PTSD in a needlepoint shop???

PTSD is post traumatic stress disorder and we usually use it to refer to battle-related injuries.  But there are many other occurrences in life that can also produce PTSD--like enduring a hurricane that is a direct hit.  After re-reading my entry about "hurricane season 2014",  I was reminded that I am a sufferer of PTSD. That's why I automatically jump out of bed from a dead sleep when I hear a thunderstorm because my subconscious thinks I have to get to the shop to stop the leaks.  I wonder how many years that reaction will last.  And I hope that there are no more hurricanes in Vero Beach to reinforce that behavior.

In Vero Beach, the authorities systematically go door-to-door on the barrier island and those locations on canals and on the westside of the intercoastal waterway prone to flooding when a hurricane is imminent.  They have a set speech which they offer to whomever opens the door:  Evacuation is required.  If you refuse to evacuate, we request the names of your next of kin for notification.  At a certain point (when the wind reaches a certain speed), emergency vehicles are prohibited from crossing the two bridges in Vero Beach that access the barrier island.  At a predetermined point in the storm, water and electricity is cut off (so the water supply will not be breached and polluted and so fallen electrical wires will not cause fires).  So if you live on the barrier island in Vero Beach and choose to stay through a hurricane, you will have no water and no electricity before the main force of the storm arrives.  And for days after it has passed.  

I live on the mainland and just before the last two hurricanes (Wilma, 2005, and Jeanne, 2004)made landfall,  my home electricity  was cut off on the hour. Not just before landfall, but approximately 6 hours ahead.   Could this be a coincidence?  I don't think so.  The authorities have somehow predetermined  the shut-off moment.  Why can't they tell the public?  The day before landfall the authorities remove all stop lights.  Note:  Vero Beach lost so many traffic lights during Jeanne and Frances that they now remove them in advance of a storm.  I'm grateful that my home seems to be on the same grid as some entity important to the community, like the police station or the hospital, so we are one of the first to get our power back.  We're not really close to either of those places--the closest is the high school.  Maybe it is essential because perhaps it is an emergency shelter.  Have to pursue that possibility.

Because of Needle Nicely, my husband and I don't evacuate.  When you own a business, you want to be able to have access to it as soon as you can after a catastrophe so you can assess the damage and quickly start repairs.