Hurricane Irma Prep

As I sit here typing this, we are waiting for the arrival of Hurricane Irma.  The traffic is much lighter than normal, and a strange calm.  I have seen reports of the devastation this storm has already caused.  They are reporting that this is the most powerful hurricane to ever come out of the Atlantic.  The last report I saw, it has sustained winds of 180mph and gusts to over 220mph.  Irma will pass about 100 miles North of where we are, so I hope that it is not too bad here.  We are however 4000 feet higher than Port-Au-Prince.  

We have tied everything down that we can.  I have used car tie down straps for the solar panels on the roof. When Hurricane Matthew came through last October, I had used a 3/8" rope to tie the solar panels down.  It worked, we did not lose any panels.  After the storm however, the rope was broken and the racking for the panels had broken.  Since Irma has much higher winds, I thought it would be a good idea to be safe and use something stronger.  Hopefully the anchors into the concrete roof stay in place.
We have pulled everything away from windows, mostly over a concern of things getting wet.  The homes here are not sealed.  No caulking around windows, so heavy rains will come in around window frames.  We are expecting some rain to get into the house, so we have towels, mops, and buckets ready. 

Our furniture pulled to the center of the room

My tools are in small rooms downstairs.  We are expecting those rooms to flood, so we placed everything on pallets, hoping that this will be sufficient.  We have brought some tools into the house for easy access if needed.  We have a small chainsaw that is ready to go.  Although there are not many trees here.  I have rope and shovels ready if needed.

Watching the news, I see many needs.  Recovery from Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and the fires in the Columbia River Gorge and all over the Western States. 

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So please, pray for those that have been impacted by these events and for those in the path of this storm.  Also, pray for those that will be helping with the recovery.  Seeing this type of destruction is very emotional.  please pray that they have the strength they need and help them to know that helping others in need is the right thing to do.

God Bless,

Ron Sheppard