CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — In the Coastal Bend some residents think a direct hit from a major storm can't or won't happen to us.
The last major hurricane to strike our area was 2017's Hurricane Harvey.
Some residents in the Tampa Bay area which saw devastating impacts from Hurricane Helene said they also had the same mentality.
Before the storm, there was this sense of, "It's not going to hit us, we'll be okay, we don't need to evacuate."
But what they got was record, devastating storm surge.
3NEWS traveled to Clearwater, a coastal community near Tampa Bay, Florida where outside almost every single home once cherished belongings and memories were left in piles of debris.
Patrick Brafford heeded the warning to evacuate his family ahead of the storm.
"Each yard right now tells a story," he said.
The majority of heartbreaking damage left by Helene in this part of Florida wasn't caused by the wind or the rain, but rather from a record storm surge of seven feet.
It's a stark reminder for us in the Coastal Bend that every storm's impact is different.
"Don't let your guard down, right, whether it's for a storm or any of the other disasters that are possible here in Corpus Christi," Corpus Christi Emergency Management Coordinator Jace Johnson said.
He said despite Helene's impact hundreds of miles away, it can be a lesson for us in the Coastal Bend not to be complacent.
"No one really wants to think about planning for a disaster, but when something does happen, we just don't have the time for it, right? There's so many things that are asking for our attention, so we tell folks to not only to have a plan, but also be prepared with resources, with water, food, medications," Johnson said.
He said residents here at home can stay alert with the City's Reverse Alert System. To join all you have to do is text 'BEREADYCCNC' to 888-777.
If an evacuation order is called, take the warning seriously.
In Florida there are many stories of those who tried to ride out the storm thinking they would be okay. The result was water rescue after water rescue done by first responders.
In Pinellas County it was reported there were at least a dozen lives lost.
"Our hearts and our prayers go out with that community, you know, for a while it looked like it was gonna be our turn and it wasn't right," Johnson said. "We're thankful for that, but we also, you know, think about those communities there as well, but it lets us know that we're still in hurricane season."
Thinking back to Tropical Storm Alberto for us here at home it hit to the south of us in Mexico, but it's effects were felt on North Beach with severe storm surge. It dumped tons of sand on the streets.
Helene, was so much worse for Florida with an incredible amount of sand even inside homes.
Brafford has a message for other coastal communities including ours.
"Don't take anything for granted, weather is weather," he said. "Just because we can base it from what happened with a storm down the road, never been hit hard in how many years, we got to heed the warnings. We got to have a plan and have a plan early, you got to have that evacuation plan in place."