So Hurricane Irma is brewing. As of now, it’s somewhere along the Caribbean and it’s heading this way. Hurricane Harvey was a big disaster for a lot of people. Not was, is. And I think it’s definitely instilled more fear into us Florida folks. Especially with this new Hurricane heading this way…. and it’s estimated that the tropical storm that’s floating out at sea now is actually going to become a third hurricane by tonight. They don’t call it hurricane season for nothing. This current storm (Irma) is one of the strongest ones to date. I mean, don’t quote me on that, but I know that it’s so strong that it’s pushing beyond the cat 5 rating (the highest one possible) and even showing up on earthquake radars. That is pretty crazy to me.

I’m not sure how I feel or where I stand on the situation.

I’m not allowing myself to be scared. And I’m not allowing myself to be stressed. Thais for sure.

I mean, not yet anyway. The reality is that if it comes, it comes. (Remember: is this useful?)  But I’m somewhere in this in between area of: cleaning out my cabinets. I haven’t purchased canned products in months… and I don’t want to buy more when we’re leaving in one months time.  And then on the other side: I don’t want to be left shit out of luck after a hurricane thinking, “man, that was stupid for me to not buy food” You know?

Part of me wishes we had already left for Guatemala. But I know that if the storm did come and we were away, then we’d have to make our way back right here anyway to deal with any repairs.

I get why people are fleeing— especially people in Miami– and especially people in Miami Beach who have flooding even with a random Tuesday rainstorm. Miami is truly sinking into the sea. But I don’t know, for us, (and I’m pretty sure this is 100% correct for Alex too) we’re the type of people who rather just stay and deal with it. Ride it out and do the clean up as it happens. If it happens. Because again, it might not even happen.

We have candles stocked up from the last hurricane (that never hit us). And we have our water filter— that filters EVERYTHING. (read about it here, not sponsored, just love it) So really, other than some food, I think and hope we should be good.

Right now we’re just sitting ducks, waiting to see what happens. They’ve evacuated parts of Florida. But not up here, yet. Alex’s work (more east/on the water) had evacuated last time– so we’re waiting to see if that happens this time. Alex did bring home flowers (SO MANY FLOWERS) since they canceled a HUGE floral event at his work that was scheduled for this weekend. Fun flower arranging in my future? Maybe. Or maybe a fun allergy attack when we’re stuck inside with closed windows? haha. Funny thing is we went through our kitchen again this week to minimize before the move and I moved out maybe 5 flower vases– luckily their still sitting in the back since we haven’t had a chance to make it to goodwill yet.

I cope with stress and hard time with laughter or jokes. Often bad jokes. (My step mom says it, but she’s right: I am my father’s daughter). And my poor mother has to deal with my bad humor when she’s stressed out, worrying about her children from a distance. She asks what happens if we flood and we can’t leave the house for days and I tell her I’ll ladle in water into the filter through the window. And she has to deal with me. I just don’t want to take it too seriously. But I did this when I first got sick too. Denial. I told myself I was fine, better than I was, and I wasn’t. It caught up to me.

A hopeless optimistic. But I don’t want to change. Being a hopeless optimistic has totally stung me in the butt before– but now, I’m grateful for it. I’ll deal with the stress when it comes, and in my own way.

To be completely honest, my biggest fears and concerns are with all the islands that the storm is hitting now and soon. Islands that may not have the sturdy infrastructures we have or the easily accessible resources we have. I don’t know man, it’s all crazy. But all I (we) can do is hope for the best.

If you guys are anywhere in the path of this new hurricane and especially if you’re in Texas, dealing with the aftermath of Harvey, I hope you’re safe. Please be safe. And worry just enough, but not too much. Stress is bad for the body.

In the meantime, I’ll be working on my moving things and hoping to get a lot of posts done for you guys. I have a recipe I’m working on in drafts! Want to see anything in particular? Just ask! I think I might do a *question + answer* live Insta-story too– you know, to follow-up on conquering my fears 😉

Cheers friends. Wherever you are, whatever is happening, I hope you’re safe.

6 Comments

  1. I read this post yesterday and it’s been popping up on my mind making me a little worried. I lived through hurricane Sandy in 2012 after it destroyed my Brooklyn neighborhood. I led the relief work there, and will have the trauma for many years from what my neighbors and I lived through. Please don’t under estimate these storms, for us the water came from underneath the buildings, quietly and calmly rose up two stories high, it wasn’t dramatic or scary, just water everywhere but it destroyed lives. I could go on and on with advice but, be prepared to help vulnerable in your neighborhood who also stayed, we found 210 homebound people without running water or electric up to two weeks after the storm. There were no public services in Brooklyn, no one came for 14 days to find those 210 people or help (some almost died) and this was in one of the biggest cities in the US. Big advice, take photos of your ENTIRE home, everything you have in storage and anything you own before the storm particularly anything damp that insurance could claim was damaged before the storm (and try not to pay you for) and then post storm photos right away if you get any damage as FEMA requires them to claim for any money with them, also have copies of ALL your paperwork on a drive or your phone if possible, again FEMA can be awful to deal with. If you can get flashlights, a generator, and basic medical supplies it would be good just-in-case. When things like this happen it’s not about just you, it’s about the people around you more vulnerable (elderly, mentally ill, single parent families etc) that will need help. I was just listening to the news and it said 911 won’t be responding if the winds go above 45 mph in Florida FYI. Just be safe okay? There’s a reason they are call disasters and I didn’t understand until I lived through one myself. Big hugs. BE SAFE!

  2. Hi Drea,

    I live in Ozona, close to the Tampa/Palm Harbor area of Florida. I live on a street that’s right by the water. My youngest daughter and I are just going to sit tight and see what happens. We feel fairly prepared. I actually made sure to buy the medications we might need, while everyone else was buying water. I feel like medications are seriously underrated in an emergency situation.

    We bought a few canned foods but used our water filtration system, to fill up water bottles and pitchers instead of purchasing them. We are going to ride it out, pray, and if things get bad, we can go to my mom’s place nearby. Their living area is on the entire second story of their house.

    Anyway, like you, I’m cautious, but don’t let the fear and stress consume me. So, I guess you can say I’m a hopeful optimist too. I’ve lived in Florida just over twenty years, so I’ve seen a lot of tropical storms and hurricanes. I have faith we’ll all get through it but am praying for everyone’s safety.

    ~Laurali Star

    • Andrea

      alex and i were JUST saying this! we don’t understand why more people aren’t just filling up bottles at home instead of freaking out about bottled water. i mean sure, stock up on bottles too- but you save money and store stress by filling up at home. i’ve been in and it of florida my whole life— but my family has been in more of the bad storms — and i was luckily away for all of them. gotta hope for the best and know that this is expected when you live in this location. good luck!! stay safe !

  3. We are from the Houston area. We were very lucky that we didn’t flood at all. I mean we got rain but the run off just went to our estuary and ponds for rain collection. Although we have felt some guilt about this we are of course happy that we didn’t have to evacuate with two kids in tow. We are like you-we prepared what we could and we were waiting. Staying in your home for 3 days can be incredibly boring. I know I’d take that over being evacuated but I’m just letting you know so you can better prepare for the boredom if you just need to sit tight and wait till road ways are more clear.

    Another difference to Houston is that we are HUGE and trying to get millions of people to evacuate would have been more devastating. I do wish they would have cautioned people about power lines/electrical sockets in water more. We had at least 8 people that I read about die from getting electrocuted by stepping into water with an open line.

    Also that if you see standing water even a little bit don’t go into it even if you are in your car. Water is powerful.

    I’m utterly devastated for our communities of Houston. I’m so thankful for all the ordinary people and military/police/fireman/etc who risked their lives for the people around them. I’m in awe of that spirit.

    • Andrea

      we plan on a lot of homeschool and crafts this week (like last times hurricane). we also just ran to barnes and nobles to buy a book each.

      i’m glad you guys weren’t in a flood zone. that would be hard to evacuate with kiddos. they’re evacuating miami beach right now, but that’s only like, 70,000 people (still a lot!!) but i can imagine the panic if people did it in a bigger city. we’re not a huge one.

      gosh i don’t know. just a lot of craziness. and thank you for the reminder of the water + power lines note. i feel like i have to be reminded of that every time. i always forget!

      <3