I was living in Central Florida when three hurricanes made a direct hit on my town in a 6 week period. The first one was fascinating to me. But once all the oranges that were blown off the trees started to rot on the ground, they produced this terrible stench that made me gag whenever I went outside. A few weeks later the second one hit and it damaged my apartment badly enough that I had to move. The third one hit and I lost it.
I am not a religious person, but I was convinced briefly that God was telling me to get the hell out of Florida. When I was scouting the area, everyone had told me there wasn’t a direct hurricane hit on the town in over 80 years. The first one hit a week or two after I moved there. I thought it was a sign. I thought God had it in for me. I know it’s crazy but I went nuts when the third one came in.
During all of the hurricanes, I felt trapped. The roads were flooded or covered with downed trees or power lines. The very small town I lived in was out of power for several weeks after the first hurricane. Power was restored right before the second one hit. The power was still out when the third one hit. I couldn’t flush the toilet, drink the water.. no air conditioning during the summer in Central Florida. I couldn’t even travel anywhere because the gas station pumps didn’t work without electricity and I had to save gas for emergencies.
All the food in my refrigerator rotted completely twice because of the power outages. The stove was electric and I had no camp stove. I had to eat dry ramen noodles (no running water) and cold canned soup for weeks.
The roaches and palmetto bugs LOVED the heat after the hurricanes and they were fruitful and multiplied. I had to sleep totally under the covers even though it was sweltering because I didn’t want to wake up with palmetto bugs (giant roaches as big as the palm of my hand) crawling around on my face. My school where I worked got infested with fleas. I brought them home. I’m allergic to fleas so I had huge open bleeding sores all around my ankles.
I felt like I was an Egyptian during the plagues of Moses. I was too depressed to want to die.
Anyway, hurricane season ended and I gradually became sane again. Just as I was feeling pretty good about life, it was the next hurricane season. A FOURTH hurricane made a direct hit on the town. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the other three, but it was enough for me. I put in my notice and moved out as fast as I could.
I have no desire to ever go back there. EVER.