Health | Fleeing for your life | My story

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Fleeing for your life

The word: flee as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary: To run away, to flee from evil or danger, to hurry toward a place of security

Every day we see or read about people fleeing from something….terrorists, wars, natural disasters, the list is endless. But did you ever stop to think about what the people in those pictures or on television are experiencing during the flight from danger? We’ve done volunteer work, worked with displaced populations, worked with homeless and flood relief. But never did I feel what many people are feeling right now in this world.

The fear of fleeing for your life

Psychologists have long studied the effects of stress on both the mind and body. The flight or fight response is both hormonal as well as mental. Adrenaline and cortisol flood the body creating the sense of urgency to flee from danger. Prolonged stress can cause both physical (heart disease) and psychological (depression) scars.
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We moved from the Midwest to Southwestern Florida May of 2017. We had done our research, we knew all about the area, had asked all of the questions one would ask, downsizing and moving to a new state, new environment, next dimension in the journey of life.

We had lived predominately in the Midwest for the last 40 years we were accustomed to tornado threats, every summer. But we weren't really prepared. Rainy season began in June in earnest, lots and lots of rain. It was fine, rain was necessary. August rolled around and we all witnessed in horror as Hurricane Harvey destroyed large areas in Texas. So much damage and displacement and lives lost for humans and animals. Unimaginable! We thought surely this must be the worst of the season.

But as September came around nothing could prepare us for what was coming our way. That first week the weather reports started projecting another round of hurricanes. 3 in fact! And they were headed toward the state of Florida. It starts with a sick feeling in your stomach. You say to yourself, it won’t hit the gulf side; Hurricanes never hit this far south. So as we watched the forecasts, the projections worsened. We talked to locals, people who had been through hurricanes before…they were leaving.

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We realized we would have to leave.

As I said earlier, we downsized when we moved to Florida. We made the decision to get rid of the majority of our possessions. All we had left were those things which had some personal value to us. You know, items given to us from family…our children’s precious school age keepsakes, family pictures. The forecasts were daunting. They were projecting 8-10 foot storm surges. That meant our home could be destroyed

I decided I would pack up as many children’s keepsakes and pictures and ship a couple of boxes to our daughters on the way out of town. We placed everything as high off of the floor as we could, loaded our small travel van with food and our cats and started driving north.

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Traffic was scary.

Fuel was getting scarce. It took 11 hours to drive an otherwise 3 hour drive. Weather forecasters were saying the hurricane would hit the Atlantic coast of Florida so we drove up the Gulf side. We settled in a small town in north western Florida. And waited. We talked to our daughters, they were worried. We told them not to worry, we would be fine. But would we be okay? We watched the weather, we didn’t sleep, too anxious. The forecast changed…Irma was now coming Gulf side. We couldn’t leave, roads were closed, no fuel.

Hurricane Irma hit landfall in Southwest Florida on September 10th at 140 mph-my birthday.

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The Eye of the hurricane traveled north directly over our neighborhood up the Gulf coast and directly over the park we were staying in. We sat through the night in a small community clubhouse with 50 people we didn’t know (along with their pets), watching the weather on a big screen TV. Listening to the wind and rain outside…and waited. We decided at about 6 am we would go back to our van. So we gathered our two cats and went out into the night. It was dark. It was raining hard. We waded in the dark through knee deep water not even thinking about what could be swimming in the water as the rivers were all running over. We got back to the van and I cried. It had just been too much.

The next morning was sunny! Okay, let’s go home! Nope, we were ordered to stay in place by the local police. Of course streets weren’t passable, and of course there wasn’t any fuel! We had a little bit of food left. We would be okay. Did we still have a home? We didn’t know. So we waited.

Finally 2 days later we started home. Found fuel just right on the way to the highway. Our drive was slow, took us about 5 hours to get home. Fuel was non-existent. The devastation got worse the further south we traveled. Soon everything around us was flooded with vegetation and signs destroyed. Driving was perilous- debris everywhere. You can’t imagine the incredible destruction until you are there. Somehow we were able to make it back on one tank of fuel…arrived with less than ¼ tank of fuel. Heartbreaking, so many humans displaced. Those who couldn’t leave slept in schools, churches, sports coliseums.

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When we drove in our community I cried again. I was overwhelmed, I felt like I was going to be sick. Trees, some with 6 foot trunks pulled up twisted and thrown down.

Sidewalks torn out, homes without roofs, windows missing. The streets were impassible, no electricity, no water.

But we were home

We had our share of damage, but nothing like some. A twister hit our house in the middle of the Hurricane, took some of roof, damaged windows and the pool enclosure was a mass of tangled aluminum. But no flooding. We were blessed. We were so glad to be home but we didn’t feel glad. Finally electricity, potable water 10 days later. For the next several weeks we didn’t sleep well. We found we were emotional (unusual for us both).

Each time we left our home the destruction hit us in the face and we felt sick again. Lives were changed everywhere. Some lost everything, including their homes. Some in other areas hit by Irma and Harvey are still without electricity, water. The stress continues. They're still fleeing.

Even now, months later the destruction here is still visible in places, but we humans are resilient! The stress has settled We bounce back from tragedy. As I said, we were very blessed. The long and the short of it is I now have a deep knowing and understanding for all of those who have to flee from danger. My heart will always hurt for those fleeing because I have done it, and may have to do it again some day.

The impact is life-changing. I know I am changed.

Thanks for stopping by today and allowing me to share my experience with you.