Coupons

My first Florida natural disaster rains around me: Tropical Storm Fay. We laughed at Fay. The meteorologists told us that at any moment we were in for imminent demise, but it never came. Some cloudy skies, maybe this is it, then nothing. “OK, OK,” the meteorologists said, “This is what might happen with Fay…” I joked with my family, “There’s nothing I’m too worried about saving anyway.” Such a cavalier statement for such a non-event as Tropical Storm Fay.

Guess what? Fay went out over the ocean, picked up water, and is heading directly toward St. Augustine. Fay didn’t bounce and scud away as she looked. She didn’t make landfall and lose momentum. No, Fay defied all by delaying her grand entrée into First Coast Society, and by possibly upgrading herself to a Level 1 hurricane.

We have renter’s insurance. We have hurricane insurance. We have auto, scooter, life happens insurance. But what if we really did lose it all? What if all our camera gear and computer equipment drowned? What if I lost all my data? What if I lost my wedding photos? What if I couldn’t catch my cat and it was time to evacuate?

Not so cavalier anymore. I sat in my living room tonight, looking around, “What is most important to me to carry upstairs?” “Do I need an evacuation kit that has a change of clothes?” “What about my hoola hoops and the man-hours and monetary investment in my home business?” Most importantly, “Can my cat survive if we leave for a few days?” “What if it floods and the dog is locked in her crate?”

Now that Fay is not just a cute name affecting people so far away in Fort Myers, I sit in bed helplessly and wonder, “What can I save?” Not much. Fay happens. No matter how much insurance we have, there’s no coupon to clip for lifestyle rebate.