Forced to Leave My Home by Hurricane Irma!

in travel •  7 years ago  (edited)

Our home in Saint Petersburg, Florida received a mandatory evacuation order today because of hurricane Irma! Fortunately I am writing this from Auburn, Alabama as seen in the picture of us outside our hotel below because my wife suggested on Tuesday that we would be better leaving Wednesday well before anything was issued or the track of the storm was more probable to hit Florida. We set out yesterday amidst more uncertainty as gas stations were just starting to run out of gas but fortunately I had filled up to full two days earlier and we have a hybrid Toyota RAV4 which gets 30 MPG highway even in traffic. In just 42 more "easy" payments of $909 I will actually own it :)

To escape hurricane Irma, we left Wednesday September 6, 2017 before nearly anyone else was ready to leave in our area. We drove from Pinellas county Florida to Auburn, Alabama yesterday as a halfway stopping point to visit my mom in north Mississippi near Starkville on Friday. The drive according to the GPS would have taken about 6 and a half hours the night before with no traffic. As I packed my studio up and loaded the car, we began our drive at 12:30 pm. We arrived at our hotel at 11 pm our time which technically was 10 pm CST after sitting through 3 and a half hours of traffic even with taking side roads that diverted another hour of the traffic jam.

Today as the mandatory evacuation order came in for where we leave, we now sit over 300 miles away. I am very grateful we took the leap of faith to leave before it was more certain that it would be a good idea to do so. All the gas stations have gas and the stores have plenty of supplies in Auburn. On the GPS, traffic looks about as bad as yesterday so far to drive up here with over 50 miles of interstate being at nearly a dead stop according to Google maps.

When will we be able to return to our home? When will I get to use my studio again? I am not sure when or if I will get to see my home filming studio again! Until then will be releasing videos I already filmed along with making new ones on the road starting with this post!

Force to evacuate Florida by Hurricane Irma to hotel in Auburn Alabama.jpg

In the picture my wife took just a few minutes before this (followed by me taking at least 10 minutes to figure out how to crop it in the previewer on my macbook pro), I am in the middle of the glamorous process of trying to get both of my dogs to poop on the little section of grass outside the hotel while encouraging my daughter to find something better to do than look in the dog waste trashcan! She is going down for a nap now and here I am on the computer again!

Thank you for sharing my journey with me and I hope you have a wonderful day today!

Mississippi Meetup?

If you would like me to do a Steem meetup within the next week or two near Columbus, Mississippi, would you please ask in the comments below because if we have a few of us, we can meet up while I am nearby?

Love,
Jerry Banfield

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I have mandatory evacuation too but i think im going to stay

Don't forget toilet paper - everyone stocks up on milk and bread. But you REALLY need tp too! ~ from a Harvey survivor. God bless...I'd leave. Houston only has one coast - you have two. It was ugly. Stay safe!

Okay ill try to get some if there's any left at the store today.

This post received a 1.5% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @spacehd! For more information, click here!

i think obeying the instruction will pay you more.

Hope you be safe ! Sounds like this is going to be a mayor Storm!

wishing you well!

Thank you !

Sup neighbors this storms gonna be exciting

Yeah !

Be safe!

This post received a 1.5% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @spacehd! For more information, click here!

When the biggest, most furious hurricane on record is moving in your direction, you run. Braving it out, especially if you have children, is just not the right thing to do.

Leaving Florida was the right decision!

Yes like boxing better to avoid taking the punch!

Hey ,
Very interesting read, Thanks you for sharing it!

Get the family, the dog and the computer

Computer first though :P

Exactly the plan!

I am glad that you and your family are safe and that you decided to leave early to avoid the chaos of everybody leaving at the same time. I hope that the hurricane will be gentle on your house.

Thank you Michel I hope so too!

The mandatory is only for those next to the water, but we are leaving on Saturday morning early. we had a cruise planned for several months before this happen.

I graduated from Auburn in 1972, by the way, and my mom was born and I have many relatives in Aberdeen, Mississippi.
small world
I hope all will be good while we are gone, and will see you when this is all over.

Johnny

Amazing how close the connections! Good luck with the drive Johnny and definitely leave early! We had 3 hours of traffic even yesterday coming from Saint Pete!

Thank you, and 3 hours is not too bad. Our only worry is that the airport might close Saturday, so looking for a backup plan now.

So glad you made the right move to keep yourself and your family safe Jerry .. The Steemit community loves seeing you daily on Steemit and your safe move has assured us that we will continue to see you regularly :) Tony and I will be praying for the safety of your home and belongings .. remember, SUNSHINE247 love you!!!!

Thank you @sunshine247 :)

God Bless Friend .. SUNSHINE247

Phewph! Im glad u all got safe and early enough to miss the stamped and panic when everyone else leaves. Really sorry u have to be uprooted like this ;( houses in florida arent made to fit the climate and are so vulnerable ... if only u all had earth bermed earthships you wouldnt have to leave or be without power or amenities when the grid goes down.. one day i hope we all start building with peoples needs in mind and not just profits!

Yes Alex this is making me want an earth ship in another state even more! My wife @laurabanfield and I talked about the possibility of living out of Florida someday for the first time this week!

ooooh! what a change that would be.. did u ever visit Portland Oregon? I used to live there.. u might really like it!!!

I'm staying here in Sarasota. I have hurricane shutters for my house, so should be ok barring any tree falling on my house. Glad you are very safe!

Good luck Mark and I will hope to hear from you after it comes through!

Thanks, Jerry!

meep

really bad, i wish all those hurricanes will stop! :(

Oh dear, I hope it's all okay soon!

Me too Tomas! Grateful we left before it is coming through!

BTW go ahead and use this link to get 5$ free usd in WCX tokens. Also 15% of at puchares

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oh gosh! stay safe!

Those hurricanes have left so much damage in their wake it's dreadful. Sorry you had to leave your home but you are among the fortunate who can escape to somewhere safer. I'm sure you realise that anyway. Your little daughter is doing something that all normal kids do - they're curious! Stay well, stay safe.

Thank you @jvalentine!

Hope it all goes well.

I'm so glad you got out of there early, Jerry. You did the right thing. Loving your little one. She is definitely yours :)

:)

My aunt and uncle evacuated a few days ago from Ft. Lauderdale. Stay safe dude.

Thank you @monogrande!

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@jerrybanfield I have been following you at YouTube!Its now due to you that I have joined the steemit community.I just want you to take some time off from your busy schedule to plz plz read my above post and tell me,how is it?I want to get your exert advice.It would be a great honour if you do this.

I'm so glad you're in a safe place!

Thank you @luckysteem!

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I'm in Celebration and staying we will see if I have any windows left.

Is Celebration the Disney designed town? Walking and bicycle friendly layout. I read about that with interest in The Geography of Nowhere.

Stay safe! Kind of glad I didn't move to FL just yet this one looks like a big one! and go figure kids try to get in everything and anything they should not haha

HI Jerry, I am new to Steem , but I am a fan of yours from youtube videos. My husband and I really like your energy and information. I hope you and you family are safe and can return home soon. I voted for you! Be well! :)

And people scoff at preppers?

Wish you the best Jerry!

Could you reach out to me some how please?

[email protected]

Would like a 10 minute chat with you, thanks my friend!

Would you use https://clarity.fm/jerrybanfield to schedule a call because this is the way I make available to have a short call?

Stay Safe @jerrybanfield :)

Saying a prayer for you, your family and your home right now @jerrybanfield.

I stayed through hurricane Charlie a few miles from where it made landfall and it was a category 4. Needless to say, it was terrifying. Smart choice to leave, good luck to you and all Floridians!

Congratulations @jerrybanfield!
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Lol. Why don't you come up with a new home and new shit

Stay safe, stay positive.

  ·  7 years ago Reveal Comment

What the child are looking for? ha

at least they r telling people to evacuate

I hope everything will be ok!

Good luck Jerry!

It ain't bad to be a hero but it is dumb not to heed to warnings. @jerrybanfield you made a wise decision keeping you and your family safe. We hope it passes soon and no harm is done to your house in Florida. We won't miss you hear on Steemit because you are never far from us. You always keep us informly entertained. We steemians love you.

simple but fun...
@

Glad you moved out of the storm's path. Looks like it may affect us at least somewhat here in the NC mountains. Reminds me of Hugo. Have a great rest of the day too. :)

Dang Jerry I'm glad you all got out. My wife has relatives near Miami who waited til the last minute and a lot of gas stations are dry and I wonder if everyone in the evacuation areas can even get out (if they'll run out of gas).

I'll probably see remnant of Irma in Tennessee but it'll have calmed down a bit by the time it's 400 miles inland. We got some remnants from Harvey several days ago. Lots of rain! But nothing life threatening.

I hope your property

Take care please!

Smart wife. Get out while the getting is good. I wish you well and hope you get home (to an undamaged home) soon. Good luck.

I'm sorry Jerry. But things will look up, just the earth doing what it does. Be thankful you have the ability to leave. A lot of people have no where, i mean no where to go.

Irma is mean. Leave before she shows up

Opss, Stay safe dude :) So where will you be leaving and would you be able to post? :P

Hola amigo buenas tardes buen post la verdad me parecio interesante espero ver mas asi de este interes nada ya me pasare a visitar mas post tuyos feliz jueves y un saludo desde españa

Keeping everyone in prayer.

I am glad you left and are safe. This storm has the potential for so much destruction that it's better to be safe than sorry. I saw one model showing it will travel straight up the middle of Florida and another traveling up the east side. Either way, it doesn't look good.

Always​ best to be safe. Good to hear beside to not stick around. I am still waiting to hear from a friend in Miami area if he is taking his family somewhere safe. Stay safe.

I hope everything will go well... just be Safe

Smart move to had taking the leap of faith. Good luck!

Hope all of you are fine Jerry. Take care.

Jerry: Who knows where this thing will go? I'm sitting on Saint Simons Island agonizing over whether to go or stay. A few of my neighbors stayed last year for Matthew and it was nasty. My wife and I, along with her cats, drove to Alexander City Alabama to find a place to stay. These evacuations are no fun at all. Lots of my friends lived in their cars for four days last year. When this many people evacuate there's no where for many to go. Irma sickens me when I see the devastation in the Caribbean. Most of her victims are very poor economically. I'm literally praying God will send Irma dog leg right, out into the North Atlantic.

So scary! Glad you guys are at a safe distance & hopefully Irma doesn't rage too badly. Let us know!

Lets hope the storm will be over soon with minimal damage :)

OH goodness. Stay safe!

Scary, good luck to you... we vacation in Sebastian, FL in the winter so we'll be keeping an eye out there.

good to know you left before things got bad I hope it will be safe to go back and find nothing was damaged too much.

I wish you and all the rest of us Floridian Steemians the best! ❤️💯♨️

Glad to hear people are evacuating and not trying to be heroes..

Now I really hate the hurricane.

Stay safe man!

I feel for you. I'm living in Indiana, but lived through hurricanes Rita and Ike in South East Texas and watched as friends in family from Victoria, TX - Lake Charles, LA clean up from the devistation of Hurricane Harvey.

Stay safe. Hope there won't be much damage to your property.

Good Move.
is 300 miles far enough?

Hope the best for you and the family, It is a terrifying moment for all! Thankfully unlike the hurricane Harvey incident, you guys have some time to evacuate. As long as the family is safe your heart will be at some what ease.

Upvoted! very bad Irma.
Just posted for Sint Maarten to help, please have a look

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Thanks

Thank Goodness you got out.

Why is there a kid looking inside a dog poop trashcan?

I hope it turns out well for you and the people you know.

Glad to see you are safe! Take care

Me and the family are going to tough it out in Margate Florida(got no where else we could go). I have to say we are preparing as much as we can for the worse but of course hoping for the best.

anyways all the best Jerry, stay safe

Good luck! I have family in St. Pete's too.

Hey jerrybanfield I'm watching Irma on the news from the Southern tip of Africa. I hope not much is lost when you return home. Safe travels.

Wise decision, Jerry! Stay safe.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

primeramente la seguridad, tuya y de tu flia, que todo te salga bien @jerrybanfield

Stay safe!!

I hope you will see your home filming studio again and not in different conditions you left it!

Nice foresight from your other half

Love following what you've been up to! And love the candid photo of you with your dogs and your daughter looking into the poop trash can!!
Here's to more positivity, to combat all the negativity that is swirling around!

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Hopefully you can and will be shipped back home soon hope for the best for you and family 🏴

I was wondering why I didn't see as many posts from you. Glad you guys are safe and wish the best for everyone there!

it is better to obey an instruction than to gamble it..... you did well. i just hope you will have enough time to produce your wonderful videos.

stay safe, hopefully everything is ok. My Aunt is in North Port, I wonder if she had to evacuate as well!

we have been seeing in news net and TV. it is vary badly effected. i no lives should be lost. as some of your officials said we can build house again but we can't bring life back.

Well I hope your home will be okay. At least you got out of there already. This hurricane that bad, huh. Your white dog is Awesome by the way.

I just sat out and survived Harvey. You did the smart thing. Glad you left early. We didn't have any damage but it's been quite devastating around us. I will post pictures soon and pray that Irma falls apart much faster than Harvey!

Best wishes. Sending you good vibes and prayers :)
-@splendorhub

very smart to leave early, may Irma make a turn back out into the ocean!! Stay safe and well, all of you in Irma's path are on our minds and in our hearts

Obeying the mandatory evacuation is good. Being safe is better than being sorry.

May you be protected and safe

thanx for sharing you personal life

hopefully not too much damage and that everyone can return home safely

When nature forces itself on us, there is little one can do. It is a pity that you have to be displaced from where you have always felt comfortability and succour. Our prayers are with you. Steemit family gat you.

Hey @jerrybandfield. This why I'm in love with @Steem. Even after being forced to leave your home by Hurricane, you still wrote and inspired us. By the way, you made some Dollars, am I right?
You are a winner and I trust you are conquering this.
Cheers!

leave the kid he lives in the bin now you can make another one.....RUN!!!!.

( come back after the storm)
house gone
car gone
street gone

the bin still their..

Glad that you are safe man, hoping for the best! Good luck, thanks for sharing #keepsteemin

I hope it's getting better soon. Stay safe.

Awful to have to evacuate one's home, hope that there's no or very little damage!

Wishing the safest for you and your family. Glad to know you guys got a jump on things and head out early.

Having just experienced Harvey myself I am sincerely praying for you all in Florida as I have family there too. I hope all is well with you and your family and don't worry about "stuff" and be glad you made it to safety.

I feel for ya. My neck of the woods just got hit hard by Harvey.

Glad you were able to evacuate safely, thoughts are with all of you affected by the storm.

So glad you left, there is no point in staying. Those are earthly possessions and I am sure family and (computer) more important. I have been watching on the news here in South Africa and feel so sorry for all those people. Hope you will stay safe. God bless and praying for those who decided to stay behind. Not a good idea.

I hope you and your family are doing well. All the best.

Glad you made it out of FL safely and I hope your home didn't sustain any damage. My parents were given the evacuation order at the last minute on Saturday morning when the storm started shifting towards the west coast. Not sure if staying or leaving would have been more stress but I'm glad it's over...