By now Hurricane Dorian has come and gone from Florida (thank goodness). But of course being born and raised in Florida, certain things are a given when it comes to an impending hurricane. And this year I realized in talking to friends not from Florida, that hurricane preparation is almost like an art.
So welcome to the inside of hurricane preparation from a native Floridian.
The first thing we love (and really one of the only good things about a hurricane, minus the days off) are the memes. And there are a LOT.
Since this last one, Dorian was scheduled for the Labor Day weekend the above meme was perfection.
I also came to realize that not everyone knows who Jim Cantore (above) is. He is the most feared man in Florida. If the Weather Channel says he's coming to your town for the hurricane- you evacuate. And trust me, we don't evacuate typically. There are also the spaghetti models that have no basis expect to scare the living daylights out of you (although meteorologists claim they help show a possible path for the storm (along with 100 other possible paths)).
We also love the hurricane themed food. Because anything to get a laugh (and sweets) is a plus. Our local bakery made these amazing donuts and our grocery store (Publix) made hurricane cakes (that yes, look like hurricanes). Then of course a local donut shop made hurricane mini donuts that had liquor (because another thing we Floridans do for hurricanes is party).
So while most people are listening to the meteorologists who try and instill fear with an ever growing what if list and buy out every water bottle a store may have, the rest of us fill up on liquor (or food).
Although this go around, we waited so long for the storm to actually hit that we had to make several food runs. Im pretty sure I gained at least 10 pounds from this waiting around.
On a more serious and somber note, while we were extremely lucky with this storm (no damage at all) the islands, especially the Bahamas were not as fortunate. I know this and while I may light of hurricanes, some of it is finding humor instead of being fearful. And some of it is not letting others put fear into you. I've been through enough hurricanes to know how quickly they can change and how to wait them out, when to evacuate and what to do if we stay (i.e. fill the bathtub with water- for the toilet should the power turn off; do NOT put tape on windows- it literally does nothing; and run if Jim Cantore comes to town). Did I mention him already?
