Is it finally our turn?

In the 6 years we have been living close to the Gulf, we have never had a hurricane. They have hit all around us. We have had several tropical storms. And in 2005 we evacuated for Hurricane Rita, but missed it. And right now, Tropical Storm Edouard is projected to make landfall at Galveston as a Cat. 1 storm tomorrow. We aren't worried or anything. We have our hurricane supplies in order, though I probably ought to get some more batteries for the flashlights. Chances are we will lose power at some point. We are ready to ride out the storm and stay inside for a day or two. My only concern is the wind. We have a huge- and dying- tree close to the house that loses limbs in a regular thunder storm. Even a Cat. 1 storm has 70-90 mile per hour winds. We also have a very weak back fence. It was teetering in the wind from a little storm last night. So we will see.

All this storm talk has made me think about Hurricane Rita. At the time we left the city, Rita was a Cat. 5 storm- the third strongest in history- and headed straight at us. We lived close enough to the water and in a lower lying area that the storm surge from a storm of that magnitude would reach our front door. As we know now, the storm turned and hit the Texas/Louisiana border. But at the time we left, we did not know that was going to be the outcome. Just weeks before we had all witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Living in this area we talk about evacuation preparedness and emergency procedures often. Our church has a whole system in place to track where everyone is and make sure everyone is safe in the event of a storm. We had our plans in place and once the family (us and my parents) decided to go we did so fairly quickly. Despite our planning, I found out it was much harder to actually follow through than I had thought. We found out we had holes in our plan, things we never even considered before. It turned out to be a good trial run.

It was a surreal and very humbling experience to pack up and leave home, not knowing what, if anything, would be left for you to come back to. Only the most critical items (food, clothes, water, etc.) and those things too precious to part with got to come with us in the car. Everything else stayed. The mood in the city was tense. You could feel it in the air. We got out early and were able to avoid most traffic problems. Luckily, my dad knows his way around well and we caravaned with them. My in-laws in Utah kept us up to date on the weather and took care of finding accommodations for us while we were driving. It was hard to get a cell phone signal because the airways were jammed. Not one of the high points in my life.

But we learned a lot from that time. We are more prepared than before for a natural disaster. I have made a evacuation checklist to make sure everything gets done and done quickly. And I now know that I am strong enough to walk away understanding the chance exists that I could lose everything. I gained a new appreciation for what is really and truly important in life and the rest is just fluff. I like the fluff, but I could do without it. Since that time I have found it easier to keep the proper things as priorities in my life.

All right, I'll stop the trip down memory lane. We need to bring in the patio furniture and potted plants.