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| Just some of my printed scrapbooks I would have to save in an emergency. |
My family is currently living life in the Florida Panhandle. My radar was raised moving here due to the threat of hurricanes. The first two seasons weren't so bad for us as Hurricane Matthew stayed far east. But this season has definitely hit close to home. Hurricane Harvey came in and stuck around for those in Texas flooding Houston and surrounding areas. Then with other Floridians we watched in anticipation as Hurricane Irma was knocking away in the Atlantic. My sister and her family actually evacuated due to the storm. She left on September 8th and her city is without power. My nephew has yet to go back to school 10 days later.
Thankfully my family up here barely felt the sting of Irma. But it is only halfway through hurricane season and a new storm named Maria is making her way through the Caribbean. I went into over drive leading up to Irma making landfall in the States, scanning and organizing my printed photos like crazy. With having my kids, husband, and kitties to put in our car, there wouldn't have been much room leftover to bring all of my scrapbooks and photos with us. Especially in a hurry.
This fear is having me value my Forever Permanent account even more. Like our website says "It's like insurance for your photos." I have invested into owning my account to have a place to keep my photos safe away from this crazy hurricane magnet of a state. But its not just hurricanes and floods that can endanger your photos. There are fires, tornadoes, other natural disasters, as well as tech disasters. When I started going digital with my scrapbooks I stopped printing photos. Four years later my hard drive crashed and I had to pay up to save what photos I could. You can read more about that here.
My friend sent me this photo. Her parents have lived in her childhood home for decades. It was not located in a flood zone. So when the waters began to rise as Hurricane Harvey hovered over them, they didn't worry too much. That is until they had to leave. Returning home they are told their house is a total loss. Thankfully they did have flood insurance, but they are still without their home and belongings that can be replaced. They are also without... their photos. Years of pictures and memories are right now being salvaged as best as they can. They are up for a long, tedious journey. One that will be heartbreaking I am sure. My heart aches so much for her family as they sort through what is left of a lifetime of photo memories. This right here is why I am a Forever Ambassador. This is why I am passionate about not just digital scapbooking, but memory preservation. Our photos tell our history and keep close to us images and memories of our lives. I want to be able to pass them on to the next generation and beyond.
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| Photo damage from Hurricane Harvey in Vidor, TX. Photo courtesy of Cyndi Miles |
