In Harm's Way

(image from the Weather Channel)

It is always distressing to heart news of natural disasters such as Hurricane Irma, but they become much more terrifying when you personally know someone who is in harm's way.

I have a high school friend who is in south Florida at this moment.  He and his husband live in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but they also own a condo in Miami Beach.  While I was in Mexico, when it seemed that Irma was heading toward Puerto Rico, I sent him an email telling them to be safe.  He replied the next day that they had gone to their Florida home for Labor Day weekend.  They had planned to return to San Juan, but had decided to stay put in Miami Beach when they saw the predicted course of the hurricane just to the north of Puerto Rico.  But, by that time Irma was possibly going to hit Florida also, and they didn't know what to do.  I told them to get out of there... possibly head up to Ohio where his mom still lives.

As it turned out Puerto Rico did not receive a direct hit from the hurricane.  However, it became more likely that Florida was going to bear the brunt of the storm.  They did go to the airport to try to go to Ohio, but all flights were completely booked.  The interstates heading north are gridlocked with bumper-to bumper traffic (and good luck if you need to fill up the gas tank).  As it became more probable that Miami would take a direct hit, and as a mandatory evacuation of Miami Beach was announced, I became more worried.  Their condo is just two blocks away from the ocean, and they are talking about a 12 foot storm surge.  Another high school friend and I have been sending them emails and leaving phone messages urging them to get to a shelter away from the ocean.  

I finally received an email today.  In spite of the evacuation order, they have planned to ride out the storm in their condo.  He said they have a week's supply of food and water, that they are on the fifth floor of the concrete building, and that the windows are all shuttered.  There are others in their building that have made the same decision.  For their sake I was relieved to hear today that the hurricane will probably veer a bit to the west.  (Good news for Miami, but terrible news for cities like Naples, Fort Myers and on up to the Tampa area.)  But hurricanes can be unpredictable, and it will not be until tomorrow morning that we know exactly where Irma makes landfall.  I still think that they should head to a shelter, but time is running out for that.  I will anxiously await news from them.

UPDATE:  Fortunately Irma was not as disastrous as it might have been.  I received an email from my friend in Miami Beach, and they weathered the storm with no problems.