Think ahead.

We are weeks from the first anniversary of the windstorm, and two weeks past some damaging late summer thunderstorms along the Midcoast. You can hope along with me for a quiet fall, and let's hope hard, but with images of Florence fresh on our screens and the Southeast's death toll that mounted for days as the water did, this is a time to grieve those killed, aid the survivors and know, we give hope the best chance when we plan to make a good outcome happen.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency’s website tells us September is National Preparedness Month. Under “Preparedness–are you ready?” the site has links to videos and more.

We were fortunate Florence’s punch was down to a light glance Tuesday morning when the former category five hurricane came nearest us. Meteorologist William Watson of the National Weather Service’s Gray office said Tuesday, Florence’s remnants were a post-tropical system, or more like a regular low pressure system. 

The storm once dubbed the storm of a lifetime didn't affect life here in Maine. But for many, last Halloween’s windstorm did, for days or longer. Anything that can uproot massive trees like it and the area’s recent storms did should be taken seriously.

Nature’s force yields remarkable sights like trees on parked cars and floods that work their way up street lamps. It can also kill. 

When our county, towns and the National Weather Service are talking storms, warnings and evacuations, if ever, listen closely and often. And in the meantime, check out the county’s EMA site for those resources. It could be the most important thing you do for your family this month.