Hurricane season is here in the Southeast, and won’t be over until the end of November. Salvation South magazine recently published a story by a woman in Macon who, as a hurricane roared up from Florida years ago, told people on social media her doors were open to evacuees. We all love the idea of “Southern hospitality” when it comes to our friends. But complete strangers? Chuck is here with some thoughts. 

 

Dinner table

Dinner table

Credit: Adobe Stock

TRANSCRIPT:

CHUCK REECE: I just checked the National Hurricane Center’s website. And right now, the American South faces no imminent threat from hurricanes on the Atlantic Ocean. 

But there will be another. There always is. And Southerners respond to hurricane warnings in different ways.

The magazine I edit, Salvation South, published a story by a writer in Macon, Ga., named Suzanne Minarcine about something she did back in 2017. Hurricane Irma was bearing down on Florida and was forecasted to roll northward through Georgia. So Suzannne got on Facebook and posted, for all the world to see, these words:

“If you’re in the path of Hurricane Irma and need to evacuate, please let me know. We have room and you’re welcome here.”

Within a minute after she posted this, her daughter called and said, “Have you lost your mind?” 

The next night, the first evacuee arrived at her door. A guy named Mike who was trying to get home to Indiana from Fort Myers, Fla.

Four days later, Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys. And by then, the guest list at Suzanne’s home in Macon looked like this: 15 people, four cats, and two dogs. 

One couple who brought along three elderly cats. 

A family of three from Florida, all of them immigrants from Afghanistan.

The college-age child of that family brought a friend from school, who had arrived in Florida only two weeks before from his home in India.

Plus Suzanne and her husband and her daughter and the daughter’s kids.  

A houseful of people with different belief systems, different political alliances, different cultural backgrounds. Must've been some fights, right? Or at least some cross words? 

In a word, no. Irma passed over Macon on Monday. It leveled trees all around Suzanne’s house and took down her electricity. But when the worst was over and power returned, the Afghan lady from Florida and the woman who had arrived with all the cats were digging through Suzanne’s pantry, cooking supper for the entire gang.

They set one table. They laughed. They ate. And these strangers become friends.

In her story about this adventure, Suzanne reflected on whether her impulsive decision to open her doors to evacuees was smart. This is what she wrote:

Was it the wisest decision? No. Would I do it again? Maybe. But opening doors to people in need dissolves differences.

I’d never suggest we all should open our doors to random evacuees. But I do know this: In times like these, dissolving differences is a fine idea. 

You can read Suzanne’s full story at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Wednesdays during Morning Edition and All Things Considered on GPB Radio. Salvation South Deluxe is a series of longer Salvation South episodes which tell deeper stories of the Southern experience through the unique voices that live it. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and wherever you get your podcasts.