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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: WEATHER (07/19/18)
Our first inkling came with a weather alert.
A hurricane was being announced and it was heading for South Florida.
Soon, an image of an orange and red-eye swirled and spun into our teleview. It seemed unimpaired and unstoppable.
Havoc was being reeked on land and on the sea; she was an enemy and we had to put our armour on.

Neighbours shuttered their windows with wooden and metal sheets. Emergency supplies were collected or purchased from local stores and we listened and watched as non-stop television news plagued our ears. The headlines said 'doom'. There was uninterrupted coverage on all the local stations, or so it seems. We held our national breath and awaited the brutal kiss.

In our home, we stored valuables in sealed plastic boxes. We had recently seen the storm that hit Texas. That one was a category 4 and had left homes under water and citizens homeless, weeping, distressed and shocked. We were prepared to fear this unknown, this lady, this Irma. Questions like "Would she be a 5?" peppered our conversations.

When she came, it was as though she wore sweeping swirling skirts of screaming wind gusts. Loud thunderclaps created terror in our hearts. On and on she came, mercilessly she headed for Florida.
"East coast or West coast?" No one was sure!
As a family, we prayed without ceasing. We made and received family calls. They were worried about our safety.
"Get out," my Carribean mother pleaded "or go to a shelter!"

When Irma finally came we had bunkered down in a safe inner room. She was surprisingly brief and smaller than anticipated.
Later we heard that it was only a category 2, but her whistling winds had done her job. We had been deeply affected. However, we were all safe.

So now it was over! Fences were broken down. Roof tiles were lost. Weak branches had broken off many trees and spread everywhere. Many neighbours had electricity while others had none.

We had to find a way to cook our meals and to keep the fridge working. Out came the charcoal grills, on came the generators and candles, and many many smiles from neighbours. People shared ice with each other and others shared food.

On Sunday, our church service was held outside where there was shade. It could not be indoors because there was no central air in the inner sanctuary. We were all thankful; yes ever so thankful that we were now safe - until the next storm.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jenny Fulton 
07/27/18
Great job tracing the story of Hurricane Irma and what it was like to be living in the hit zone.

A couple of tips to make your writing even better:
At the beginning, you could begin with the weather alert in quotation marks, as though it is being announced right at that moment.
In this sentence (I love your imagery), "When she came, it was as though she wore sweeping swirling skirts," instead of writing "it was as though" you could go write into the image -- "she arrived in sweeping, swirling skirts..."
Linda Lawrence 
07/31/18
This was a great line: 'When she came, it was as though she wore sweeping swirling skirts of screaming wind gusts.' I could see it.
linda simpson
08/01/18
Really good descriptions - made
me feel I was there. Loved
the line about the swirling skirts. Great to be part of
a caring community. Sigh of
relief. Good work.