Working Through Hurricane Irma

          This is my first entry after Hurricane Irma.  By the time Irma hit our area, it was down to a category 1 hurricane.  Seneca and I went to stay on the campus of the retirement community where I work along with many other associates.  Our hurricane experience was one of really being able to see a community pull together and everyone be able to be of service. 
           The news of the hurricane caused somewhat of a panic in Florida and people ran to the stores to stock up and fill up their gas tanks and, in many cases, gas cans which resulted in thousands of people searching for gas, food, and bottled water in the days leading up to the storm.  Preparedness is one thing, but this became panic and hoarding.  I was able to buy two cases of bottled water only because a Walgreens employee was guarding the cart of waters and selling two cases per family.  My brother found gas for me - I was almost empty.  I was so low on gas because I was waiting for payday to get gas. I had no idea that by payday my town would be almost out of gasoline.
        People may ask, why didn't I evacuate with my kids. Short answer: I knew that there was no danger.  I have lived in Florida for nineteen years and I have never experienced a hurricane.  Many hurricanes hit Florida and cause widespread devastation, but during my nineteen years here, not one has hit the county I live in. So, while everyone else was panicking, I was completely calm -as was everyone else in my family.   It wasn't the storm that started to cause me some anxiety, it was the fact that there wasn't much food to choose from to stock up on.  It was also the thought of sleeping at work on an air mattress (which I would need to get) with my bad back.
        Hurricane Irma caused the largest evacuation in American History.  And if you ask me, a good portion of that was unnecessary panic.  I'm not talking about people who live on the coastlines or in manufactured homes or in flood zones.  They needed to get out to safety.  One week before Hurricane Irma hit, we had a tropical storm that caused flooding and damage to homes, vehicles, and businesses.  Anyone who was effected by the flooding would likely have been very concerned about an approaching hurricane and choose to evacuate.  I can understand evacuating in those circumstances, but I still think that a lot of the evacuation was the result of unnecessary panic.  Don't forget that the evacuation caused a massive gasoline shortage for those who stayed behind - and those who stayed behind were nurses, caregivers, FPL workers, tree removal people, food service workers, AND we needed that gasoline to run the generators here.  Next time, I hope people think long and hard about their decision to evacuate.  If it's necessary, go, but ask yourself if it is really an issue of safety.  In my case, it would have been selfish and irresponsible of me to hog up the road and hotels when I knew my house and my work (where my daughter and I would stay at for the actual storm) were perfectly safe.  If I thought a Category 4 or 5 hurricane was coming, I would evacuate.  But I am not evacuating for a category 1 or 2 hurricane.
         Anyhow, as I have said, my ten year old daughter and I moved onto the campus of the retirement community where I work.  My dear friend, Niki, lent us her our mattresses after I put a call out on Facebook asking if anyone had any that they could lend us for the weekend.   For our first night, Seneca and I stayed in an empty apartment in one of the independent living buildings along with some of my co-workers.
       On the night of the actual storm, Seneca joined me at Health Center.  my desk at thewhich was moved to the conference room - away from the front lobby. She fell asleep early on, and housekeeping staff brought us blankets and pillows.   Our phones and computers went down. We lost power, but then our generator kicked on.  For the storm, windows were boarded up, so I was almost oblivious to the actual storm raging.  All of our residents, had to be moved out of their rooms and into the hallways (despite having boarded up windows) in their wheelchairs. Staff did everything they could to make everyone as comfortable as possible.  Snacks and juice were served.  But still, it was hard on these people who simply wanted to be able to go to sleep.    Our residents in our independent living buildings also had to come out of their apartments and into the hallways during the storm.  I learned later that members of the community's housekeeping staff sat with residents who were nervous and scared during the storm.  Sometimes just having someone there to help you feel safe really does make all the difference.      
                   Before and after the storm, our executive and leadership staff had on their sneakers and were all pitching in and doing physical work to keep the community running, and to help members from a sister-community who were evacuated to our location.   And our maintenance crew never stopped. They were out there during the storm.  And when we lost generator power after the storm, they ran from one pump to the next to get fuel to the generators and to get the window boards down as fast as possible.
      Not only did staff come together and serve the residents, but residents volunteered to help deliver meals and even to take in staff members into their spare bedrooms and pull-out couches.  The community pulled together and even hosted another assisted living community that was evacuated to our location.