It's that time of year again...

When you grow up in Florida, there are no snow days from school. There are, however, hurricane days. In 29 years, I’ve lived through more hurricanes than I can remember. There were 3 in 2004, alone. It’s something you get used to.

While hurricanes are definitely something you should take seriously, I notice people who aren’t used to them, tend to really panic over them. The good news is, you can be prepared and if you live near a coastal community, chances are your local weather authorities will know well in advance when a hurricane is coming. This gives you time to prepare or evacuate the area. I’ve found it’s better to be a little prepared in advance, though, because when a warning is issued, the stores are packed with people buying water and batteries.

At our current base, hurricanes are possible (a major storm devastated one beach community about 45 minutes from here years ago), but they don’t happen nearly as often as they do in Florida. So every year, about this time, I start getting the emails saying I need to give the spouse organization my contact information and evacuation plans in the event of a hurricane. Then, with every storm (doesn’t matter if it’s a hurricane, tropical storm or tropical depression) I start to get panicked emails and phone calls from the spouse organization about the “hurricane”. As a side note, there is quite a difference between a tropical depression, tropical storm, and a hurricane; but the spouse organization insists on calling them all hurricanes. This bothers me because I feel the improper nomenclature here causes somewhat unnecessary panic.

I also start getting badgering calls that I need to “report in.” These are usually at an ungodly hour on a weekend whether the “hurricane” has hit here or not. Sometimes they are even when a hurricane has hit multiple states away, which I don’t get.

In Florida, while we take these things seriously, we also find ways to have fun. It’s not uncommon for some Floridians to look forward to throwing a hurricane party. Usually this means “hunkering down” with friends at someone’s house who you know doesn’t lose power or water during a major storm. Someone always thinks to bring some kind of adult beverage, as well.  In Key West, the locals don’t even evacuate for a storm because the roads would be too crowded getting out of there. They get the tourists out and prepare for the storm.

Once, the “lead spouse” was panicking about a tropical storm (that she kept calling a hurricane and never actually hit. We didn’t even get rain bands from it.). I made the joke that in Florida we have hurricane parties and all you need is a little rum for a good hurricane. To which she replied that I should take things more seriously. It was at this moment that I chose not to quote “it’s five o’clock somewhere” and ask what Jimmy Buffett would do... Although, I have a feeling I know what he would do. Maybe I should take things more seriously, but I just don’t see any reason to cause unnecessary panic. There’s a difference between prepared and panicked.