Storm Clouds

Dreary skies turned dark, some large drops of rain hit the metal roof, Tina and Trouble, the dog and cat, came running to me as if I could comfort them. The wind started to howl and pulled the storm door open. Something was out there and it wasn’t good.

Local television stations were following the storm, talk of tornadoes coming our way, “Prepare Butts and Jasper County.” My mother used to tell us to get our shoes on and get our purses whenever a storm was coming.

And what did we hear from the weatherman Monday afternoon? “Put your shoes on and get ready.”

This time our county was spared the damage unlike last June when we were battered, but it still was a scary storm.

Weather is always unpredictable, so we all need to be prepared just in case. Having a medical supply kit, a battery operated storm radio, flash lights, pictures of our home and its contents, a place for valuables and important papers if not in a safety deposit box at a bank, bottles of drinking water, a few days of canned food, scan your pictures and put on a flash drive, get appraisals of valuables, so many things we can do. Hopefully we will never need these things, but…

GEMA and FEMA, emergency management websites have extensive lists of items you need to prepare for emergencies. “Are you ready?” is a valuable part of the website for everyone to use.

As the old saying goes, Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst. And as Mama always said, “Put your shoes on.”