Hurricane Irma - Currently Hunkering Down as We Keep a Close Watch

I know that you have seen video / news footages of what Hurricane Irma is capable of. It is scary to think that it is coming to Florida. With Hurricane Harvey had just caused deaths and damages in Texas, just a week ago (or has it just been days?), people are worried and afraid. But it is for the same reason too, that people are preparing as much as possible.

As of right now, Chris and I are still staying here in Tampa, FL. We are in evacuation zone B. There is no mandatory evacuation yet for Hillsborough county zone B.

Yes, the hurricane is massive and scary. We continue to watch and stay updated with the hurricane’s path through the news and the NOAA website. We are NOT trying to ride the storm, just for the sake of “riding the storm.” We are not staying because of our belongings, as those are just material things that can be replaced. We value our lives. (And) that is why we want to have an informed decision, rather than making a decision out of impulse or of sheer panic. We also do not want to be stuck on the road and be vulnerable, then get caught in that massive storm. We want to keep our family, the 3 of us (Chris, me, & Honu), safe, and as much as possible, DRY. We want to make sure we have all the information and have the best strategy possible in these type of situations. Please know that in almost all emergency situations, we are taught to “stay calm” and “NOT to panic.” It is because when you panic, you make irrational decisions that could potentially harm you and your family.

We are arming ourselves by…

• staying calm and keeping track of the hurricane’s path from reliable sources such as NOAA, government website, governor’s twitter account gets updated almost every 30 mins or every hour.
• over-preparing (preparing our home & supplies – food, water, medicine, important documents, evacuation plans, safety plans, keeping enough toiletries, etc.)
• praying for ours and everyone’s safety — yes we did! We really did! As many of our friends know, we go to church regularly – twice a week in fact! We live in Tampa, but we go to our church in St. Petersburg, FL. We cross the bridge twice a week to go to church! That is about a 30-45mins drive with a light to moderate traffic. So it is in our faith to pray for help from the Father in times like these. (And) that’s what we did. We solemnly prayed. — amazingly, our dog, Honu, joined in by sitting down right next to us. Honu was behaved and didn’t make a sound while we were praying.

Safety is our priority. If we feel in some way or form that our lives are threatened and we fear for our safety, then we will NOT wait for any mandatory evacuation — We will just go.
So if it’s safer to evacuate, we will — that is part of the plan. But if it’s much safer to stay, then we will hunker down here in Tampa.

I will continue to post updates – as it is easier for me to update our whole clan — yes, a clan!! With my 2 brothers and my mom! My mom alone has 11 siblings. From there you can calculate how many uncles and aunts I have, along with my how many sweet cousins I have, and how many “pamangkins” I have from those cousins. And what about my mom’s cousins and her uncles and aunts too!? That’s just my mom’s side of the family! LOL

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