I Survived Hurricane Florence

It all started Tuesday September 11th at 2 PM. I was sitting in my office, working like any other day, when the Hurricane warning alarm went off on my phone. Right after that I got a notification from the city that they had a mandatory evacuation in place as of 2 PM on Tuesday the 11th. Everyone in my office started unplugging computers and prepping the office. We were then told to go home, pack and leave the city.

From that moment on I was in survival mode. I went straight home and without really thinking I started to pack a bag with at least 2 weeks of clothes, I then got everything ready to help my husband pack his bag (He wasn't able to get home in enough time to pack and us leave). We also have a puppy, so I made sure to get everything together for him. I grabbed his vaccination paper work, beds, toys, and food (We ended up having to board him in the state we evacuated to). After this, I went through the kitchen and packed us a few bags of food we could take with us for the road and wherever we ended up. I mostly packed non perishable items like, tuna, bread, chips, beef jerky, and a few other snack items we had.

At this point I was still waiting for my husband to get home. So, I started going through our house and bagging up clothes and shoes in large black garbage bags in hopes that it would protect our items if it flooded. I grabbed our passports, birth certificates, social security cards and a few other important items. While going through the house I made sure to put everything up as high in the closets as I could. We were more worried about it flooding than anything else.

Around 5 PM my husband got home, and he helped me finish packing and preparing the house for the hurricane. We left at 3:00 AM that next morning. I was luckily enough to have gotten gas in the morning before the city ran out.

We were in a state emergency at this point, all the grocery stores were about out of food, they were completely out of water and even gas stations were out of gas.

So how did I survive? WE evacuated like we were told. So many people stayed behind. Some thinking it wouldn't be that bad, others to protect their homes they have had for years, and some say didn't have anywhere else to go. BUT, there were plenty of shelters and transportation to get to those shelters.

We knew staying was not an option for us, our lives are more important than the items we had in our home. Did we have the money to leave, no, but we made the decision that would save our lives. We evacuated to a family friend's a few states away. I am beyond glad that we did.

We have yet got the okay to return, we are hoping we can by the end of this week. We know there will be damage, we lost power for over a week, we will have to clean and restore our home. BUT we are alive and that’s what matters the most to us.

So, if you ever are in a state that encounters a hurricane and have days to leave ahead of it, please evacuate! You will be glad that you did. You are also saving the time of the rescue workers who could be working to get power back on and help people at the shelters. Also, if you decided to stay during a mandatory evacuation and have to be rescued you get fined. You can replace a home and items in it, you can't replace your life.