I had a recent experience of traveling into a situation where everyone else was leaving due to Hurricane Irma. I learned some valuable lessons during the process...

Mass Traffic

As I traveled into north Florida finally, a twenty hour trip one way for me, I was shocked at the mass traffic headed northbound coming out of the state. There were gridlocks three lanes wide for twenty miles long. Vehicles were stopped, sitting. Then this continued on for over a hundred and fifty miles. The exits were nonsense.

Long Lines To Get Fuel And Stations Without Fuel

The lines to get fuel in North Fl were twenty cars long for each row. My plan of filling up when I got home suddenly were no longer effective. Arriving home, I found no fuel available anywhere. I had my reserve fuel but was low in the tank, having driven the last 288 miles thinking there would be fuel when I got home. There are 19 gas stations that sell diesel within about five miles or so of my house and over a hundred within a 15 mile radius, yet there was no fuel.

Two days later, I found diesel by calling local stations on the phone. I finally found one at at 0330 that had a few thousand gallons being delivered right then. I immediately went there to fill up, and the manager said please be quick since they had no gasoline and as soon as people saw me fueling up there would be a mass of cars again. Sure enough, at 0330 mind you, I pulled up to pump number 22 out of 48 pumps at this deserted station and within minutes almost thirty cars arrived and sat at pumps thinking there was gasoline available.

It was something out of a movie. That was the last time I saw diesel for the next seven days, during which time I did not again fuel up until the first available fuel in Georgia while headed north back to the farm a whole five days after the storm.

Bring Your Own Fuel

Port Tampa is the fuel facility in my area; it’s only 20 miles away and could not hope to begin to supply the demand, regardless of storage reserves or barges from Texas. It’s a good thing I brought gas for the gen sets and the saws. None was to be had. I found ice at 0530 in the morning at a gas station off the interstate than had no gas (three days before the storm even hit Florida) and bought the last three bags.

Stores Wiped Out

Lastly, my home is in an area where there are five Super Walmart’s, nine large chain grocery stores, a Sam’s Club, Costco, two Lowes, and a Home Depot all within an eight mile radius. I’ll repeat, all of those stores are within eight miles of my home. I have 500 thousand neighbors in my county in Florida just north of Tampa. There are rural areas, and it’s not what you would envision as a overbuilt heavy city area at all. Everything related to either survival, comfort, or basic necessity was sold out days before the hurricane even hit. All coolers, cots, fans, AC units, ice, water, fuel, plywood, tarps, tape, garbage cans, plastic sheeting, pet food, canned food, snacks, juices, bread, batteries, flashlights, and on and on and on were wiped out.

Not the Big One

This was not the big one. This was simply a hurricane. I’ve lived through eight. This was not a major terrorist attack, an EMP, dollar collapse, or anything even remotely close to being what I would call an unexpected crisis. We had ten days to discuss it prior. In the end, it’s a big storm with big, big wind. There was no power for days. Clean up was brutal in the heat and humidity, but I survived okay, because I prepped. Thousand upon thousands did not fare as well and were beyond miserable, spent thousands in the rush, and didn’t get anything valuable from it. Others evacuated not knowing where they would even end up and spent days on the road, having to use the side of the road for bathroom events, locked into mile after mile of dead stopped interstate only to find exits clogged and no fuel.

Unexpected Things You Don’t Plan On

I learned that no matter how good you are at prepping, there are unexpected things you don’t plan on. You can never ever underestimate the panic buying factor of any given area. You also can’t do a thing about mother nature except sit, watch, and appreciate the little things you had at the moment. I am back to prepping with a renewed vision, a smarter outlook, and a greater satisfaction, having bugged in to the latest weather disaster.

Oh, and if you ever think you’re going to wait to leave a populated area until the last minute, you had better think again.