Hurricane Preparedness Blog

March 13, 1993, was a day unlike any I had ever known before.

I stepped out of my bed into water a few inches deep. Overnight, the No-Name-Storm had landed in central Florida, and for many unsuspecting Floridians, things were not looking good.

For my family, the Gulf of Mexico was no longer a friendly neighbor in the distant backyard of our home, it was now an uninvited guest that had found its way under our doors. We watched hopelessly as the gray water seemingly approached us from all directions. This was some serious trouble, and we had no clue what to do.

We evacuated shortly after we awoke, but we had nothing together- no important documents, no treasured valuables, no overnight clothing. Our family of six was forced to leave the house with only the clothes on our backs.

Hours later, after the floodwaters had subsided, we journeyed home to retrieve a few belongings. When we arrived, we found that our home was on fire. An electrical socket had short-circuited.

When all was said and done, nearly everything we owned was ruined by soot, water, or fire. Had we been prepared for the storm and turned the electricity off when we left, perhaps the fire would have never happened at all.

For the past fifteen years, I’ve thought about these moments and things we could have done differently, had we known better, or more importantly, had we taken the time to know better.  Preparation could have saved our home.  Hopefully, by writing for OneStorm, I can help inspire families to get prepared so that disasters may not have to be so devastating.

In my personal experience, I know the power of preparation.  If you wait until the last minute, it will most likely be too late. Some areas of the country, particularly Florida, haven’t been majorly affected by hurricanes in some time. Sure, we’ve been lucky. But while we’re considering that a blessing, we should also be using that time wisely- we should use that time to prepare the best we can.

Hope to see you at OneStorm.

-Heidi

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