Wet season, hurricane plans, and Waterway, painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Waterway

acrylic on canvas, 20x20

$800

The wet season of the Everglades started June 1, and we can expect a lot more rain than we've had in the last few months. Every day the storm clouds build over the Everglades, and at least in some places it's likely that rain will fall.

Rain is very important to the cycle of life in Southwest Florida. The rain fills the sloughs and sends much needed fresh water to the estuaries of the gulf. Cypress tree need and welcome the water. Orchids and swamp lilies of the Everglades will bloom and the sawgrass prairie will regenerate. The wildlife, centered around the waterholes during the dry season, will disperse, mate, and bear young.

Along with the life giving afternoon thunderstorms, sometimes we get hurricanes, the best rainmakers of all. They're very natural for this climate this time of year, and many of the early native tribes would go north in the summer, just like many of our snowbirds do to avoid the danger.

For those of us who chose to stay, it's time to make sure that you and your family have a Hurricane Plan. Stock up on the things you know you might need, and watch the weather a little more closely. Our environment can handle a hurricane. Be sure you can, too.