Its Go Time
Its go time in South Florida. There’s a different feel in the air with this storm. Unlike last year’s preparation for Hurricane Matthew, there is a real urgency and sense of panic in the air with Irma. Comparatively speaking Hurricane Matthew was a relatively small KAT 4 when it threatened our coast. While Hurricane Irma is a monster KAT 5 with 185 mph winds. Imagine sustained winds of 185 mph! That’s pure insanity and I want no part of it.
Here’s the problem, there’s like no gas in Palm Beach County and the turnpike is packed. Almost all flights are sold out with the exception of transatlantic flights, which I’m not opposed to flying Paris to escape this storm. However, we have to account for our puppies. We can’t just pick up and leave our animals and house behind.
Consequently, I headed to Target right after I got home from work. The shelves were empty. Sadly, the only bread remaining was gluten free or take and bake bread. Needless to say, I will be baking the take and bake bread tomorrow. When Jake and I ventured down the canned food aisle it was truly a waste of time. There was nothing left on the shelves. Shoppers had already scooped up everything even the canned salmon and anchovies. You know you’re desperate when your buying canned salmon.
Unfortunately for Goalielocks and the Mayor, the my fellow shoppers had bought all the milk. Shoppers only left the lactose free, almond milk, cashew milk and soy milk left behind. Thankfully, the hubby and I drink almond milk. I would have preferred to have bought the shelf stable variety, but that was sold out. Happily, I can say that people were polite and rather congenial at the store. For a minute, I almost forgot I was in South Florida. It may seem crazy, but the anticipation is almost as bad as the actual storm.
The models continue to show a major impact to our coast. We’re hoping the storm slides a little east, so we can be on the west side of the eye wall. Conversely, we are hoping and praying that we do not end up being hit by the storm’s northeast quadrant. As we experienced with Hurricane Wilma in 2005, we anticipate this to be largely a wind event for us.
Based on the last update, it looks like the weather will start deteriorating late Saturday night. Meanwhile, the worst of the storm should arrive in South Florida Sunday afternoon. Since there’s no flights and no fuel, we’ve been brainstorming how we could evacuate. My Mayor had the best idea ever. He suggested that we pack ourselves in a box with food and ship ourselves to Minnesota via UPS. If Irma is still a KAT 5 Saturday, we may have no choice, but to UPS ourselves out of here!