A tale of two storms

Ever notice how you can't help but remember where you were when something big happened?

I couldn't shake the thought after realizing that five years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in South Florida as a Category One storm before strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico and wrecking New Orleans.

And 18 years ago yesterday, Hurricane Andrew delivered a powerful blow to southern Miami-Dade County - flattening homes, tearing off roofs and shattering the hope of thousands of people. I will never forget seeing how one of the sliding glass doors of my family's Hialeah apartment shimmy and shake, creating this staccato ba-bam, ba-bam, ba-bam while Andrew's winds assaulted our home. After it was all said and done, we weren't too bad off.

Satellite image of Hurricane Andrew

There were a few downed tree limbs in the parking lot, no electricity, but there was lots and lots of canned tuna....bleh. Being only 10 years old then, all I knew was boredom. Only later would I come to realize that, for the thousands who lived in Homestead and the surrounding areas, Andrew was a devastator that left many of them homeless. They weren't alone, however, the Red Cross and FEMA stepped up to help. Thanks to donations, the Red Cross received more than $168 million to pay for meals and open shelters to help everyone affected by this storm.

My next brush with a devastator storm came In 2005, when I was a reporter and my editor assigned me to cover life in a Red Cross shelter. I had my pick of three shelters and, in the end, I settled on a school near West Palm Beach where I staked my claim on a tiny spot in the school cafeteria and readied myself for the night ahead: No electricity. Boredom. Lots of tuna (guess I learned my prep habits from my parents ;-) ).

Red Crossers help after Katrina strikes New Orleans

This time around, South Florida lucked out. The damage wasn't terrible, but the warm waters of the Gulf were more than enough to turn Katrina into a destructive monster that packed 150+ mph winds, drowned New Orleans and killed scores of people. This time, the Red Cross raised $2.186 billion to help the more than 4 million people affected by this storm.

Canned tuna - yuk!

And since Wilma (also in 2005), we've all had a remarkable stroke of luck because South Florida hasn't been threatened by a devastating storm. But of course, the experts are predicting an insanely busy season for us this year (like in 2005), so please be prepared -- have your supplies in order and take Red Cross CPR classes. Yes, it does take more than a few cans of tuna to be ready. And if you have the time, become a Red Cross volunteer or consider making a donation so that we'll all be ready to help when the time comes.

The Red Cross Kit - the right way to prepare.

Do you have an Andrew, Katrina or Wilma story you'd like to share with us?

-Chrystian Tejedor

Chrystian has been Public Affairs Officer at the American Red Cross in South Florida since January 2009.