Last Updated on 12/4/2008

Published on 9/4/2008

By Dr. Brad Morris

As I write this, the National Hurricane Center is trying to project the area of landfall for Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna.

It seems that the bull's eye is somewhere along the coast of South Carolina as I write this. I am sure it will change as the storm actually draws closer to us.

God has blessed us here in our area with no direct hit by a storm in many years, with the last major hurricane to have a major impact being Hugo in 1989. I was living in Quito, Ecuador, when that one came through.

Back in 1999, we had the glancing blow of Floyd and numerous other ones since that time, but there's been nothing major in years.

The last major hurricane I went through was Hurricane Hazel back in 1954, and I don't remember that one. I just remember being told about it, as I was only 3 years old at the time.

I remember when I moved back to Georgetown in 1999 having a conversation with Mrs. Isabel Mayer. It was at the first funeral that I had as a pastor in the city, and she was there helping with the funeral arrangements when she came up to me and told me, "I remember you." Of course, as far I was concerned it was the first time I had met her. But it wasn't.

She told me a story about Hurricane Hazel. It seems that my family lived in a house on St. James Street across the street form Mayer Funeral home at that time. The Mayers had invited my mom and dad to come and spend the night with them as the hurricane was passing through. Their home was brick, while the house my parents were living in was a wood frame construction.

At any rate, she told me about that and then went on to say that she had actually held me and rocked me most of the night during the storm while my mom and dad and two older brothers were there with the Mayer family. Of course, I didn't remember any of that, but my dad confirmed the story when I asked him about it later on.

Living on the coast here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina subjects us to the possibility of going through a hurricane literally every year. The possibility ... not an actuality. It is a part of life here in our area, knowing that from June to November every year there is a possibility that a tropical storm will affect our lives.

Sometimes these storms are just a minor nuisance, while at other times they can be a life-threatening proposition. We never truly know which it will be until they get close enough to know.

The point is that we have to live with an eye out to sea while we go about our daily lives, ever watching and being vigilant, making preparations for the eventuality or, at the least, the possibility of a storm, with its attendant winds and rains coming in on top of us if there is one out in the Atlantic.

The good news is with hurricanes we generally have several days of warning and time to make adequate preparation to go through it, or at least plenty of notice as well as the chance to evacuate if necessary.

There are exceptions to that rule as well. With hurricanes, there are no hard and fast rules ... only the necessity to watch and be wary. A few years ago, we here in Georgetown were caught off guard by a hurricane that formed right off the coast of South Carolina and came in as a category one hurricane. Most of us were caught by surprise, only learning of it that morning as it was coming onshore that afternoon.

With these storms, there are preparations that can be made ahead of time in a general sense, like having a generator on hand in the event we lose power and having extra fuel for the generator, and having food items and extra bottled water. These things can be bought and kept nearby at the beginning of every hurricane season and then used after the season passes.

There are other things that can only be accomplished once you know a storm is coming, such as filling your car up with fuel, buying certain perishable food items, making plans to evacuate, getting a hotel room somewhere else, etc.

The key is to be mindful and watch the weather with a practiced eye as to what the storms out to sea are doing and where they are heading.

The other thing to remember is that when it comes to hurricanes, there are no guarantees. The weather service can only make educated guesses as to what these storms will do. No one but the good Lord actually knows their exact path.

Sometimes the weather service does a great job, but other times these storms twist and turn and jog around, seemingly having their own mind and will. We just have to be attentive and sometimes make a best-guess judgment.

The bad thing, of course, is that sometimes we may delay making a decision on what to do until it is too late. I'd rather err on the side of being safe with my family than to end up putting my family in danger because of indecision.

The day a storm is scheduled to arrive is not the time to make last-minute preparations, like filming your home inside and out or taking pictures of your valuables for insurance purposes. This should be done already, as well as all important documents, insurance papers, etc. put together for ease of grabbing up to go with you if you in the event of an evacuation.

We all should have an evacuation plan -- what to do, where to go, when to leave and a route to take to get there, all planned out -- ahead of time.

Tornadoes are a different animal altogether. With a tornado, there generally is no advanced warning, at least not more than a few minutes. In that sense they can be even more dangerous than a hurricane because many times people never even see them coming, much less know that one is coming.

The storms of life are like the hurricanes or tornadoes with which we are confronted from time to time. Like a hurricane, many times we can see the storms of life building up around us, and we can choose to make adequate preparations for their eventuality to lessen their impact.

Sometimes the storms of life may be like a tornado -- they are upon us impacting our lives even before we realize they are there.

Just like preparations for the natural storms that confront us, we also can make some general preparations ahead of time to help us weather the storms of life that come our way. Having a relationship with God ahead of time, being able to talk personally with the Lord and listening to what He has to say to us is a good place to begin.

Having a home church that you attend on a regular basis to draw spiritual strength from is important, which in turn will give you a large network of spiritual brothers and sisters that give you the personal strength and encouragement that we all need from time to time when the hard stuff comes our way.

Luke 8:22-25 (NIV) says, "One day Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let's go over to the other side of the lake.' So they got into a boat and set out.

"As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

"The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown!' He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.

"'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"

God is always our friend who is ever there to be by our side to help us confront life's storms. The key is not to wait too late to ask him for His help. Make your preparations in advance. Seek the Lord while life is calm, and you will find his peace and comfort when the storms of life descend on you whether they be with or without warning.

Dr. C. Bradley Morris is pastor of First Assembly of God in Georgetown. His e-mail address is PastorBrad@sccc.tv.