Blog #476: My Neurodivergent Reaction to Hurricane Milton

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To say that this past week for the state of Florida has been nightmare would be an understatement. Two years after Hurricane Ian and two weeks after Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton was the next to pass through the state.

As someone with a secondary base of operations in Boca Raton and a winter getaway destination in Sanibel Island, I was most on edge right up until Milton made landfall late on the night of Wednesday the 9th. My one big concern going into Milton was two questions:

What would be the fate of Sanibel, an island still recovering from Ian two years later? What of Periwinkle Way, Gramma Dot’s and everything that the island stands for? Unfortunately, I learned that one of our hotspots on the Island, Mucky Duck in Captiva, was badly damaged. Can’t say that I blame the outcome being that the restaurant was close to the water and was prone to storm surge.

If you had been following my blog since it’s inception in 2021, you know that the history of Sanibel runs deep in my family, especially on my dad’s side, for the past 50 years. Seeing Sanibel under siege again from Milton was more than nervewracking to say the least. When I witnessed the island being beat up by Ian in 2022, it felt like someone was beating up your friend or family and there was nothing you could do about it.

While I was grateful that Sanibel walked out of Milton with a few scrapes and bruises, Captiva wasn’t as fortunate as I had mentioned in the previous paragraph.

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This does bring up once again, how can we prepare neurodivergent children and adults for the onset of a hurricane? As of this blog, we are now at the point where hurricane season is at it’s peak and numerous hurricanes start to form out in the Atlantic. How can we sit our neurodivergent loved ones down and say that when a hurricane comes, it is important to take one step at a time to prepare? It isn’t easy, but hurricanes are unfortunately a part of life in recent years.

Since Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans nearly 20 years ago, it has become more important than ever for families to be prepared for possible outcomes. As each tropical storm or hurricane is confronted, each storm is a real life learning experience for all individuals and their families. We take what we learn from each hurricane and then incorporate that into preparing for the next hurricane.

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One of the important lessons I put into messages like this is to not overreact to hurricanes because panicking does not make the problem go away faster. Neurodivergent children and adults have a tendency to pick up emotions like metal detectors, so if you get upset, they will get upset too.

In my 14 years working in the grocery industry, I have seen people panic buy even for the smallest of storms. Yes, being from New England, I deal with blizzards and winter storms more than hurricanes or tropical storms.

Still, people panic for unnecessary reasons more so than anything on account that people tend to believe everything that they hear nowadays, thanks to social and mainstream media. The more people panic, the more neurodivergents will pick up on it. This is good news for grocery stores, hardware stores and other specialty retail locations because panic buying means bringing in big bucks. This is bad news for people with mental health or anxiety issues who don’t want any part, but they have no other choice.

Of course, I think the importance is that there is a lot of necessary fear that goes through the minds of those impacted by natural disasters. The fear of losing a home, losing a favorite spot, losing a loved one goes through the mind. When it was revealed that Milton was a Cat 5, many people feared that the storm would hit as a Cat 5, but it ended up hitting as a Cat 3.

Another factor is that there is always a saying that things could have ended up being worse than they were such as losing a life. Sure, you can replace houses, you can adjust vacation plans, but you can’t replace a life.

There is also a saying that there is always a silver lining to a situation. It seems that now more than ever, people need to start embracing that silver lining on account that things will get better, but it takes time. As a self- part time Floridian myself, I’ve learned to accept that silver linings are a fact of life. We get through these things together and will continue to do so!!

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Catch you all later!!