Not Our First Rodeo

As we await yet another hurricane, we are faced with the waiting game. Yes, it is familiar and we know what we need to do, but still awaiting the unknown is frustrating. Accidents happen with no warning. With hurricanes, we get warnings and wait days and days while the whirling winds head our way. Waiting is never easy, whether it is for a baby, acceptance to college, or the check we are expecting. Hurricane waiting is the worst.

As we chat with people we encounter in our daily lives we find a wide variety of reactions. The “I won’t leave people” are determined and unswayed. Then there are a variety of reactions. There are the ”I’m outta here” faction and the rest of us go back and forth between go or no go.

The Big Guy and I moved to Florida in 1996. In 1999 we experienced our first hurricane. It was a big one – Floyd. There was a mandatory evacuation. Quickly the roads filled with cars fleeing the island with their families and pets. The entire state was on alert as one of the most threatening storms in history approached Florida. One of the weather channels warned that “it was bigger than the state of Texas.” That got our attention. It seemed everyone was heading east and then north, clogging the roadways. By the time we both agreed it was time to go, we had no place to stay. We drove inland, found a safe parking lot, and spent the night in our car with our dogs.

We had to wait to get back on the island. All around the island, you could hear the sound of chainsaws cleaning up the fallen trees. As normal life resumed, we soon traded tales of evacuation nightmares instead of hurricane damage.

Each of the hurricanes we have experienced has been unique. Each storm since has left its signature damage. Trees down, dunes lost, roofing shingles peeled off houses and our downtown waterfront and docks badly damaged. We even lost a popular fishing pier at Fort Clinch.

Usually, we are lucky. Amelia Island has been spared many times because of its geographic location. We have the Georgia Bight to protect us. A bight is a concave bend or curvature in a coastline. Looking at a map of the Southeast, we are quite a bit west of the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream does not follow the bight and is more than 20 miles off our coast. Hurricanes tend to follow warm water, and more often than not, hurricanes head to the South Carolina and North Carolina Coasts, bypassing us.

Those of us who have chosen Florida as our home have done so, knowing that with that commitment comes the potential of dealing with catastrophic threats to our homes. We depend totally on our state and local authorities to warn us and guide us when unpredictable storms threaten.

So, another rodeo. Stay safe.

Dickie Anderson is a freelance writer, community volunteer, and author. She can be reached at [email protected]