Florida Blows

Florida living has many perks. I mean it is Florida!! It is sunny and you are never more than three hours from the beach. Our winter is almost non-existent and there are years we wear shorts at Christmas. It doesn’t get much better than that!

But then there are the storms. If any of you have been following the news today you know that in my area (An Island located in Extreme North West Florida) is about to get a ton of rain and a Tropical Storm named Fey. Or is it Fay? I have no idea. I have watched the weather channel for fifteen consecutive hours and can tell you which directions the front is coming and the current temperature of the ocean, but not sure of the spelling of the storm.

It goes to shows what this type of situation can do to a gals mind.

I want everyone to know that I realize this type of weather is no laughing matter. Anyone who watched TV or was in the area during Katrina knows this. But, when you are in an area that dodges around seven named storms every summer, you must have a sense of humor about the situation. If not you will go insane.

Some folks actually throw “Hurricane Parties.” After boarding up the house invite some friends over and then drink until the storm passes or until you have to shuffle to the local High School aka Shelter. Unless you have a generator. Then you are the most popular kids in this zip code. Everyone is coming over. And they want microwave popcorn and to play some Wii.

There is even a drink, aptly named, “The Hurricane”

This is not how I choose to spend my pre-disaster time, at least not since Katrina. It showed all of us that hurricanes are a constant unknown. And it is best to be alert and prepared instead of drunk and incapacitated.

Will it hit? What category will it be? Will it stall? Will it strengthen? Will it turn? Will we need to evacuate??? Where will we go?? We never know ANY of this until around 2 hours before it actually hits. And even if it doesn’t hit and just grazes us, we live on an island 15 miles long, give or take. The electricity goes out when the tide changes. Needless to say, we will be down for a WHILE.

So, 3-5 days BEFORE anything happens you have to be prepared for the worst. This means prepared to live without anything for days on end.

Have you ever been packing for a weekend trip and packed way too much because who knows what you may do Saturday night and what mood you’ll be in to pick an outfit, etc. etc. So you pack EVERYTHING?

Imagine having to pack one car load of everything you may need or want out of everything you own. Wind, floods and tornadoes are the biggest worries in regards to destruction. Because of those side effects you could come home and find you have nothing left. Sometimes, not even walls.

Or it will pass by and just rain some.

It is just that kind of emotional rollercoaster. And frankly it is a pain in the ass.

Last year was pretty tame, so I was unprepared for this season. I went to “SUPER WALMART” fought the masses and got what you see here.

Sarahh’s guide to hurricane preparedness!

And yes. That is Beefaroni and Bean Dip.

When it is all said and done all you can do is hope that you avoid the worst and can survive the part you don’t want to think about, yet have all the Vienna sausages in the world to get your through, just in case.

Here’s to hoping no Vienna’s this weekend.

What kind of natural disasters happen around you? Twisters? Earthquakes? How do you deal with the possibility of disaster? Do you party or do you panic?