Sometimes a blog post is an easy way of giving a group update…
Last night the track for Hurricane Irma places Gainesville, Florida in the path of the storm. This, of course, has some friends and family a little worried— which is a great problem for us to have. It’s an amazing feeling to know people care for you.
So, first, let’s discuss Gainesville, Florida. Gainesville (where Yeni and I live) is located in North Central Florida… an area I like to call the armpit of Florida. Here’s where we are on the map (Alachua County is in orange, and then the blow-up of the county shows the City of Gainesville in red):
See why I call it the armpit?
Anyway, Gainesville happens to be one of the 10 safest cities in Florida for hurricanes (we’re ranked number 9) [source1] [source2]. This doesn’t mean that everything will be awesome. What it means is that traditionally, Gainesville fairs well during storms.
Our biggest threats here are trees (falling down). After a good storm, it’s common to see trees down and blocking roadways. Since we still have a tremendous amount of power lines above ground here, it’s also common for power outages (and Internet outages). Yes, sometimes trees fall into houses, on cars, and worse.
I’ve lived in Gainesville since 1990 and have been through a few storms in the last 27 years… I chose the location of our house based on some of the flooding I’ve seen in the area (we’re at the top part of a hill). We had a new roof put on a few years ago and a handy dandy wind mitigation survey as well.
We don’t have storm shutters… but again, wind isn’t our biggest fear in this area and it is very uncommon to have storm shutters in Gainesville. I digress.
Based on the wind speed expected to hit us on Sunday and Monday, we have decided (currently) to ride out the storm in our home. We don’t have our feet buried and leave our options open… if the storm forecast changes (and it will), we may choose to head North.
People in Florida are freaking out… I’ve never seen such lines at gas stations, craziness at stores, and traffic throughout the entire time I’ve lived in this great State (and yes, I love this state). This morning, Yeni and I had to hit Walmart for some string (cake thing) and the mobs of people even took all the bananas. Well, almost all the bananas.
WOW that's bananas 🍌 😂😋😜😜😜!!!! #Walmart #earlymorning #hurricaneirma2017 pic.twitter.com/R8huZtOZEU
— Yeni Monroy (@YenitaK) September 8, 2017
Right now, we expect to be without power (and Internet) for a bit and are hoping for the best. If we change our plans, I’ll update… probably first on twitter.