Hurricane Prep Matters

🌪️ Hurricane Prep: Why It Matters and How We’re Getting Ready Together 🌱

Every year around this time, I see the same thing happen in Florida. People watch the news, see the cone of uncertainty, and then rush to the stores in a panic when a storm is already a few days away. Shelves are empty. Gas stations are slammed. And stress levels are through the roof. The truth is, hurricane season is not a surprise. It shows up every single year. Yet so many of us still wait until the last minute to get ready.

That’s why I take hurricane prep seriously in my own home, not just for batteries and bottled water, but for my garden and food forest too. A storm doesn’t just knock out power it can strip trees, ruin crops, and set back months of work if you’re not prepared. My family depends on this garden for food, health, and peace of mind. That means I have to think about hurricane prep the same way I think about planting seeds or training in the gym: as a discipline, not just an emergency scramble.

Here’s the way I look at it. Prepping is freedom. When I know my trees are tied down, my rain barrels are emptied, my backup water is stored, and my plants are protected, I can actually breathe when a storm is coming. I don’t want my family wondering if we’ll have enough food. I don’t want to be in a three hour line at the store fighting over the last case of water. I’d rather do the work now, months before, so when a storm pops up on the radar, my main job is to sit back and watch the weather report.

Hurricane prep isn’t just about surviving the storm, it’s about bouncing back after it. That’s where gardening and food forests come in. Most people think about plywood and generators, but what about the food? If you’re growing sweet potatoes, cassava, pigeon peas, or bananas, you already have calorie-dense, storm-hardy crops in the ground that will keep feeding you long after the storm passes. If you’ve mulched heavy and built your soil right, your plants can recover faster. If you’ve pruned your trees smart, they’ll resist the wind instead of breaking in half. These are the kinds of things I’m showing on my channel, step by step, so regular people can see that food security isn’t just a phrase it’s something you can build right where you live.

I want you to think of it like this: every storm is a test. If the grid goes down for a week, can you still cook, still drink clean water, still feed your family? That’s what hurricane prep is really about. It’s not fear it’s peace of mind. And when you’ve got a backyard full of food that can handle Florida’s heat and hurricanes, you’re ahead of the game.

That’s why I’ll be dropping new hurricane prep videos on my channel, showing you exactly how I get my food forest ready before, during, and after a storm. I’ll cover everything from pruning trees to protecting young plants, what to harvest early, and how to store it so nothing goes to waste. I’ll also show you the recovery side, because once the wind dies down, that’s when the real work begins.

If you want to stay updated, hit that subscribe button and stick with me through this season. Every video I put out is designed to help you get ahead, stay calm, and use your garden as part of your hurricane prep strategy. Don’t wait until the weatherman is yelling on TV to start thinking about this stuff. Preparation is protection.

We can’t control the storms, but we can control how ready we are when they come. Let’s get prepared together. 🌱

— Jermaine | GrowFitFL