As Hurricane Florence makes landfall in the Carolinas early Friday, the nation watches with bated breath, praying that all lives and property will be protected. The enormous hurricane, once Category 4, was downgraded to a Category 2 but experts warn that it will bring catastrophic, life-threatening flooding and storm surges.
Lisa Duffy, Catholic speaker and author, joined Morning Air on Thursday to give listeners an idea of what it’s been like to evacuate from her home in South Carolina for Hurricane Florence. “As of yesterday, the plan was to leave [Thursday] morning. But I was told by a DOT representative that there was no guarantees that the route we were going to take would be open. So I put the kids in the car and we actually came to relatives’ house in Atlanta, which is where we are now. And I’m very glad that I made that decision because the authorities there are extremely serious about the value of human life and we’ve been through Irma and Matthew, both Category 1 when they hit, and I just don’t want to stick around for that,” said Duffy.
The decision to leave your home in these situations is not an easy one, says Duffy. “It’s not easy, it’s a total disruption of your life. There’s always this kind of sitting on the fence—am I being too dramatic or am I being safe? And it takes a lot of prudence and judgement to make a decision to stay. I know many people who have stayed, I know many people who have gone. You have to get a hotel if you don’t have relatives to go to; it can be costly and completely disruptive. But I would like to err on the side of caution, especially because we had been through the Category 1 hurricanes and there’s a lot of wind damage. The areas around our neighborhood flooded dramatically and we were cut off for several days to a week, we couldn’t leave our neighborhood. But we were fortunate because other people lost their homes.”
Lord God, protect those in the path of Hurricane Florence. Keep them safe and preserve their homes and property from damage. Bless all those who will offer aid and assistance during and after the storm, and bring peace and healing to all affected.
Please also protect all those in the Philippines and Southeast Asia who are facing a dangerous Super Typhoon. Deliver your people from catastrophic weather and keep us safe, Lord. Amen.
