I have lived in Florida for about 10 years and can safely say that I've grown up there. I recently moved to Vermont to attend university, but all of my family and friends still live down south. When I heard Hurricane Matthew was going to hit, I honestly didn't think that much of it. Usually when we manage to get a hurricane, it doesn't get past a level one or two and it manages to avoid my town all together.

Then I saw a video from Governor Rick Scott. He was talking about how this was a Category 4, possibly Category 5, hurricane, and the strongest part of the hurricane will hit exactly where my family and friends live. He was saying that my town must evacuate because this hurricane is unsurvivable and it will kill you if you don't leave. My heart sunk when he said that this hurricane will inevitably take lives and take homes. This is my home, my town, my family and my friends. I'm over a thousand miles away and I can't do anything to help them.

I called my friends to make sure they were safe. Thankfully, most of them evacuated to a safe place. I called my family to make sure they evacuated. My dad casually tells me that they decided not to and they're prepared for the worst, but they don't think evacuation is necessary. I felt a pit in my stomach when I heard this. I reminded him that the worst part of the hurricane will be over our house and we live in a mostly glass house next to a lake with gators. My sister, who lives in Orlando, calls me and asks why my parents didn't decide to evacuate.

It hurt that they didn't make the safer decision to just leave, but it was too late to do anything about it and I just had to trust in their reasoning.

I spent the night restless, constantly texting my siblings to make sure they were OK. When I finally did wake up, I was pleased to find out that all of my friends and family were still alive and although damage was done to the houses, everyone was safe. The hurricane that everyone kept saying was unsurvivable ended up only being a Category 3. All of my family and friends have been affected in some way by this hurricane, but it could of been so much worse. That's the thing that scares me.