Woman shares practical survival tips ahead of an extremely active hurricane season
You may want to take notes.

Woman's practical hurricane tips has people taking notes
Hurricane season is already upon us but peak hurricane season is just around the corner. There are many parts of America that do not experience hurricane season. That doesn't mean they are free from natural disasters, some areas of the country have fire seasons, earth quakes, tornados or blizzards. Living in the United States can feel like a toss up on picking which seasonal natural disasters you'd rather live through.
But alas with more jobs going virtual and the cost of living going up, many people have moved from the western part of the country to the souther part of the country. This means they're going from maybe being used to experiencing fire season or earth quakes to possibly experiencing their first hurricanes. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), "predicts an 85% chance of an above-normal season."
NOAA is predicting 17-25 named storms, of which 8-13 will become hurricanes with 4-7 becoming a category 3 or higher, considered to be major hurricanes. Meghan Basford, who survived Hurricane Micheal when it hit Florida as a Category 5 in 2018, took to social media to share practical hurricane tips that some may not consider.
"If you don't know what Hurricane Michael is, Hurricane Michael was the fourth strongest landfalling hurricane in the United States. It came in at a whopping 160 mile an hour winds and it was a Category 5 upon landfall. You probably didn't hear about it though because nobody really cares about this part of the United States. Yeah, I said it," Basford jokingly adds.
She shares some time lapse video of her home while the hurricane passed through her state. Unfortunately, Basford lost her home to the storm as well as much of the stuff inside, which is why she recommends photographing and videoing everything in the home beforehand. This will assist in filing insurance claims, "take pictures of everything. Take pictures of policy numbers so that when you're on the phone with them you can pull them right up."
NOAA's 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season OutlookImage credit: NOAA
Don't plan on riding out the storm and throwing a hurricane party? She's got a tip for you to know if you need toss out the food in your fridge when you return, "fill a clear cup up with water. You're going to stick it in the freezer and let it freeze. When it's frozen you're going to put a quarter on the very top. Leave your house, come back after the storm, check the placement of that quarter."
If the quarter has held it's position on the top of the cup then the food in the freezer is safe to eat but if it has sunken into the frozen cup then everything needs to get tossed. This is an indicator that the power went out for a significant amount of time and the food in the freezer likely went bad.
Some other tips Basford mentions is using your dishwasher as a waterproof safe, filling ziplock bags with water and freezing them, and filling your bath tub with water to flush the toilet in case the water goes out. Her list is fairly extensive and extremely helpful, people in the comments found themselves taking notes for future reference, even ones that don't live in areas prone to hurricanes.
"Oooookay, third generation Floridian here and aside from freezing bags of water, filling the tub, and flashlights/candles…none of this information has ever been taught to me. I’m so appreciative of your candor and humor throughout as well. Saved," someone reveals.
"I’m no where near water and I was taking notes," another laughs.
"Do I live in hurricane country? No. But I watched this entire video, saved it, shared it with my husband, and thought to myself, 'I gotta remember this just in case,'" one person shares.
Others hurricane survivors added their own tips to the comments with one person writing, "Katrina PTSD just entered the chat….
Tips: no generators in the house people, or super close by the house. Have a window unit for your whole family having a sleepover in one room for days/weeks. Stock up on medications that are life saving for those that require medications daily. Know your neighbors and check on each other."
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30 with the peak being late August through mid September.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."