Most people who had the possibility to leave Florida during Hurricane Irma did, and for good reason. Having stayed put during Hurricane Matthew last year however, I decided not to leave. In spite of the destruction that Harvey recently left behind in Texas, I naively thought that Hurricane Irma would be just another Hurricane Matthew to South Florida: it wouldn’t be so bad. Perhaps I can blame this mindset on the fact that I grew up in Sweden, where (needless to say) we have no tropical storms or hurricanes, and that I simply didn’t understand how devastating they can be. As the saying goes: sometimes you have to experience something in order to understand it. Luckily, Irma didn’t hit Florida as hard as was first expected. Yet, there was substantial damage in many parts of the state, and islands in the Caribbean as well as the Keys where devastated. My thoughts go out to all those affected.
In light of the hurricane, one valuable lesson to be learned is that people panic… but (mostly) for good reason. As soon as a hurricane warning is issued, people seem to enter this frenzied state of panic. To be sure, anyone who tried to buy supplies at Publix or Target in the days following the warning is likely to agree with me (like okay, Margaret, do you really need 5 flashlights and 30 bottles of water?). With power outages still being a major issue however, I understand why this happens. Yet, there are definitely more actions that are overall less helpful taken in a state of panic: preparing for a hurricane as best you can, and helping others to do so, is certainly helpful. Calling/texting/beeping those who either couldn’t or decided not to leave, saying things like “OMG, why aren’t you leaving?! You’re going to die!”… Not helpful. Please stop immediately. While leaving is always the safest bet and you definitely want to evacuate from coastal areas, most modern houses in Florida are built to withstand a hurricane, so as long as you stay inside you should be okay.
In all honesty, the aftermath of any hurricane is the worst part. Prior to Irma, I thought the hurricane itself would be the worst part of it, and life would return to normal as soon as it had passed; I was wrong. Rebuilding the places that were hit the hardest will take a long time. In the Miami area, water damage and power outages are still an issue, with many people facing hardship. Amidst all of this difficulty however, it’s amazing to see how strongly the community is coming together to help one another during an era otherwise much signified by hate and division among groups of people. There seems to be something about disasters like Harvey and Irma that bring people together in a way that I personally have never experienced before, and it makes me hope that Florida (and the larger country for that matter) will rise up stronger and more united than ever.