Hurricane Matthew: "We Didn't Sit in the Dark"

Hurricane Matthew devastated hundreds of thousands of individuals, leaving many without power when they needed it the most. KOHLER gave John Zarrella a generator last year and this was his experience with it during Hurricane Matthew: Power.

We don't realize how much we rely upon it until we don't have it. And, we don't realize how valuable a generator can be until the power goes out. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew that has once again been the case.

Merritt Island, Florida which sits near to the Kennedy Space Center was expected to take a perhaps devastating direct hit. This is where my family and I live. Having spent thirty plus years covering storms for CNN, I was quite aware of the devastation and misery that would be left in Matthew's wake. We were told to evacuate and we did. I genuinely felt that I might not have a home to come back to.

At the last hour, the storm wobbled to the right sparing us the worst. Still, trees came down, fences fell apart, pool canopies crumbled and of course, power went out. But as we drove up to the house I heard a very comforting sound. Our Kohler standby generator was purring. My neighbor who did not evacuate was picking up debris when we drove up. He said wow, your generator kicked on with-in seconds of the power going off. I smiled.

Our power was out for less than thirty-six hours. During that time we didn't sit in the dark. We were able to cook, watch TV, charge cell phones, and rest comfortably. As I write this, four days since Matthew, there are neighborhoods still in the dark. One is right across the canal from us. I can hear only one generator running. Remember, this was just a glancing hit and people are still waiting for the lights to come back on.

Do yourself and your family a favor. If you can, get a standby generator. I hoped I'd never need it. But I was sure glad I had it when we did!