Photo Cred Denis Phillips Facebook Page
Update – Seeing how a lot of people are starting to worry about Hurricane Dorian, I thought it would be timely to repost my thoughts after we encountered the fear and threat of Irma. Please stay safe this week and the following few days. Stock up on essentials now (water, bread, propane gas) and fill your cars with gas. If you need to evacuate, please do. Be safe everyone!
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Thoughts on the past 7 days with Irma:
1) I’ve never been so concerned about the safety of my family as this past week.
2) The roller coaster of watching Irma come our way, and then be in the clear of her, to then see her coming our way as a category 5 is something I don’t want to experience again for years and years.
3) Even though Irma ended up hitting us as only a Cat 1, I will still take future hurricanes as seriously as we took Irma. In fact I will take them more seriously. We will either get plywood for windows or hurricane shutters immediately. I will also price out generators this winter. And lastly, next time I see a cat 3, 4 or 5 with a track headed our way, we will evacuate.
Tip: Always keep batteries on-hand. Especially size D. Most flashlights need that size and right before a hurricane, stores will run out of D first.
Bottled water will become a hot commodity when a hurricane is enroute. It wouldn’t hurt to keep a couple 24 packs stocked away during hurricane season because stores will run out when major hurricanes are enroute.
4) Sleeping in our safe room with the kiddos- although stressful and hard on the back – was lots of fun. I want more nonstressful adventures with my kids.
Our safe room. Tip – if your kiddos are sensitive to loud noises (hurricanes are crazy crazy loud), get a battery operated sound machine. Crank the white noise. You won’t hear the scary sounds outside.
Us hunkered down in our safe room. (Daddy fit in here too.) It was a party. If you make hunkering down fun, your kiddos may not even realize there is a serious storm going on outside.
5) Losing electricity has been annoying, an inconvenience and HOT. I’ll choose to find the positives though:
- We still have running water so we can take showers.
- A friend offered up her empty freezer in her garage and all of my meat (worth at least $250) has been spared.
- The nights have been “cooler” albeit muggy so with our windows open, it’s not stifling.
- Since I’ve emptied my refrigerator and freezer, I’ll be able to give it a deep clean before filling it back up with food. It was due for a deep clean!
- SO many other people have it much much worse than us. Not having electricity is an inconvenience. Many people lost their homes or had so much damage they have to stay out of their homes. We have a roof over our heads and a pool we can jump in to cool off in.
6) I have seen the strength of God as he controlled the beast of a hurricane that Irma was. I feel fortunate that our area was spared but I hope that I would also praising God and admiring his strength if we were hit with the predicted cat 4.
7) I feel very fortunate to have a house with only minor damage to our roof.
8 ) Denis Phillips is my favorite meteorologist. He talked me off the ledge countless times this past week. If you live in Tampa Bay, you MUST follow him during any and all storms. He’s realistic and doesn’t give any hype. He’s just what you need when a Category 5 hurricane is brewing in the waters.
9) First responders deserve our gratitude and need to be thanked. They have worked tirelessly – often without food since most restaurants were closed until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Just a mere portion of military vehicles parked in a parking lot in our town.
A huge thanks to Mr Javier, Miss Liz and Mr Dennis for spoiling my son and letting him go in some of the military vehicles and an ambulance. You made his day. And I watched him bring a smile to your faces. We appreciate you.
9) And lastly, when a storm with the magnitude of cat 4 is headed directly towards you (our house was literally in the eye on some tracks Saturday), you realize what is important. It’s definitely not “stuff” or stockpiles or blogging or deals. It’s the people who matter. My little family is what matters most.
My son. He’s 4 1/2 now! *update – he’s now 5 1/2!*
My beautiful daughter. 2 1/2 years old. *update – she’s now 3 1/2*
Thank you everyone for the prayers for our family as well as the prayers for our state. Continuing praying for everyone who suffered damage and loss in the storm’s path. Many were not as lucky as us. I would love to hear what lessons you learned throughout the beast of a hurricane known as Irma!
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Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
Glad too hear you and your family are well and survived the Irma saga. My family lives in Bradenton. I understand the emotions y’all went through. One of my daughters and I didn’t lose power, so after the storm our motto was ” we have power, coffee, and showers. I have for years started a ” hurricane closet”. when items are on sale i.e. BOGO I start stocking up. Canned fruits, fruit cups, soups, etc. items that can be grilled or heated on the grill. I stock cereals that we can eat without milk (ours is cherrios and Frosted Flakes). We kept several cases of bottle water prior to any threat. With Irma closing in I stared cooking the items in the freezer. I did cook a chicken dinner so if power went out we had one more meal. Also bought produce that did not need to be in the refrigerator. Come November, what doesn’t get eaten goes to our local food bank. Most important–stay off the weather channel. They give general info and hype. They make one crazy with fear. Like you stuck with the local channels.