Vaughn McClure, ESPN Staff Writer 7y

After surviving Hurricane Andrew, Falcons' Marquand Manuel has family prepped for Irma

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- First-year Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel, a Miami native who still resides in the city during the offseason, took measures to make certain his family braced for Hurricane Irma.

Manuel said some family members headed to Atlanta on Wednesday. But Manuel, one of 17 children, said any of his siblings remaining in the Miami area know how to brave such a storm.

"All my brothers and sisters, we lived through Hurricane Andrew," Manuel told ESPN, referring to the Category 5 hurricane from 1992 that killed 65 and caused $47.8 billion (in today's dollars) in damage. "It hit us directly on. I tell people this all the time: You can never control what God's will is. However, if you know that you put yourself out of harm's way, you'll be fine. Make sure you take the proper precautions -- board your house up, gas your cars, get ice, get water -- those things that you can survive at least two or three weeks knowing that power will probably be out."

Manuel was 12 years old when Hurricane Andrew hit.

"We stayed at home," he said. "Our roof ended up coming off the house in the midst of the hurricane. What people don't understand about hurricanes is that beautiful, clear skies, and no humidity or anything like that and then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, it sounds like a train wreck. It's almost like tornadoes, but they just last a whole lot longer."

Manuel is not in panic mode about Hurricane Irma, although his prayers are with anyone affected, including his family.

"We're getting it all situated," Manuel said. "Everyone can't [come to Atlanta], so we're trying to make sure we hunker down and get everybody situated from that standpoint because I've got tons of friends and family that can't make it. But initial family will.

"Just like Houston, you want to prepare. That's the best thing that you want to do. But you don't want it to be a distraction from everything that we've got going on, so we took care of the necessary things this prior weekend to make sure that everybody is fine."

Falcons two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman is from Miami and took measures to make sure his family remains safe before the team heads to Chicago to face the Bears.

"My family's coming up here," Freeman said. "I wish I could bring everybody with me. ... Thankful, our houses are like brick in south Florida."

Falcons punter Matt Bosher's family is in Jupiter, which is 90 miles straight north of Miami on the coast.

"It is what it is," Bosher said. "It's unfortunate. Obviously, my hopes and prayers are with everybody back home. For us, luckily a lot of people are leaving and coming up [to Atlanta] and staying with us. We've got like five or six people. But it's just one of those things. I've lived there my whole life. You kind of look out for everybody else when you can because sometimes, you know you're going to be the one needing somebody.

"I just hope everybody is OK, whether it's Miami, The Keys, the Bahamas, everywhere. It's unfortunate, but it's part of living down there."

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