Mandatory Evacuations

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I haven't been on myLot in the past few days, but for good reason. The US is in the middle of one of its worst droughts in history, with over 80% of the continental states in drought conditions. And here in Florida where I live, it's even worse. We have not had any rainfall in months, and the result has been hundreds of wildfires exploding all over the place. Up until this past weekend, most of the fire activity has been in remote forested locations, but on Sunday a massive wildfire started just a few miles from where I live. Due to the extreme dry conditions, the fire got out of control quickly, even though crews started battling it right away. And because of high winds from a dry cold front that pushed through the area, the fire was pushed towards the suburban areas where I live. On Sunday afternoon, mandatory evacuations were ordered for my neighborhood and several others. We had very little time to gather a few belongings and get out. It was more of the authorities being proactive than due to any imminent danger, but it was so smoky outside that it really did feel like armageddon was upon us. The nice thing was, as we left our neighborhood, fire trucks were entering and hosing down all the houses to hopefully prevent any from going up in flames. The fire is currently 25% contained, but is now burning away from civilized areas, so we were allowed to return home yesterday. Even today, 3 days later, I can still hear the helicopters overhead as they race back and forth dropping water on the fire, and we still have some pretty smoky conditions. But the winds have shifted and the smoke should clear up by tonight. I have always respected firefighters, but I definitely have a newfound admiration for the work they do in keeping everyone safe. And I'm not going to lie, I was terrified that I was going to return to nothing but a pile of ashes and embers where my house once stood. It looks like the immediate danger is over for now, although dozens of new wildfires keep springing up daily. I hate to say this, but the amount of rain we need right now can only be satisfied by a tropical storm or hurricane stalling over the state and dumping massive amounts of rain on us. Unfortunately, due to El Niño conditions, hurricane activity is forecast to be minimal this year. Have you ever been evacuated due to a forest fire or other act of Mother Nature?