Hurricane Evacuation: A Personal Perspective

As a native of a state that sits on the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Gustav caused my family to evacuate 250 plus miles into eastern Alabama and the panhandle of Florida.  This was our third evacuation including Ivan, Katrina, and Gustav.

 

Leaving is a little strange for me since during my teen years and early adulthood we rode the storms out at home.  As a teen it was actually fun --- no school for a couple of days; after the storm passed we played in the water on the streets and actually swam in the ditches that were deep enough.  We did not worry much as teenagers, as we let the adults do the worrying and, for that matter, the work.  When we lost power we did everything inside by candle light, which at the time, was pretty exciting.  I hate to say it, but we actually had fun during those storms.

 

Since I am now a parent and grandparent I know now, mine must not have enjoyed all the work and the un knows.  I say that because now it is not as enjoyable to me --- board up the house windows; make all the preparations; leave town; come back after the storm; clean up, and that's if you even still have a house.  Once you come back, you have to deal with power shortages; not many stores open; phones not working, etc.  I think I definitely liked it more when I was a teenager.

 

Growing up, we had no TV to show the track of the storm and all the possibilities of where it would finally hit like we have today.  All we had was a radio report saying the storm will land tomorrow at such and such a time and location.  Also storms were not named so it was hard to keep track of what storm they were talking about when two were out there. 

 

The upside of being a parent and grandparent is that I am able to pass along my experiences to my children and grandchildren on how to prepare for the storms and the precautions that should be taken.  I hope I can make a difference for them because their safety and well being is the most important thing to me.  I would rather be overly cautious and safe than take a gamble with the unknown.