Hurricane Matthew, a 50th birthday and a near miss for Central Catholic grad

Richard Ballesteros received an interesting “gift” Thursday.

"Who gets a hurricane for their 50th birthday?” the 1985 Central Catholic graduate asked from his home in Oak Park, Fla.

Luckily, he and his neighbors didn’t get the full brunt of Hurricane Matthew, the 140-mph, Category 4 hurricane that’s been responsible for more than 100 deaths.

It’s expected that Matthew will unleash most of its damage in the coming hours far north of Ballesteros’ home near Fort Lauderdale and onto the Georgia and South Carolina coasts.

As it stood, Ballesteros said he avoided mandatory evacuations and spent The Big 5-0 inside as 35 mph winds and heavy rain hit the area.

“There’s been a few downed power lines,” he said. “We certainly dodged a bullet in this area.”

Ballesteros said he spent the days leading up to Matthew’s arrival making sure he had enough gas in his car and food and other supplies to last him three days. He loaded up on canned foods, batteries for flashlights, an ice chest and other essentials.

As he shopped, he said, he noticed an uptick in anxiety among his fellow residents.

Ballesteros works in retail management and gets back to the Modesto area often because he he has family who own a flower shop in Oakdale.

Having been in Florida for three months, he can add a hurricane to his list of natural disasters. He was in Southern California during the 6.7-magnitude Northridge earthquake in 1994 and the aftermath of a tornado in Arkansas.

“Earthquake is the worst because you can’t prepare for it,” he said. “With a tornado, you get a warning. With a hurricane, you get a warning. You don’t get a warning with an earthquake. It sneaks up on you.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Hurricane Matthew, a 50th birthday and a near miss for Central Catholic grad."