8 Things That Happen When Preparing For a Hurricane

The grocery store is out of normal bottled water, better stock up on Topo Chico!

Hurricane Harvey, a rapidly intensifying Category 1 storm, is racing towards the Texas coast. Weather forecasts predict Harvey will make landfall as a Category 3 storm by Friday evening or early Saturday morning, so Texans along the Gulf of Mexico are preparing for huge storm surges, intense winds and heavy flooding.

For Texans this means:

  1. Heading to the grocery store to stock up on essentials like bottled water, only to find out that everyone else had the same idea and now all that’s left is Topo Chico.

2. Going to the gas station (so that if you have to evacuate, you’re not stranded on the highway without fuel), but discovering that all the pumps at the station are dry.

3. Or pulling up at the station to see that there is gas, but there are so many cars in line for the pumps that there might not be any left when it’s finally your turn to fill up.

4. If you’re in school, listening to the news with rapt attention to hear if school is cancelled for the next day.

5. If you’re an adult, praying that your boss doesn’t want you to go into work.

6.Watching the Weather Channel nonstop and being slightly mesmerized by the colorful, swirling hurricane graphics but also slightly terrified at the damage that swirling blob could bring.

7) Stopping for a brief moment to make a Steve Harvey joke.

8. Preparing for the worst, hoping Harvey isn’t a repeat of Ike or Rita and taking all the proper precautions.

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade