gut instinct and follow your intuition. If they tell you that you are in a Mandatory Evacuation Zone, listen! They are the experts, they have some clue as to what is to come.
I am not telling you whether or not you should leave. I just wanted to share our experiences.
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