WorldTravelReynolds

Watching our leaders and trying to find out if we need to evacuate

So, its getting real. This hurricane is headed directly for Tampa. We are in Dunedin which is about 25 miles from downtown Tampa. We are very close. If this Hurricane hits us, it will be one for the record books since we haven’t seen a hurricane here in over a century. We have  downloaded our keep alert system app and waiting for our Governor and other elected officials to let us know what to do. It appears we are not in an evacuation zone. If they say evacuate, we are gone! Car is full of gas and I’m ready! It’s really hard to believe we aren’t in a zone because we are only 1 mile from the water but our neighborhood is on a sloped hill so that may be why.

Some predictions were worrying. We are in the purple spot on the map

To prepare for the storm, water surges and power outages, we first went to get some sandbags but they were all out so someone recommended potting soil. Chuck bought 8 bags (2 for our neighbors) and we put them on the front two doors. One door is to the Lanai and one at the front entrance. Our garage is pretty tight so we won’t bother with it. We grabbed our bicycle lights off our bikes. They are nice little flashlights and we moved food into one refrigerator/freezer (we have one in the garage) so that if the power does go out, we won’t need to open more than one.

Sandbags (potting soil) in front of doors

Chuck was so worried about the ice cream melting all over the floor. I put them in plastic bags just in case! We pulled the car in the garage and left enough room to put our trash and recycle bins behind it and the grill. We will need it for cooking if the power goes out. Other than that, there’s not much more we can do.

Garage packed with our outside items. It looks like there needs to be some pictures in there. 🙂

While preparing our area, we watched our neighbors across the street working on their yards. One neighbor has a library box that people can come and get books to read. He moved that indoors with his electric scooter/wheelchair. His next trick was to try and take down this swing so Chuck walked over to try and help. Apparently, his locked the chains many years ago and can’t locate his key so he’s decided to leave it there. Let’s hope it doesn’t leaver “there” and come over “here” into our front living room. That’s a scary thought. It’ll be interesting to watch this swing and see what happens. I’ll be recording it periodically to see what happens!

The neighbors swing.. Keeping an eye on it!

We also found out today that Chuck’s 96 year old uncle Claude passed away yesterday. He was such a fun character and we loved visiting with him and his wife Ann who passed away a year ago. This is the last of Chucks uncles and aunts. He was the baby in the family. We won’t be able to make the funeral but we will send something to the church in his memory. He loved his church and loved his military background. He was a colonel in the US Navy. What an accomplishment. Rest in Peace Colonel. We will miss you!

May God bless you and keep you safe!

Chuck & Lea Ann