LETTERS TO THE CLASS

What is it like to live through a hurricane? Sixth grade students from Omni Middle School in Boca Raton, Florida, shared their 1998 experiences with us:

Dear Seventh Graders,

I was told you and your teacher are going to be studying natural disasters such as hurricanes. Well, I haven't been through all that many hurricanes, but I have been through two, Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Georges.

My brother was born during Hurricane Hugo, or at least a few days before it hit. We had been home for a while, and we got an order to evacuate because we live on the beach. I wasn't evacuated during the chaos of Georges. In fact, we barely were affected. Still, a lot of my neighborhood was frantically preparing in haste for Georges' arrival.

My mom, brother, and I were filling up water jugs, putting down our electric hurricane shutters, moving both of our cars into the garage, and going shopping for supplies. In the stores, chaos overflowed. There was no water to buy, or canned goods or can openers. I took the occasional   glance to my neighbors who were running about like little chicks!

Fortunately, the worst thing that happened to me was a few scrubs and fallen branches cluttering my yard, however, much south of me was battered to pieces.

Wishing you luck in class,

Courtney L.
 

Dear Seventh Graders,

I am here to tell you about the great, massive storm Hurricane Georges. It all started on a Wednesday. To be exact it was September 22, 1998. I was at home watching tv. I had just gotten back from school. So, when I was watching all of a sudden a weather update came on. The weather man started to talk about a hurricane by the name of Georges. It was coming this way toward Florida.  I got scared all of the sudden. I started to have flash backs to when I was little when Hurricane Andrew struck. I was starting to think of when I woke up in the middle of the night and it was raining very hard. The thunder was as loud as 30 bowling alleys combined. I was terrified that night. I was starting to think how much Hurricane Georges sounded like Hurricane Andrew. I got scared and called my mom to run in. She said, "What is wrong?" I said that Georges was going to hit us. My mom said," How do you know?" So I explained.

The next day we went to a shopping center to buy protection in case the hurricane hit. We bought candles, flashlights, batteries, shutters, and lots more. We spent hours getting everything ready. We had to throw our outside furniture in the pool and had to tie a rope to all of it. We turned our trampoline upside-down so it couldn't blow away. Finally, we were done.

The next day, on a Friday, there was no school. The funny thing was the hurricane wasn't even close to hitting us. All we had was some rain and heavy wind. We did all that work for nothing. The worst thing was I had to clean up everything. I had to take off all the shutters; I had to get all the furniture out of the pool and lots more. That is what happened on Hurricane Georges.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth B.

Dear Seventh Graders,
 

About six years ago, Hurricane Andrew hit Florida. Since I was in Miami, most of it hit us. It was very scary at the time because I was small.

After a  while, howling noises got louder and louder. About an hour later, they stopped.  My Dad told me it was the eye of the storm.  He asked me to come outside, but I was extremely scared and I definitely refused his question.

Then it started again.  I couldn't look outside because the windows were boarded up.  I started to wonder what the outside would be like.  Then my wonders became present.  I opened my front door and there it was: a horrible disaster.  Trees, signs, and even cars were destroyed.  I just hope that never happens again.

Sincerely,

Glenn R.

My family and I did a plethora of things to prepare for Hurricane Georges. First, we went to
Publix, we bought batteries and water, plus some  canned ravioli. My Dad and I took all the patio furniture inside and boarded up all the windows. Our house was full of chaos before the hurricane.

During the hurricane was the scariest and most threatening time. The power kept flickering on and off. My sister's and my bed were moved away from the windows. My whole family and my dog stayed in  the laundry room and listened to the radio. We had no idea what would happen next.

After the hurricane we checked all the rooms  to see if anything was broken. Fortunately, everything  was ok. My dog, though, was a little shaken up. Finally, we could take a deep breath and relax.

Sincerely,

Allison S.
 

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