Hurricane Irma Update from Cutting for Business

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Retired Content: This content has been retired because we’ve rebuilt from Hurricane Irma and our lives are back on track. If you’d like to read my personal experience of the storm, read on.

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Tuesday, September 12th, 2017

First, I want to say thank you to all the readers who offered prayers and well wishes before, during, and after the storm. From kind words online and private messages via email, to offers to house my family and I during the storm – THANK YOU. It truly makes me tear up with the amount of support that Cutting for Business readers showed myself, my family, and my fellow Floridians.

I wanted to let everyone know that my family and I weathered the storm well. I packed up the blog headquarters and we were well prepared to hunker down in the office for many days. We had plenty of water, canned food, flashlights, power banks, a generator, gasoline, and more. Amy, from Adorably Amy Designs, headed over with her family and all nine of us sheltered down together.

What it was Like During the Storm

I have to admit, at times it was scary – very scary. The wind was loud and literally made roaring noises through the neighborhood when the hurricane’s eye passed directly through with sheets of rain. At other times, it was downright boring – we passed the time watching weather coverage for hours and binge watching Disney cartoons with the kids.

After the Storm

• About 80% of my county was without power – but many are getting power again everyday.
• Most counties have curfews overnight for residents to keep them off the roads and at their houses.
• Two days later, mom and pop stores are starting to open with limited resources. Some have reopened without power.
• Big box grocery stores are starting to open, but there are no refrigerated or frozen items.
• Some gas stations are beginning to reopen – but the lines are anywhere from 15 to about 50 cars long to fill up.
• There are only a few restaurants open and the lines are incredibly long.
• Schools are still being used as shelters and will not reopen to students until next week.
• My neighborhood faired quite well, with lots of tree debris and only a few uprooted and overturned trees. There’s very little massive structural damage, but many homes have roof damage and destroyed landscaping.
• Locally, there is some catastrophic damage to older buildings and mobile homes.
• Mail delivery services should begin in the next few days, so I’m taking packages to the post office once daily.

The Blog

I will resume my normal blogging schedule on September 19th, after the kids go back to school and life returns to normal. In the meantime, both my Amazon shop and Etsy shop have been restocked and packages are being shipped.

Please continue to pray for those without power and those with significant damages as they begin to rebuild.