Patty L. Jones ENC1101 Dr. Carpenter Description (word count 628) 3 Feb. 2009 Taking Hurricanes Seriously Without having your hurricane supply kit you will not be ready for the storm. When the storms of 2004 struck our area I wasn’t prepared at all. I didn’t think that there will be any damaged to our area therefore, I didn’t buy any supplies like water or perishable food. The first night was an eye opener for me, since we didn’t have any electric and the food I just bought spoiled. The town was on a curfew and sincemost of the area didn’t have power there was no place for me to get food for me and my husband. After a long day of cleaning up debris, you do work up an appetite. Lucky for me my neighbor was prepared and she offered some soup that she prepared on her grill and a few cold bottles water to me and my husband. I was very grateful for that. Having an evacuation plan in place is a good idea just in case you have to get up and leaving in a hurry. No one likes to leave behind everything you work hard to build, but you just might have to. I haven’t had to evacuate my home yet, but in case I ever do have to. I have a small simple plan in place. My plan evolves making sure my car has a full tank of gas, important documents are stored in an accessible place, medication is filled, having bottled water on hand, and having some cash on hand just as well. My plan isn’t perfected yet, but at least it is a start. If there was anything that I could say to make sure that just one person would take these storms seriously. It would be to just make sure that you and your family is safe. The rest is just material things that can be replaced over time. Life is too short to risk by not taking these storms seriously. We all think that it will never happen to us, but let’s look back at and remember what happen to New Orleans when the deadly storm named Hurricane Katrina struck land. May they rest in peace.