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Growing up in Florida, I always knew how unpredictable hurricanes were. We had them every other year, and really didn't know what to expect from them until they came. Much of the time, they brought much needed rain to the state, and did very little damage.

This all changed for everyone several years ago, when hurricane Charlie came through. In the beggining, it seemed like any other storm to come to the area. No one expected it to get much stronger than a CAT 1, and most expected it to stay at tropical storm strength. The meteorologists seemed to think the storm wasn't even going to hit Florida at first, but were quickly proven wrong. The storm smashed into the coast as a CAT 4, and many people hadn't even prepared. Many assumed that the storm was going to pass on by, or that it was "just a storm... whats the big deal?" as I heard many say.

My family however, was fortunate enough to know better. Being a fifth generation Floridian, my family had lived in Florida for over one hundred years. We knew the dangers of violent storms, and knew we needed to be ready. We grabbed as many batteries as we could, a few candles, and as many canned goods as we could get, without being greedy. We had a well for our water, which when the power goes out, leaves us without water. So we stocked up on bottled water, and filled up every bucket, jug, and the bathtub, and the even the washing machine before the storm hit. Without this, we would have no water to take care of anything with, including flush the toilet, and take baths. We put boards over our windows, and picked up any loose items in the yard, including lawn furniture, and put them inside. We filled our gas tanks, and several gas cans, and hoped for the best.

The storm wasn't supposed to hit our area, but it did, and left many in trouble. As if the wind and rain wasn't bad enough, the hurricane also knocked out power all over the state. Many, including us, were left without power for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, the only thing we were unable to get before the storm was a generator. However, a relative from north Florida, was able to get one and bring it to us. Without it, we would have been in trouble. We would have lost everything in our refrigerator, as well as everything in our freezers. The water we had pumped before the storm only lasted us a week, and then we needed to use the generator to run the pump to pump in more water. Though it was a small one, it was sufficiant. We couldn't run it for very long, but we were able to use it where and when we needed it.

Our being prepared came in handy, not only for us, but also for friends, family and neighbors. We gave away supplies, gas, and even brought flashlights to an elderly friend of ours who's only flashlight had broken 2 days after the storm. We also gave away boards and metal roofing to those who had roofing damage from the storm. We were fortunate that we had stocked up on everything, and we we so glad that we could be of some use after the storm.

The biggest problem following the storm, was not only building damage, but crop damage as well. Much of my family worked in the agriculture field, and the damages to both the crops, and the buildings, serverely cut out pay.

It took a while to repair the damage the storm caused, and the next several storms that came through didn't help either. In the past couple years, we have not had any major hurricanes come through. But I am certainly not going to live without preperation. I await the next storm that comes through, knowing I will be prepared, but also knowing, that no one can be prepared enough for these violent storms.

Learn more about this author, Renee' Palmer.
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