On the weekend of September 9-10, 2017, the mega-storm Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida. A Category 5 hurricane (only because there is no such thing as a Category 6), thousands of Floridians (and a half-million Georgians) had fled the coasts inland and north, in the state’s largest evacuation in history. The size of this storm was so large that the city of Atlanta was subject to its first (ever) tropical storm warning. In the wake of what is now known as the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record, Georgia’s lake country, which usually only experiences hurricane weather peripherally, is finally getting a handle on the cleanup. One million Georgia residents were without power over the past couple of days, the entire Kim and Lin Real Estate Team among them. And, as part of one of the largest natural disaster power outages in U.S. history, we count ourselves lucky to only have had the minor inconvenience of a couple days in the dark, and some yard clean-up.
As evacuees make their way back to Florida, their already frazzled nerves are also subjected to gas and food shortages, massive traffic jams, continued power outages and the possibility of looting in what’s left of their homes and businesses. Our thoughts and hearts are with those in the midst of the Irma-induced exodus, and also with our friends and neighbors who have opened their homes to hundreds of family, friends, and even strangers who found themselves with no other place to go.
We love Lake Oconee and are so proud to serve and to be part of this community. Safe travels, Floridians. We hope the next time we see you, it’ll be under better circumstances and you’ll be able to stay and sit a spell.
