Am I Gonna Be Stuck In A Hurricane?

Hurricane!! Am I Gonna Be Stuck In A Hurricane?



I’ll never forget when I first moved to St. Petersburg, Florida……we lived in Madiera Beach. One of the many communities nestled between the Gulf of Mexico and the Metropolitan area.

It didn’t take too long for the first Tropical Storm to wander it’s way up the Gulf Coast. The house was less than a hundred yards away from the Gulf and I had some concerns……getting blown away and flooding.  So we started planning on evacuation……getting inland. I went around the community asking others of their experiences with the tropical storm and hurricanes.  No hurricanes since sometime in the early to mid 60’s so not many fell into that category.  And as for tropical storm experiences, the one’s that had that experience reported that there was some local flooding but nothing that invaded their homes.



Now I felt safe.

I’d experienced many hurricanes in South Louisiana thru my life, but I lived about 100 miles inland.  No risk of flooding from the Gulf of Mexico, just possible low lying flood due to excessive rain.  The wind was the biggest problem there.  And quite often there would be damage around the neighborhood.  My memory is rather touching as neighbors would help neighbors who had damaged homes.  I guess that still happens today……I hope.

We never had to go stay in any shelter of sort.  The worst I recall was being without electricity for a few days and no phone service for about the same.

None of my homes had ever sustained damage (including rentals) and I had never been this close to the danger of the Gulf waters until then.

Things went well, there was no need to evacuate.

Am I Gonna Be Stuck In A Hurricane?

Now I’ve a new experience.

Home is now the Caribbean coast of Mexico. I’m roughly 1 kilometer from the warm waters of the Caribbean. And what do we have? A tropical depression forming on top of us (it seems no danger of this one becoming a hurricane at this point) and another tropical depression organizing along the South American coast of Guyana.  Just got the news it’s no longer a tropical depression, it is now a tropical storm named Bret.

If the forecasts are correct Tropical Storm Bret will become a potent hurricane but will make its way northward before approaching the Mexican coast.  Rain is what we’re to expect.



All this weather information is quite iffy.  There’s no local radar service like in the states.  Large communities have hi-tech radar systems from their local television stations and airports.  That’s not the case here.  Our look is from satellites and it may be about 30 to 60 minutes old. We’re at the mercy of the internet and in bad weather……that’s another problem.  Imagine if you will going for a walk and seeing exposed power lines to residences coming out of the ground and bare telephone wires (DSL) leading to residences.  This is Mexico.



The condo I’m in is off a slope from the major highway (only road) a bit above sea-level (nothing to brag about) and surrounded by jungle. Lots of jungle.  There’s an evacuation facility in our community half the distance to the Caribbean that this condo is aand lower.  I’m puzzled as what to do.

When I first imagined this scenario when I lived in St. Petersburg I thought of escaping to Orlando type of distance and city.  Well, that doesn’t exist here…….that’s ‘jungle’.  No Plan B….yet.

Am I Gonna Be Stuck In A Hurricane

Fortunately, under the present circumstances, there’s no clear and present danger.  I’ll have to re-evaluate. I’m on the penisula, so just treking west isn’t much of an option…it’s due south and then west.

I’ve two young grandkids here and as it is the options for entertainment are slim, so being cooped up in a condo without electricity isn’t very desirable.

I’m a bit anxious…..but I’ll survive.

Things are never as bad, well hardly ever as bad as I imagine.  It’ll be several days before Tropical Storm Bret becomes a threat and I’ll have a clearer idea as to the threat.



What I’m thinking is heading south to Chetumal, or maybe west of Tulum to Coba. Those options I’ll be exploring in the next day and that will be the makings of my emergency hurricane plan.

I’ve stocked on food and water, so I’ve got that part covered.  And I filled the gas in the SUV.  I’ve got a few things covered.

After this tropical depression passes I’ll get out and about talking with some of the locals I know and networking thru the expat sites on Facebook.

Keeping calm and enjoying the adventure.

Peace, love, and beaches,

John

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