Photo courtesy WKMGAs I write this I’m watching the local news, trying to figure out what the next few days will look like. I live less than three miles from Walt Disney World as the crow flies, which I guess would also be as a hurricane flies. I tend to deal with stress by making bad jokes, so please forgive me!
Hurricane Ian is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, and a state of emergency has been declared for all of Florida. That doesn’t mean that Ian will cause damage in the entire state. It just means that hurricanes are unpredictable, and it’s best to be prepared for something, no matter where someone lives.
What we’re being told today is that we need to finish up anything that we need to do for preparation. That means bringing in loose things outdoors such as patio furniture. (Our dog is going to be so confused!) It also means to get the flashlights ready, fill up bottles with extra water, and make one final trip to the store if needed. They’re not suggesting that we board up windows, so that’s a good sign for the Orlando area.
Right now, it does not look like my part of Central Florida will get a direct hit from Hurricane Ian. We should be on the right side of it, which means that we’ll have wind and a lot of rain. A foot or more of rain is possible. Rain will start Tuesday evening, and will continue through Thursday or possibly Friday. This could all be different with the next update.
This is my 13th Hurricane Season here in Florida. I’ve seen several storms that were supposed to wreak havoc but then didn’t locally. I also had Hurricane Irma pass directly over my house, taking part of my roof with it. There’s a balance between taking a storm seriously and allowing the stress to take over. We rarely lose power at our house, but we’re ready in case we do. We have food and water. We’re prepared.
Walt Disney World will be fine. The buildings were built to sustain hurricane force winds, and the Cast Members know how to clean up and restore the magic as quickly as possible. In the past, people who needed to evacuate from a hurricane’s path were told to seek shelter in Orlando. Even with a direct hit like with Irma, the area bounced back quickly.
I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated on what is going on from my perspective. I’ll try to add updates on Facebook and Instagram, as well as the Disney Over 50 website. I’m not a meteorologist, so please also check with local sources who understand all of this better than I do. Remember that national sources such as The Weather Channel will only show the worst. I am not putting them down, the information that they offer is accurate. It’s just that local news stations know the area and will report on both the good and the bad.
If you’re a person of faith, please say a prayer for those in the path of Hurricane Ian and the other storms out there. If you’re like me and could be affected by Hurricane Ian, know that my prayers are with you. Please take the storm seriously, even if you do it with a sense of humor. It’s better to have a kitchen full of patio furniture that didn’t need to be brought in than to have that same furniture found down the street in a neighbor’s window.