I Survived IRMA
9-13-17
I am so fortunate and blessed to be alive. Hurricane Irma went through St. Augustine, late Sunday night (10th) and on into early Monday morning with a fury. This is my first experience hunkering down through a hurricane and I want to share what happened. It was a typical Sunday night, with curtains pulled back, slight breeze, giving me my feel-good view of the back yard and the pond just a few yards away. I went to bed at my normal time, about 9pm but in the back of my mind I knew SHE was coming. I've been watching the weather channel most of the day just trying to stay informed. I watched what SHE did to the Florida Keys and I was thinking surely it will run out of steam by the time it gets up to northern Florida. So, I hit the sack thinking that I would probably wake up in the early morning to some loud wind and go back to sleep. It's difficult to describe what woke me up around 2am, just as the weatherman predicted.
I'm from Kansas originally so I know how to go to the basement when the sirens go off. I've done it many times. Go to the basement, take some food and drink, and go back to normal life when the "all clear" is sounded on your radio. I've heard from my fellow Kansans about how a tornado sounds like a train coming through. It only lasts a few minutes but it leaves behind a trail of destruction. Well, I was hearing that freight train from 2am to 6am. It was so loud and just beat consistently on the house. The weatherman warned of a possible tornado forming around the St. Augustine airport at 3am. For me it sounded like the tornado was at my house for a good four hours.
I could feel my heart rate accelerating and my anxiety level rising with the constant pounding on the roof and on the sides of the house. So, what if a tornado did form, where would I go? There are no basements in Florida and I can't click my heels together a few times and be back in basement in Kansas. I could ask Scotty to beam me up but he's not around. So, I remembered what they said on the news...find that place in your home with no windows, like a bathtub or closet, and hunker down in there. That would be the safest place. So, I found myself shutting the door after going into the safety of my master bedroom closet. It was fairly soundproof so I took out my ear buds and laid down and tried to go to sleep. No way! The anxiety level was still there and I could feel the acid in my stomach churning. I checked the wind speed with an app on my phone and it was 51.7 mph. It seemed like 100 mph.
Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that night. Looking back, I'm glad I experienced it so that I can positively say that I don't want to experience it again.
Monday morning...7:30am
That's my story...tell me yours.
I am so fortunate and blessed to be alive. Hurricane Irma went through St. Augustine, late Sunday night (10th) and on into early Monday morning with a fury. This is my first experience hunkering down through a hurricane and I want to share what happened. It was a typical Sunday night, with curtains pulled back, slight breeze, giving me my feel-good view of the back yard and the pond just a few yards away. I went to bed at my normal time, about 9pm but in the back of my mind I knew SHE was coming. I've been watching the weather channel most of the day just trying to stay informed. I watched what SHE did to the Florida Keys and I was thinking surely it will run out of steam by the time it gets up to northern Florida. So, I hit the sack thinking that I would probably wake up in the early morning to some loud wind and go back to sleep. It's difficult to describe what woke me up around 2am, just as the weatherman predicted.
I'm from Kansas originally so I know how to go to the basement when the sirens go off. I've done it many times. Go to the basement, take some food and drink, and go back to normal life when the "all clear" is sounded on your radio. I've heard from my fellow Kansans about how a tornado sounds like a train coming through. It only lasts a few minutes but it leaves behind a trail of destruction. Well, I was hearing that freight train from 2am to 6am. It was so loud and just beat consistently on the house. The weatherman warned of a possible tornado forming around the St. Augustine airport at 3am. For me it sounded like the tornado was at my house for a good four hours.
I could feel my heart rate accelerating and my anxiety level rising with the constant pounding on the roof and on the sides of the house. So, what if a tornado did form, where would I go? There are no basements in Florida and I can't click my heels together a few times and be back in basement in Kansas. I could ask Scotty to beam me up but he's not around. So, I remembered what they said on the news...find that place in your home with no windows, like a bathtub or closet, and hunker down in there. That would be the safest place. So, I found myself shutting the door after going into the safety of my master bedroom closet. It was fairly soundproof so I took out my ear buds and laid down and tried to go to sleep. No way! The anxiety level was still there and I could feel the acid in my stomach churning. I checked the wind speed with an app on my phone and it was 51.7 mph. It seemed like 100 mph.
Monday morning...7:30am
That's my story...tell me yours.
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