Dillon County was very blessed that we received as little from Hurricane Irma that we did when it passed through earlier this week.
We avoided the extremely high winds, flooding waters and devastation that is still fresh in the minds of many after Hurricane Matthew last year.
Thankfully, we do not have the devastation that they have in Texas due to Hurricane Harvey and Florida due to Hurricane Irma or even in the lower part of our state where flooding waters did do some damage. We can count our lucky stars that we were spared from this, and if there is something that we can do to ease the burden that many are facing such as make a donation, then we should each do what we can to help.
Also, this scare with Irma should be a wake-up call and a reminder that we should always be prepared for the worst at all times.
Go ahead and assemble your emergency supplies now. A couple of days before the storm when everyone is in a mad rush to secure supplies is not the time to start trying to buy generators, batteries, water, and other essentials. Get yourselves prepared now.
This is also an excellent time to acknowledge the preparedness efforts of the Town of Latta. Since last year, Latta has been working on a plan, but when this storm came up and there was a possibility that it was going to strike, they really went to work to make sure the town was prepared. Several ditches were cleaned. Multiple meetings were held to make sure they had a working plan in place and that everyone knew what to do. They worked with the Red Cross to make sure Latta was going to have its own shelter. It was an extremely detailed plan, and Latta Town Administrator Jarett Taylor should be given a great deal of credit for all of his efforts in trying to make sure that the town was prepared and that the people of Latta were going to be safe.
Let’s take a minute to reflect on how very blessed that we were not to get the brunt of the hurricane, and then we should take the initiative to get prepared and stay ready. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.