You may have seen the headlines, "A Hurricane of magnitude 7 is coming" when the news anchors talk about a supposedly imminent hurricane.

I had never been through an extreme weather experience before, and it was scary to think about what could happen if this storm hit us.

When we were in our home watching the bad weather reports every hour on TV with uncertainty looming over the future, it was hard not to worry. But some moments made me feel like we were going to be OK. It was reassuring when my neighbor brought over some supplies for our family: water bottles, canned goods, duct tape (to seal windows), flashlights, and batteries—a big relief in case the power went out!

The storm finally hit around midnight. For the first few hours, it was terrorizing because of how loud and intense everything was. It sounded like bombs going off all around us. But then, at about three in the morning, as I lay there listening to the wind shaking the walls, something profound happened to me. Something changed from within; my heart opened up, and a tremendous feeling of peace came over me. The air felt still and calm, even though outside there was so much noise and destruction happening.

I sat on my bed for a while before going into the living room to check on my family (my mom, dad, and little sister). When I got there I told them that we should thank God for how safe we were during the hurricane. Our extreme weather experience was a strange night for us – we were all scared and shaking, but at the same time feeling a deep sense of peace and optimism as we felt the hurricane passing.

Extreme weather seems to be becoming a more frequent event in many parts of the world. Conditions can have an immense impact on many aspects of the weather, resulting in extreme fires, extreme floods, and extreme storms. The damage costs are very high - my parents have had to rebuild their home two times because of extreme weather conditions.

The danger from extreme bad weather events is rising now that climate change has been established as a reality by the scientific community. Climate change can contribute to extreme heatwaves, droughts, or heavy rain, which can cause extreme flooding and landslides and other climate disasters and dangerous weather conditions. These extreme weather events are happening more frequently than ever before and they make me feel anxious about our future and the future of other people around the world who don't have the resources we do to recover quickly from such destructive events.

Extremely damaging floods in Europe have killed hundreds of people and devastated the lives of thousands of families over the past few years. I feel so sad about what happened and wish those people could have been better prepared to survive such devastating events.

My extreme weather experience helped me realize that life is too short to worry about what other people say and do. You must live your own truth! Learn from your failures and successes and don't be afraid to live in the moment.