The(re's) a First Time for Everything...Even a Hurricane
Happy Offseason, here, have yourself a hurricane!
No rest for the weary...that's how it goes, right?
As of today (Wednesday) at 11PM, the hurricane's path is headed directly at us. Not as a Category 3 like the above photo suggests, but as a Category 4. My heart. We're so in need of rest, but for now, we have to act. We'll fight on under the protection and favor of the Lord, regardless of how tired we all are. And so, we set out yesterday for some preparation.
We arrived to Home Depot at 1:30ish looking for a cooler and a water container among other things. Thankfully, we had already purchased flashlights from the storm scare a month ago...but others...not so lucky.
House supplies. Check!
Water supplies. Check!
Food supplies. Check!
Palms trimmed. Check!
Hong Kong Orchid trimmed. Check!
Garage cleaned. Check!
Car picked up from the auto body shop. Check!
Both cars parked in the garage (with 8 inches to spare). Check!
Helping neighbors install shutters. Check!
And a last farewell to "normal" dinners for probably at least a week. Check!
We've decided to stay and ride out the storm. Our house was built in 2011 with all the updated standard requirements of new builds in South Florida. We have upgraded hurricane shutters and a gigantic electric door (looks and operates similar to a garage door) that encloses all our outside doors. We've removed as much potential debris as possible, cut back the trees from the house and pool screen, and secured everything we can think of. We've got 16 gallons of water stored up and plenty of food. We plan on grilling when we're without electricity if we choose to stay home once the storm passes. We've finished all our laundry, prepared some food, and tidied up a bit. To say that I'm terrified is about as accurate as it gets, but Adam - and the rest of our neighborhood - is confident that what we have here is sturdy to withstand the wind and rain and whatever else is headed our way. Please, please pray for our safety and everyone else affected by this storm. And please, if you get overwhelmed with concern (Nan!), have perspective that Haiti - one of the poorest nations in the world - just endured this storm with much much less than what we have. Pray for them. Their situation is far more serious than mine and they need as much of our help as we can offer. But do know that we are NOT taking this lightly and have done every single thing in our power to prepare accordingly. Neither of us have ever seen a natural disaster in person, and though I would prefer not to begin my hurricane journeys with a Category 4, this is what we're dealing with.
A few things:
It is highly likely that we will be without power and potentially cell service. We were told that our best bet at correspondence will be via text message, but that it isn't guaranteed. We will update once the storm hits if we can. It is supposed to begin really affecting us around 8PM Thursday night and continue until Friday morning around 8AM. I cannot say for sure that I'll be able to post my blogs either. Depending on if and how long the power is out, tomorrow's post might be my last for...however long. I will continue writing and documenting our days, but if I'm not able to upload to the internet, I will do it once we have power again.
Thanks for your prayers.
Here goes nothing.
So scary. Praying for you all as well as your town!! My family that lives down there said that they fill up their bathtubs with water to use for the toilet, just a tip!
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