Hurricane Milton

I never expected that I would begin an article series on hurricanes! And now, here we are.

For Ian (which went right over me!), we stayed put, having been caught by surprise by a change in trajectory in the hurricane's projected path. 

With Milton, when we saw what lay in store, we knew we would get out of dodge. And while we enjoyed the tranquility of not having hours upon hours of barreling winds, there is still a very palpable anxiety felt from a distance.  You worry about your house, your neighbors, your community, and those who will face extreme hardship in the aftermath.

In that vain, I think it is important to begin to have a discussion about some of the lesser-covered impacts of severe storms, particularly mental well-being. The news will blast headlines on death tolls, insurance bills, and other devastation. The road to recovery will be covered less as the days go by. And while houses and yards are cleaned of debris, the invisible psychological effects may be harder to repair. 

The Invisible Impact of a Hurricane

There are several aspects of hurricanes that are really challenging for stress levels.

1. The hype and buildup - days and days of warnings are necessary to reduce the threat to loss of life. However, the surround sound about how nasty the storm de jour will be puts a lot of fear into the atmosphere.  You see the grocery stores get full, and the rushing to the gas pumps, and it feels like the world is ending. 
2. The slow passage of time - at some point the storm arrives, and time feels like it slows down.  You have nothing to but wait. You get hammered with news alerts for tornado warnings, flooding warnings, and any images you see will always be shocking. Your imagination goes crazy wondering what the world will look like the next day.
3. Dealing with loss - it is all around you after a hurricane, and it is hard to stomach seeing a kid's bedroom set, soggy on the side of the road. Even months after an event, seeing a missing sign on a storefront could trigger a form of PTSD.
4. Feeling displaced - if you have to evacuate, you end up in a place that is unfamiliar.  You may be dependent on others for your wellbeing. You have a longing for home and are uncertain if or when you will make it back.
5. Added stress -  The days and weeks following, even normal tasks take on increased difficulty due to the disruptions and damage.  Can I get the medicines I need?  When will the grocery store have supplies again? How long will the power be out? When will I get back to work? When will the kids get back to school? 

For Milton, there were two other elements that added to the mental anguish:

1. Recent trauma - Hurricane Helene was only weeks before and the brutal wreckage in the Carolinas of that storm was very fresh in everyone's brains. Denise had arrived earlier in the season, but wasn't as bad. Hurricane Ian from a couple years ago has not been totally forgotten either.
2. Elevated tensions - We are only a few weeks away from a presidential election.  While this doesn't have much to do on the surface with a hurricane, it has contributed to a general angst in the air, and increased blood pressure.

Add to these difficulties the fact the care system may be overloaded, and this makes for an arduous healing process. 

Stress Tests

A lot has been written about the detrimental effects of stress.  Now some stresses can be helpful in building resilience (e.g. fasting), but that is obviously not what we mean here.

Acute stress may drive up episodes of heart attacks, hypertension, and head or body aches. There may also be an increased tendency to reach for coping mechanisms, including drugs and alcohol. Sleep disruption is common, which then impacts many other downstream systems.  Appetite and digestion may be off-kilter, and again this adds to overall feelings of being unwell.

Chronic stress can be even more problematic. It may lead to ulcers, impaired immune systems, impaired circulatory systems, increased levels of addiction, among other things.

And to top it off, these things can be difficult to unwind. Neurological medicines sometimes require weeks to build up effectiveness, and many have side effects. Faster-acting medicines run the risk of dependency. Counseling or meditation practices take time to generate effectiveness as well.

Faith, Hope and Love

While the difficulties are omnipresent, there are silver linings. 

There is an uptick in humans caring for each other. Our better angels come out and people will prepare meals for those who need them, offer up rooms in their homes to the displaced, and help their neighbors with clean-up efforts.  This type of shared solidarity to respond to calamity is very encouraging, heart-warming, and can bring a community together in new ways.

Regardless of faith background, there also tends to be a reminder about the frailty of our human existence. When we realize how our dwellings are at the mercy of Mother Nature, and have to come to grips with our powerlessness, there can be a motivation to seek out a higher power. In the wake of loss, faith can serve as a useful tool to handle the anguish of life. In the words of Victor Frankl "“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.”

Finally, surviving one hardship can ultimately bring a new belief in your own ability to encounter other hardships.  Something that may have once seemed super difficult may now pale in comparison to recovering from a hurricane. 

Final Thoughts

• Hurricanes are awe-inspiring in their scale and might. They are multi-faceted.  News coverage focuses on the eyes, but the whipping tails can be equally devastating. Milton set records for tornadoes. The wind damage is their calling card, but surge and flooding (and not just coastal) are sitting shotgun. Add power outages, lightning strikes, and issues related to ground saturation, and you have a ferocious medley of natural disasters.
• I am super grateful for advanced warnings and recovery prep.  Knowing about the storm days in advance is so helpful AND life-saving. Seeing thousands of powerline and tree-clearing trucks in convoys headed to Florida as we bugged out was also an inspirational thing to behold.
• We aren't promised tomorrow. Love the ones you are with. Go on that adventure.