When "A" Isn't a Good Thing

When we moved to our Continuing Care Community in Naples, we looked at several factors. One thing we didn’t think to check was the Hurricane Evacuation Zone. We are in Zone A – the first to be evacuated – mainly because of the possibility of a storm surge (flood). Zone A is amazingly ‘skinny’ probably just a little further than a mile from the Gulf. The RV Park where we used to winter, just ½ mile further east, is in Zone C. Lucky us. This time being an “A” isn’t good.

We are in the blue box, just blocks from Zone C

I’ve learned evacuation means dumping everything perishable in your refrigerator or freezer with a few days’ notice, certainly not enough to eat it like we did when we had months to plan for a long trip. It means trying to figure out what to do with the plants on my balcony, which might have bugs. For us, it means taping the window that leaks every time we have a hard rain.

In some respects, my evacuation will be a breeze. Busses will take us to a hotel outside the ‘danger’ zone. In other respects, it will be a pain. Unlike people without pets, who can pack their one bag and hop on the bus, we’ll have a whole lot of paraphernalia to ready: Litter box, litter, food, toys and of course, the cat who doesn’t take fondly to being stuffed into his carrier.

Putting the cat into the carrier

By the time hurricane Ian finally reaches SWFL latitude, I’ll be so bored with the hurricane news. I’ve been looking at the tropical storm maps and progressions on TV for days now. And hubby is a worrier and a news junky when it comes to bad weather. It makes a good balance because I’ve been called a Pollyanna.

I've seen a chart like this hundreds of times over the past 2 days

Speaking of the news, by Friday news stories warned about huge lines at Costco and Walmart of people stocking up on water, toilet paper, paper towels and gas. Being in an apartment, I don’t keep a large supply of toilet paper or paper towels. On Saturday morning, before I set about emptying my refrigerator, I noticed I had 4 paper towel sheets left. So I went to the closest store, Walgreens. There was 4 customers, the shelves had a full supply of water, toilet paper and paper towels. Sunday, at noon, I went to the local gas station. 12 pumps only three customers. Nothing like the long lines I saw on the news reports.

Being in an apartment, we don’t have the worries a homeowner has. I’d hate to have to worry about sand bags and storm shutters. I’d hate to have to clean up the mess after such storms. We came down to Naples a week after Irma in 2017 and half the houses had blue tarps on the roof. Some of the tarps were still there a couple of years later. Every empty lot or space was piled with debris from the hurricane. Power was still off in many places. Only one grocery store near us had power.

Up north people complain about snow. Right now, I’d take snow any day. Before my Chicago friends scream in protest, snow wasn’t that bad for me. I commuted by train to work. I drove my car from a garage 1.9 miles to a covered parking garage. Once in Chicago, a ‘pedway’, an underground walkway, delivered me from the subway to the lobby of my workplace. I never worried about umbrellas, boots or window scrapers.

Snow is pretty. And since our living room picture window faced our back yard, my most frequent view was untouched by traffic and footprints. And I didn’t have to evacuate when it snowed. The only inconvenience was a longer commute or removing the snow on the driveway. Snow came quickly and left quickly. Ok, on bad snow years some parking lots still had six foot mounds of dirt which used to be snow in July. But that was rare.

The only good picture I could find of snow.

I started writing this on Saturday when it still seemed like Ian might centerpunch our area. It looks like it will move further west and we will avoid evacuation. But there are two new storms in the making in the Atlantic. Maybe another round of endless animated tropical storm maps and progressions. And possibly preparing to evacuate.

The price we pay for all the glorious days we enjoy.