Your fearless fellow borderlander returned to Miami just in time to ride out Hurricane Irma. With 6.5 million under mandatory evacuation, it was safer to stay put than add to the chaos of the roads – where gas shortages were prevalent 4 days prior. Then, a day or two before landfall it became likely that Irma was wobbling west. Evacuating inland from the coast would only bring one closer to stronger hurricane winds. In the end, it turned out there was no safe place to escape to in all of Florida, 500 miles long.
Like the true grit shown by Texans during and after Harvey, Floridians also exemplify the we-will-rebuild ethos of many borderlanders, especially those along the hurricane-prone southern edge.
#1 lesson from Irma: what a blessing neighbors are.
The picture of the lifeguard chair on a deserted beach is beautiful.
Thanks Dad! The lifeguard station was pulled far back from the ocean. That and the wind gave it an usual surrounded-by-desert look…