The Devasting Storm That Wasn't

 Stormy Sea by Michael Beer

Well this week I spent the weekend like everyone else, watching the TV news. I was glued to the TV since my family lives on the East Coast.  Since I was just visiting The Jersey Shore, I watched frantically for any news to see if there was any flooding.  Half of my family was evacuated from their homes and had wait it out at various places away from the coast.  My brother and his boyfriend were visiting me but spent most of the time trying to figure out how to get the boyfriend back to Boston before the next scheduled flight on Thursday!  Needless to say, the whole thing was a bit of a non-event.  I am glad everyone is safe and sound and my family's homes are basically unharmed.  I know it could have been worse but it seems like the media took the whole reporting a bit too far.  The news channels were reporting about nothing at times and it became ridiculous.

I kept thinking about how stressful it is during emergency situations.  I have spent time getting our emergency kit together.  It is almost complete.  We are in a much better situation than many of my neighbors.  The one thing that I have a problem with is getting extra medication for my "go bag".  The emergency instructions state we are supposed to have extra medication in our emergency supplies.  I don't know about you but I am always forced to get my medication about two days before it runs out because my insurance will not cover more than 30 days at a time.  If I want to have extra medication, I would have to pay for it out of pocket.  Not really in the plans right now.

My advice to everyone (whether you live in a disaster area or not) is to have an emergency kit ready at all times.  You never know when an emergency will occur.  A fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, or earthquake can happen with little or no notice.  It is important to be ready and not be running out at the last minute looking for batteries, water and ice (if you have medication like Enbrel that needs to stay cold).

Be prepared!