Unless you’ve been living under a rock (which is probably the equivalent of having no power…except A LOT cooler), you’ve probably noticed that Boca Raton has been a tad different since Sunday, September 10th. Our community and families were rocked by a little storm called Hurricane Irma and I don’t think we’ll ever be the same again. I’m just so thankful for everyone who stepped up during the response effort. Now that I have a child AND a house, weathering a hurricane has become a whole new ball game. The stakes are much higher. Between preparation, storm stress, clean up, repairs and just being plain HOT, here’s how Hurricane Irma changed my Boca family.
How Hurricane Irma Changed my Boca Family
We now work better as a team.
When you have a hard deadline to prepare for a hurricane, your family learns to work better and more efficiently as a team. Even my 4 year-old was pitching in, making sure flashlights were in every room and setting up her bed in our “safe area.” My husband was out helping my parents secure their home and several commercial properties most of the time in the week leading up to the storm. It was up to us and our teamwork to make sure the interior of our home was ready for hours or days without power.
This also came into play when cleaning up and trying to get our house back to normal after the storm (although I am insisting we leave our shutters up until further notice).
My kid doesn’t need a screen to entertain herself.
Most of our friends with kids evacuated Florida, so unfortunately #dailybocaavery has had quite a bit of solo time with adults this past week. She misses her buddies. However, she has become quite good at entertaining herself. Between arts and crafts via headlamp and dress-up by candlelight, I’m super proud of my girl for finding ways to have fun and pass the time during and after Irma.
Power makes our house a home.
When the power went out, we went into hurricane warrior mode. Candles were lit, headlamps were put on, lanterns were placed strategically around the house. But then, it started to get warm…really warm. We were one of the lucky ones who got power back after 10 hours or so. Grateful doesn’t even begin to describe that feeling, btw.
Even though our house escaped major damage from Hurricane Irma, without air conditioning and the good mood that accompanies a temperature controlled environment, our house is not a home. Special thanks to FPL for working so hard to get Boca Raton’s power back up!
Facebook keeps Mommy sane.
I don’t know what we did before Social Media during a storm. Being connected, to Facebook especially, and seeing updates from friends and the City of Boca Raton kept me literally sane during and after the storm. When it comes to how Hurricane Irma changed my Boca family, feeling informed and knowing HOW everyone was doing and WHAT to do was key.
We hope everyone came through Hurricane Irma safely and that if you don’t have power, it comes back SOON!
