Helene’s departure did not mean I was done trying to reason with hurricane season this year. 

Tornado shelters are underground.  Absent a shelter or a basement, you’re supposed to take cover on the lowest floor of your house, in an interior room, preferably the bathroom with its plumbing.  I live in a house built for storm surges, not tornadoes.  My first floor is ten feet off the ground.  I have an open floor plan with no interior rooms.

Tybee is a small island, and the siren means a tornado has either been seen or detected on radar. All day we had been cautioned of the likelihood of waterspouts coming ashore. My house is about a thousand feet from the closest shoreline.

Hurricane Helene made landfall at 11:10 pm, Thursday, September 26, at Keaton Beach, Florida – 285 miles away from where I live on Tybee Island, Georgia.

My kitchen project was paused today; I made it salty by going to the beach!

Although I’ve been a part-time resident here on Tybee since 2015, this is my first year as a full-time resident and hence, my first summer season.