Breaking My Silence

I have remained silent without statement in my blog, because honestly, I haven't known what to say...regarding the impending hurricane, Irma.

Beautiful morning here in South Beach.  Yes, as my neighbor just said to me from her balcony across from my balcony..."the calm before the storm."  Irma is not my first hurricane.  I lived in Naples, Fl for 15 years.  Met my x-husband and had all 4 of our kids there.  I have lived thru many hurricanes.  Times when we had raced out of town, as responsible parents would, only to have the hurricane change course and end up catching up with us ...locked up in traffic trying to get our family to safety, and driving past numerous cars, who in the escape, would end up stranded on the side of the road because they'd run out of gas.  That is what happens, when droves of people need to leave town in a hurry...the area runs out of gas, accidents happen, and traffic is at a stand still. It can be far worse than staying home, and riding out the storm....INSIDE...it is when people try to go outside during the storm that deaths occur.

 The alternative to driving is flying, which is what my family had been encouraging me to do, but by the time they'd encouraged me to do that, airline prices where already out of control.  Thousands of dollars for a single airline ticket. My Dad woke me the other morning wanting me to fly to Colombia to visit him or my brothers and sister in Panama or my brother in Indiana or my sister in NY.  Cost wasn't a factor...they just wanted to get me and my daughters out of Florida.  My answer to that was the girls' passports need to be renewed and the immigration office was no longer open.  Also, the girls have animals they don't want to leave.  It was crazy a couple of days ago, and honestly a little upsetting because my family was watching the news which totally sensationalizes the storm, which is entirely driven to create fear.

Truth is, yes, there is a storm coming.  Yes, we have prepared, as the city of Miami Beach is.  We have loads of water and dry, canned foods, fruit, veggies, nuts, battery powered radio, flashlights.  We are in a 50 year old building that has recently been updated, with hurricane force windows, and is up-to-date to hurricane standards.  My balconies have been closed, as my building has recently been renovating those too, but because of the "emergencia," they have been opened, so that we can use them...to get outside before and after the storm.  My landlord said that all the windows and patio doors were replaced and are hurricane tested.  He said that his insurance demanded to see the paperwork from the building before they would issue insurance.

We were prepared to be stuck up here for a few days with no electricity or air for possible flooding...maybe a week or 2. 

However, still, not because I feel we need to, but so my family will be at peace, I believe my daughters who live with me, Caroline and Tiffany, and I will move more inland to Doral, still in Miami, but more northwest, tomorrow, as the electricity will be turned off in my building then, (as a hurricane precaution) and to avoid being so near the water, to Caroline's boyfriend's family's 2 story cement house, with hurricane shutters with them, also so we are part of a family unit during this threatening storm, and scary time.

I must admit the sirens that keep going off, which started last night at midnight, encouraging residents to leave, are also a bit alarming.

Praying for peace and safety for everyone this week!! xxoo