When you were a little kid, do you remember the late night hours when you would wake up in terror and cry out:  “Mom! – there’s a monster in my room”? Despite how comfortable or what sleep stage she was in, she was there to assure you: “There are no monsters in this room.”  Hopefully she didn’t tell you “monsters don’t exist.” Because unfortunately life is full of ‘em.

Florida – the southeastern coast of the US – is facing a monster right now.  “Sleep” is the last thing they are concerned about losing.  Those in the know tell everyone “evacuate!”  “Expect power outages and storm surge.”  “Don’t be brave and take any chances.”

We are blessed to live in a time of technology where we are warned in advance of monsters. And still, there are those who aren’t quite buying the ‘evacuate order’  because they don’t see the storm.  By the time they do, it’s often too late.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit hard and is still considered the third most deadly hurricane in history based on the numbers of deaths and billions of dollars in damages.  We are better at predicting and preparing for these monsters but there is little we can do when we come face-to-face with one – except evacuate or brace!

Monsters come in many forms.  Each family that has faced ‘a monster’ in their life knows it’s not really about cost or numbers.  We lost one child in the monster of an explosive car accident, and we know – ‘one loss’ to any family is a large number.   We could not prepare for this loss.

But the monster hurricane hitting the SE Coast, comes  with warnings:

1. Pay attention to predictions of those in the know, who have ‘been there, studied that.’
2. Recognize the signs that lead up to the monster.
3. Tropical depressions with wind speeds under 38 mph face us each in our lives.  Learn to deal with one storm at a time.
4. Tropical storms with wind speeds up to 73 mph, should tell us to stay put and batten down hatches.
5. Hurricane monsters come in at wind speeds over 74 mph, are impossible to fight.   If possible, take yourselves out of harms way.

Learn to recognize the real monsters in your life, and defend yourself accordingly!Dawn