All week we’ve been watching the news and waiting to see what Hurricane Florence is going to do. It’s scary stuff y’all. Hurricanes are no joke and this girl is a big one!
Florence is almost a large of North and South Carolina combined. Her top speed winds were record high though at this time she’s much less intense. But even with less intensity there will still be a lot of flooding and damage for those who live in the area in which she’s passing through.
Last week, I pondered how many hurricane’s I have lived through living and growing up on the Coast of South Carolina. I was interested in the actual number of storms I’ve experienced there in my lifetime. 22 hurricanes have graced the coast while I was living there.
Hurricane Hugo was the strongest with 130 mph winds when I was just a kid. In 1984, Hurricane Diana hit with 125 mph winds. And in the 90’s we were hit by Fran and Floyd with 115 mph winds. The flooding off of Floyd was terrible and it’s the only storm we left home for.
18 inches of water filled my parent’s home during Floyd and we were thankful we had chosen to leave. We had to wade to the house just to inspect the damage. It was weeks after before we were doing cleaning up the mess it left behind.
Hurricane Matthew was the last storm 2 years ago. The flooding and destruction left behind was unimaginable. The roads caved and washed away in many places and we had no electric for a long while after the storm passed. Even though it was not predicted to be a destructive storm, it was one of the worst storms I’ve seen.
And Florence is predicted to be similar in so many ways. She brings with her a ton of rain which is believed will cause record flooding to an area that holds my heart. And as we wait to see what will come of the events to follow her touching land, we can only hope for the best for South and North Carolina and all of those in her path.
My thoughts are with all who are affected by this storm and with those who live in my favorite place on Earth, my hometown and the area around it.