Since we have lived in Florida we have experienced heavy rains, tropical storms/depressions, and flooded roads. This past month we experienced our first hurricane. In all honesty the entire ordeal was far worse than anything I ever expected. And yes, hurricane Irma could have been so much more devastating than it was and I am so very thankful it wasn't.
I never knew the magnitude something like this carries, the decisions we make, do not make, and make again can really send your head spinning. When talk of Irma moving towards Florida first started there were a lot of different theories of the path "she" would take. And admittedly I wasn't too worried, we have lived here going on seven years and seen many similar news reports. But as things started to change and friends started to worry or share that they were evacuating I started to doubt my calmness. Then things would change again and I was back to being calm, but each time the news would change there was a fear inside of me wondering if we were making the right choice. At one point we had made the decision to evacuate, we felt it was the best thing for our family. Of course my husband and I discussed all of our options several times per day and made these decisions together. Then next day (the day we were planning to evacuate) there was a change in the path and we decided it would be too risky to try and leave with 5 kids and 2 dogs not know the traffic or how long it was going to take us to just get out of Florida. So we decided to stay and then that sense of calm came back over me, knowing that we had made our final decision and were sticking to it. But yet again the new reports were changing seemly by the minute and just like before the fear was back. See, I wasn't worried about myself or my husband all I could do was think about how the kids were going to react. The worry and fear inside of me was rising with each passing moment to the point where my anxiety was getting the better of me.
We talked about how we could make the house more safe for us and the kids and decided we would board the windows and make a "safe room" for us to be during the hours Irma was supposed to be at its worst. The next morning (Saturday .. Irma was projected to hit us hard Sunday evening into Monday morning) my husband and I woke up early and headed to our our local home depot, praying we could find some plywood for the windows. When we arrived at 6am the parking lot was full of vehicles but the store was not open... my heart sank ... now what? We noticed a cop car and a truck, there were a lot of people standing around. It looked like someone was giving away plywood, my husband went over and that is exactly what was happening. But.. we were too late, there was none left and that is when I finally let my emotions take over and I lost it. The tears would not stop flowing and to add to it the news report had Irma tracking directly over Tampa as a category 4 hurricane. We came home and looked through every single thing we had to try and find some sort of something to board up the windows with and we thankfully we did. We found just enough to get it done and I can't thank my husband and brother in-law for getting it put up. The next day (Sunday) was a complete blur ... it was like waiting for something to happen but you just weren't sure how it was going to impact you. Throughout the day it rained off and on and the wind picked up from time to time. The kids seemed to have fun in the wind and at least I could see them relaxed and enjoying the day.
That evening the kids kept asking when we were going to go to our "safe room" aka the bathroom... it was a blessing that they were so calm during this time. The news reports while looking better were still conflicting and just difficult to rely on. The kids eventually fell asleep in the "safe room" and my husband and the dogs slept in the bed while he listened to the news on his phone. I ended up in the living room with Parker. It was the longest night of my life ... you could hear the wind and the rain and at points I thought the window over our door was going to break. I kept playing it over in my mind what I would do if the window did break. I would doze off and be woken up by more loud wind and pounding rain. Around 4 am the sounds started to taper off and I was shocked our power hadn't gone out. Then the surges started off and on for about two hours and then it just stayed off.
We lost power for three days...
After Sunday was over we worked hard to get back to normal... but no power and a generator that broke on day two with now power made it a bit difficult to be normal. Through it all the kids did so amazing .... much better than I did. I learned that my kids are much stronger than I give them credit for. I know at the end of the day there were areas that were hit far worse that we were and being without power for three days is nothing compared to what others experienced and are some are still experiencing. Nevertheless, everyone deals with these things in different ways and this experience has certainly changed me in ways I never knew possible. I would like to think that if (when) something like this were to happen again we have the experience to make the right decisions for our family.
Here are some photos I took throughout the days leading up to and including the day of the hurricane ...
Lastly, I want to thank everyone for the Prayers and thoughts that you sent our way. We certainly felt them and know they worked and if you watched any of the local news reports after Irma you know the Prayers were felt far and wide. We are blessed with and incredible support system.. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
