Hurricanes I have lived through

Hurricanes along with earthquakes are some of the most devastating events that nature regularly throws at us. I live in Honduras and we are constantly threatened by hurricanes. Of course we also get gales, tropical storms and tropical depressions. Unfortunately we are in a very sensitive location and sometimes hurricanes just hit us directly and with dire consequences.

I have lived through five major hurricanes, even though one of them was in Belize the other four I lived through them in Honduras. The first hurricane was Hattie which hit Belize City in 1961, I was just weeks old when this happened. The first one I really felt was Fifi in 1974, this hit Honduras head on, leaving a devastated North Coast with thousands of dead. The deadliest I have gone through was Mitch in 1998, it lasted for five days and it hit the whole country. That one destroyed most of the country's infrastructure. Then we had Eta and Iota, two category four hurricanes that hit us back to back less than two weeks apart. This was recently, just in 2020. I am not sure if we were still in COVID pandemic mode.

These events have shaped life both in Belize and Honduras, there has been a before and an after, after the hurricane leaves. One of the most amazing things I saw was this lady who was found floating on a piece of wood by one of the British ships that were sent with aid for Mitch, it turns out this same lady had also been rescued hanging on to a piece of lumber during Fifi, 24 years earlier. I don't know if that is amazing or bizarre, but it sure is something. I will write short stories about my experience with this monsters before it is Christmas. Hopefully I can make this interesting.