This is, perhaps, the best commentary so far. If you have not been thru a hurricane then I you dont know the "little" things that will get in the way of a finely tuned plan.
Most finely tuned plans dont go past the day after the hurricane. While preparing FOR is important, AFTER can be equally important. I had not thought of AFTER until Harvey. Because of a fortunate last minute change of plans I became very aware that AFTER could have cost my wifes life.
Wifey B: I toss out a few scenarios that have no right answers but show the issues often faced.
#1-Irma developing and potentially approaching South Florida. We've been in TX helping with post-Harvey work, must make a stop in Charlotte as well to take a pregnant teen to an orphanage there. Now, safely in Charlotte, do we fly home where house, boats, friends, family and businesses are or stay safely in Charlotte? We flew home. Knowing how long it might be post hurricane before we could get there was a strong factor in our decision.
#2-Live in Texas, have a boat in the Bahamas. We find out a tropical storm or small hurricane is headed north of Bahamas to East Coast of FL. Choices are to fly there and move the boat or arrange for yard in Bahamas to put boat on land. Storm intensifies to CAT 2 or 3 and now forecast to hit Bahamas where boat is. Do we fly in and move boat and, if so, where do we move it? Do we risk storm changes and where we move it turns out worse or risk not being able to get out of Bahamas? Or do we stay safely where we are?
#3-Live in South Florida as Irma approaches. Single mom with one 4 year old daughter. No other family. No experience with hurricanes and not in evacuation zone. Have $32 cash and $127 in bank account, no credit cards, and car only has 1/4 tank of gas. No family. I keep seeing on television warnings to evacuate before it's too late. In fear I decide to head north after waiting in line to get gas. After breakfast and lunch and filling a second time with gas, I'm even more fearful of Orlando and then of Jacksonville and I keep going. One last drive through for dinner and I arrive in Savannah around midnight with the $32 cash still and $22 in my bank account and down to perhaps a gallon of gas left. By now I'm having a severe panic attack in hearing the storm may be headed to Savannah. Exhausted, broke, and out of gas, I get directions to a shelter. Near it I park in a one hour zone and run in with my daughter. Later I don't even remember how I found it or where I parked. Fortunately, my three year old does as somehow as terrified as I was, I remained calm enough not to scare her, although she was worried about me. I am able to charge my cell phone there. I get a call after the storm passes beyond South Florida. I hand the phone to a lady working at the shelter who tells whoever is calling that I'm in pretty bad shape, have barely slept any and have my daughter, who is doing fine with me. After a while, she's told someone will be coming for me and given their number to follow up. She's asked to just keep me safely there. A car load of people arrive late that afternoon, none of whom I've ever met. They are friends of the people who run the company I work for. Two of them find my car and are going to drive it to Fort Lauderdale. Others take me and my daughter to a fancy hotel and let us shower and order room service. Then they load us into their SUV and take us to their home in FLL. I've been too fearful to take my sleep medication but they finally get me to on the drive. My daughter tells them how worried she is about me and fills them in. They take me to a hospital the following morning and take care of my daughter while I'm there as the doctors find out the other underlying causes of my sleep problems and my panic since the only doctors I'd been seeing were at a free clinic. Oh, my apartment wasn't touched by Irma and most people stayed there. However, it was broken into my thieves while I was gone and my television and a few other things taken. I got the physical medical help and the mental help I needed, disability leave from my employer with pay, moved into a safer apartment, and the older couple who my daughter stayed with while I was in the hospital became her "grandparents." All ended well, but it was terrorizing and I'll never go through another hurricane alone. It turns out my daughter and I were safe the whole time, but would have been at home also. The combination of my own personal demons and what I kept hearing from television reporters and the Governor put me through terror and panic and somehow with the strength of my daughter, the kind, caring people in the shelter, my employer, and the kind strangers I made it and I'm now doing well and my daughter even has incredible grandparents she never had before. Oh, I moved in with a roommate, a girl I worked with. Along the way, we fell in love with her and she and my daughter love each other and she became a wonderful second mom to my daughter.
Everyone faces different situations. It's not just the actual conditions but it's partly us, our background and history, our family, our other responsibilities. Every storm is different. The above stories are all true stories. I'm sure half the people on here has one or more hurricane stories and no two of those are the same. One person avoids them. One takes them casually. One panics. One frantically tries to take action. One calmly handles what they can. One is very concerned about their property. One values only lives.
Every hurricane takes a huge human toll, not just on those who lose their lives or just on their friends and families. It's everyone who lives through one or even through the threat of one. Before 2017, I had no experience with hurricanes. Now, I've been during post hurricane clean up to areas after Harvey, Irma, and Florence. I've followed and been involved from a distance after Maria, Michael and Dorian. I know those who have been through dozens and still live where they have and then I know the couple who moved from Chicago to Sarasota to retire, were visited by Irma, a For Sale sign immediately went up on their home, and they now are happily retired in Nashville.
To all those who think they know how they'd react, you don't. I didn't. I still don't know how I'd handle it if I was alone, but I am always comforted by my hubby and our extended family. I don't know how I would if I lived elsewhere or if my home was less sturdy. I don't know how if I lived in the Bahamas. I only think I know, but do I really, about the next one.
didn't take into account the current setting me southwards and ended up way off course!
We all need a tune up once in a while.
