Post-Irma update

So let me tell you, nothing hinders story promotion like evacuating from a damn hurricane.  Over the next couple of days, I’m going to post some story promotion, but I wanted to let all five of my blog readers know that we made it through the storm okay. (I was posting in real time over on Tumblr, if you want to check out my “stormy weather” tag.)

So, yes, we took off ahead of Irma and stayed with family up north.  It was a long, slow, cramped drive that my back has still not entirely recovered from, but we found gas and were not trapped on the interstate.  It got really slow at times–20 mph on 75, whee!–but we never came to a complete halt for more than a minute or two.  We spent time with my aunt and cousin, watching the Weather Channel and swearing at it before getting online and watching our local news feeds to find out what was really happening.  Then of course there was the worrying until we could get back in touch with everyone at home, and the kindness of friends checking on the houses (my parents’ and ours), and the long, cramped drive home.

We got very, very lucky and returned to very little damage (we had some branches in our yard and lost a freezer full of meats) and power that had just come back on earlier in the day.  Some of my friends and co-workers are still without power, some had some serious storm damage to their homes, so I’m counting my blessings on that one.

We rode out Charley and three other storms at home in 2004.  I think we made the right choice to get out for Irma–it’s not an easy choice to make because there’s no actual certainty until the storm hits–and we were all fortunate enough to be able to leave.  We had a place to go and employers who encouraged everyone to be safe.  We also had social media to follow to find out what roads were clear and where we could find gas–whatever else you may think about Facebook, it’s an amazing local tool in a crisis.

So now we’re back, and our house is back to normal.  I’m back to work, the kid goes back to school next week.  But Houston’s still recovering, south Florida is still digging out, and Puerto Rico could use some help, if you have some money to spare.