Hurricane Season Is Here!
June 1 marks the official beginning of Hurricane Season.
After living here for 28 years, I say..
.I would rather experience a Hurricane than a snow storm...really!
We can go an entire season without even the threat of a Hurricane.
I don't know many winters that go without snow in the northern climates.
Since I live in South Florida, I am using
Since I live in South Florida, I am using
my experience with multiple Hurricanes as part of my
Summer of 2008 Giveaway.
See end of this post to enter.
Below are Photos of my house the morning after Hurricane Frances. We could not get out of the doors or the garage. My car was safely in the garage. We also could not figure out why everyone was taking pictures of our house. Once we got out and around the neighborhood, it was clear, we were quite a sight. Even the newspapers were taking photos of our mess.
Note.... the little Saturn. It is STILL on the road. Andrew wanted to move it so a tree would land on it and smash it. We told him NO, move it up next to the house so it will be safe. He did not listen and left the car out near the trees. It did not get smashed, as he hoped, in fact, not a dent or new scratch from that tree on it. Had Andrew parked the car where WE, his parents told him, he would have had his wish come true.... That large pine tree came crashing right down where we told him to park. In this case, I am glad he was free-spirited Andrew and did not obey. Oh the stories that Saturn could tell if it could talk!!!! It is still roaming the streets of Wellington. We got it from Mary A, used it for Jeffrey and Andrew, then gave it to our former neighbor who used it every day and then recently gave it to a friend. I think we could all get together and do a Saturn Commercial! Anyone? How about some stories about that Saturn... the ones you can tell.. come on guys, you are all grown up now! Your mom will laugh now!
The date on the photos is wrong.... Hurricane Frances hit in September 2004 with Hurricane Jeanne hitting 11 days later almost in the same spot!
Note the Boarded Up windows. Try being inside with NO Electricity to stay cool or to see. Once the boys left home, out of necessity, we got permanent accordion shutters that we can close from the inside and have the house secured in 30 minutes. What a difference!!!! As soon as the storm passes, they can be opened. With the boards... it was an all day process to board up each window. It took Ron and several helpers. Also, the Board must be in place before any winds start picking up...imagine being on the second story with a large piece of ply-wood in your hands when a gust of wind sends you flying!
We were amazed that more damage was not done to the cars.
My dad, Andrew, and Ron all worked to get the Boards up on each window while the weather was still calm. Ron also has to stay at work and check job sites when a storm is approaching. He is one tired man when the storm finally hits. He gets a nap and then it is time for CLEAN UP!
Ron worked for a day and a half to cut the boards for each window. We had just moved in to this house and there were no Hurricane shutters or boards. Yep, he was exhausted!
This was our life after Hurricane Frances...No electricity for 7 days. It came on just in time for Jeffrey to arrive home from Missionary Service and then....4 days later....Hurricane Jeanne hit! Yep....11 days apart right at us. Jeanne blew in from the other direction and cleaned up what Frances missed!!! The most wicked storm I have experienced was Hurricane Wilma. The backside of her was just plain evil.
You Can Win This Book!With all that being said....I would still rather go through a Hurricane than winter snow storms anywhere! I am just not a fan of cold weather.We prepare, recover, and move on.
In the 28 years I have lived in South Florida...
HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I ACTUALLY BOARDED UP MY HOUSE
(Any house I have lived in in S Florida) FOR A HURRICANE?
Enter your guess by making a comment by Friday, June 6 at midnight EST.
Enter your guess by making a comment by Friday, June 6 at midnight EST.
10 comments:
6?
I'll be back to give my guess.
Now we, the newbie’s to Florida, thought Wilma was a good wicked storm. She hit a few weeks after we had our shutters installed. NY was nervous about the delay with our shutter installation however I told him I knew a hurricane wouldn't come until we were ready. We were ready so we closed up the house and then sat on the patio and watched.
Did you know I was stuck at MIA when Jeanne was coming? I had gone on a flight with NY; we had no idea she was coming until the morning of. The flight had been wide open so NY said, "Come along" but of course by 6am the flights were all overbooked or cancelled and the airport was going to shut down. My only save was the pilot told the ticket agents he would NOT leave without me. He said he wouldn't fly with a purser worrying about his wife stuck in a hurricane. We were the last flight out before closure and I was on board.
9
umm i dunno like 5?
I hope we are safe again this year! I am scared of bunkering down for a storm that does any kind of damage like that to anything!
Maybe I can get lucky and catch a flight home to California...
10 times
I started driving that Saturn my sophomore year. It took me to school, cheerleading practice, games, work, dates and one crazy night to Orlando and back for a Garth Brooks concert. If that car could talk....
I was wondering which of you kids drove it? Did it start with Marianne? I remember the other Saturn, also, but this one definitely has some stories to tell.
I guess 6.
I can answer the Saturn question. Daniel (and mom) bought the Saturn just a day or two before we started our Senior year. I had been driving him around all that summer (in my 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse which died after my 2nd year at UF). I think they bought it the actual day before school started because he showed up at my house that night with the "new" car, which was already slightly used at that point (1995) when he got it.
I remember sitting in my driveway with him and talking about how scared I was to go back to school the next day. We started dating the last day of school our Junior year. We definitely did not run with the same crowd. I was madly in love with him and was terrified of how people would react to our unlikely pairing. It was especially unlikely since my previous 2 boyfriends had been a pot smoking loser "cool guy", and a 24 year old Puerto Rican who lived downtown on Clematis street (I told my parents he was 18). It's funny now because I can't believe I cared that much about what other people would think. I suppose all teenagers do to some degree.
All through our senior year we showed up at school every morning and parked in our assigned spots at WHS (79 and 81 I think, but my memory is foggy) and walked into school together. He drove Nancy, and I think 2 other kids from church.
Nancy filled in the part after we left for college. At UF I went right back to driving him around everywhere again.
Im going to guess 12 times. Im hoping i am way off, like you really only have done it once.
My original guess would have been 5, but since that's and 6 have been taken, I'll go with 7. I can only remember having done it a couple of times, but then again, I haven't lived in FL for the past 9 years...
I wrecked the first Saturn. Yeah, I was a lousy teenage driver. The red Saturn came around after I left home. I'm going to guess 13 times.
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