13 Things Every Floridian Wants The Rest Of The Country To Know During Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma is on her way, and Florida is as ready as it can be. There's been plenty of speculation and chatter from people all over the country about the monster that's about to be unleashed on the Sunshine State, and we have a few things we Floridians would like everyone to know:

1. Unlike this guy, we're taking this hurricane very seriously.

Floridians know the difference between a rainstorm and a category 5 hurricane. You won't see any of us on pool floaties with liquor bottles this week.

2. Floridians are grateful for the service men and women who have already arrived to help.

This photo shows the New Jersey National Guard 253rd Transportation Company, who were deployed on September 8th to help support our state in the aftermath of Irma. They're just one of many units who are at the ready, and we're grateful that they've left their families to come help ours.

3. Meals get pretty interesting when you're trying to clean out the fridge before the power goes out.

What can you do with three pounds of hamburger, two dozen eggs, three bags of lettuce, a pound of bacon and some strawberries?

4. We haven't returned your phone calls or updated our Facebook statuses because we've been a little busy.

Floridians across the state have spent the last week preparing for Irma. We've secured our homes and businesses and we're as ready as we can possibly be.

5. Predicting the path of this hurricane has been a nightmare.

Yes, we'd love to get away from the path of Irma...but the predictions change every few hours. Basically, the whole state is hurricane-ready.

6. Evacuating isn't as easy as it sounds.

Traffic has been gridlocked and hotels and flights are sold out. At this point, some of us are just hunkered down and hoping for the best.

7. Hurricane Irma has brought us all closer together.

Floridians have worked side by side to prepare for Irma. We're proud that our communities pull together in times of crisis.

8. Some companies have shown us that compassion is more important than profit.

While some airlines were raising their ticket prices to astronomical levels, JetBlue offered Floridians $99 fares to help with evacuation.

9. It's not always easy to know which news accounts to believe.

There's been plenty of fake news surrounding this hurricane. We've learned to go right to the top for legit updates: the governor, our town's mayor, and official agencies.

10. The minute we heard "Category 5," all the bottled water was gone.

You've never seen so many people buy up so much bottled water in such a short time.

11. We still have our sense of humor.

Yes, we put up the plywood. But we couldn't help but leave a nasty note or two for Irma.

12. In fact, we even joke about "shooting first."

Ryon Edwards, a Florida resident from DeLand, set up a Facebook event titled, "Shoot At Hurricane Irma" as a way to lighten the mood a bit. To his surprise, 25,000 people say they're going to the event (which has no actual location), and 53,000 have marked that they're interested. Of course, actually shooting at the hurricane is not advised.

13. We appreciate the outpouring of love and support from all over the country.

While the hurricane may be devastating to our buildings and properties, it's nice to know that we're not alone.

We're sending good vibes and lots of love to the people affected by Hurricane Irma today. Do you have loved ones in Florida? Send them your well wishes and give them a shout out in the comments!