Awaiting storm....

[chimilady]

My sister works in a city hospital in the outpatient surgical unit. Her idiot supervisor texted all the nurses that tomorrow will be "business as usual". Who goes in for elective surgery during a state of emergency?!!! My sister told her that if they send the National Guard and a hummer to pick her up in New Jersey, she will consider donning her scrubs.

HUP? A friend if mine is a paper pusher there and got a call that he is to come in. He has nothing at all to do with medical care, he's a paper pusher! And, he lives in center city and takes SEPTA. Yup, try getting across town in a hurricane in a city that has suspended all public transit. He has no idea how he's getting to work tomorrow.

 

[2BigKIdz]

Sandy is at my house now! She's been here all day! It has not stopped raining since this morning! We're expecting over 10" of rain!!! The wind is very strong and the power has been flickering all day. The schools are closed tomorrow and hopefully it will pass by tomorrow night!!

My cousin lives in VA Beach and I tried texting him to see if everything was okay but have not heard back, glad to see your post here. He is 8 miles from the oceanfront.

I am in Charlottesville and so far we aren't having much of anything but I think the worst is supposed to come tomorrow afternoon for us.

Everyone stay safe!

 

[Bowen9475]

Checking in from central MA here. Has been raining on and off all day. Schools are closed for tomorrow. We had a generator put in earlier this year after having lost power for 6 days after the December 2008 ice storm, one day for Hurricane Irere last August and another 5 days after last year's Halloween snow storm. Now we will at least have heat and hot running water (we're on a well), a flushing toilet, use of the fridge, some lights and a TV with DVD player. Hoping and praying it will turn out to just be an expensive insurance policy We're stocked up on the basics, movies and are all gassed up. Hoping to make it through without too much disruption. Good luck to all and stay safe!

 

[lilsk8nmac]

Checking in from South Central PA here. We have been getting increasingly bad rain and wind since about 430pm today. We are predicted up to 8 inches of rain locally in the next 24 hours. Expecting bad local flooding, downed trees, and poss no power for up to a week. We are smack dab in the center of her path right now last time i checked predictions on path. Hunkering down with some non perishables, candles, and flashlights. Most schools are closed for at least the next 2 days and some businesses are starting to cancel.

Just anxiously waiting here to see what happens. Everyone please stay safe. And if officials/government tells you to evacuate, get OUT.

Stay safe everyone.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I am all set here. I had to buy a non electric can opener! We have early release for school tomorrow, hope that changes to no school. I have a plan in place for evacuation. Our dog is all set, her things are close by. Gas tank in the car is full.

 

[holden]

Just outside of Philly here. Schools closed tomorrow. I did every stitch of laundry in the house today in cases power goes out. My biggest fear is that we leave for WDW on Friday and if the power is out for days we will have to take some dirty clothes with us to wash as soon as we arrive!

Don't forget to fill a bathtub with water in case you need it for drinking/flushing.

 

[dakotix]

a little wind ...a little rain. Don't let the media drive you to panic. common sense goes a long way in these situations

 

[stitchlovestink]

We're supposed to leave for WDW on Wednesday. We shall see how this will impact our trip.
Hoping everyone stays safe and that the storm doesn't do much damage. I hate losing power.

 

[ekatiel]

Waiting for the storm here too....we are 2 blocks to the water. Our budget has been blown also. We had to pay to have someone help take our hot water heater out of our basement as a proactive attempt at saving it. When Hurricane Irene came through last year we lost everything in our basement to 3 feet of water. No hot water for 2 months! This time we're prepared....I hope! They just announced mandatory evacuations, but I'd rather be uncomfortable in my own home than in someone else's. Probably lose power by tomorrow, so no more Dis! Good luck everybody! Stay safe!

Please leave. If they ask you to evacuate and you don't, they cannot guarantee ANY services to you through the duration and the aftermath of the storm, including ambulance or fire service. Most likely you are in a storm surge zone and that is why they've asked you to leave. Look here for NJ storm surge maps: http://www.state.nj.us/njoem/plan/evacuation-routes.html . I live in a suburb south of Houston, and when they tell us to get out, we get out. Everyone I know who stayed during our last big hurricane (Ike) regrets the decision and plans to leave next time. --Katie

 

[flakypuff]

Just popping in to see if other people are awaiting the storm like my family. The storm put a damper on our budget since we had to unexpectedly buy a bunch of necessities in between pay weeks! Hoping we have enough non perishables to get us thru! Good luck to everyone who is waiting and holding our breath

It is raining and just a little windy. I think we are as ready as we can be. Sending Pixie dust to everyone. Stay safe

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We're waiting here in MD. The rain just started about an hour or so ago. It was a bit windy here today, but nothing too bad. All schools here are closed tomorrow, and many are already closed for Tuesday. My dh got a text that work is still open for tomorrow, so he'll have to travel the hour to/from work in this mess.

We took down all or our Halloween decorations, brought in our patio furniture and other loose items outside. We've got a supply of batteries and plenty of non-parishables. We also have all of our camping gear, in case we need use of those propane stoves, etc. We rarely lose power where we are, so I'm hopefully that we'll be OK. We also don't have a huge problem with flooding.

Stay safe everyone! I guess we'll see what we wake up to in the morning.

 

[NJGirl]

in Princeton, NJ area here...the wind has just started being heard here in the last half hour. Been drizzling off and on all day. I picked up extra non perishables to have on hand and an extra case of bottled water and 2 other gallons. Will be filling up our extra pitchers from the tap too.

We lost power for only 8 or 9 hours for Irene...hoping we get through this just as well. One car is full..the other has 3/4 of a tank.

My work is open for essential personnel only. My team is essential but we will be all working remotely for the next few days as long as power holds out.
Mom's work is closed tomorrow.

For those down the shore in the mandatory evac zone - GET OUT! I have a volunteer fireman friend down there...you endanger the first responders . There's a reason they are telling you to get out, especially if you're that close to the water!!!!

 

[Pooh2]

Here in Cental NH, just a few droplets of rain so far but all the schools are closed. We are an hour from the seacoast so wondering if everyone is being overly cautious for our area. Guess we will see tomorrow!

 

[eyes4eeyore]

South Central PA here, Lebanon County. No school Monday and Tuesday, hubby's work is also closed tomorrow...that one hurts ($), but at least I'll have his help if the house floods again this time. Praying it doesn't.

 

[sammielynn]

In Tennessee watching the Weather Channel. They just showed a graphic of possible power outrages. East Tennessee is in the area the could possibly have power outrages! What! And we may have snow from this hurricane? Folks stay safe out there, this is crazy.

 

[a1tinkfans]

NY...
waiting....and not looking forward to it...
stay safe all.......

 

[stich1fan]

NJ here...we are as prepared as possible and now we wait. we are north west so not really sure what to expect.

We lost power in the last 2 storms for about a week. Power is something you don't want to be without, no heat, hot water or lights just stinks.

We will be sleeping in the basement for the next 2 or 3 nights.

During the day, today we started to put up our Christmas things (inside). I know it is a bit crazy but we will be heading to the world soon and always do it before we leave and figured we are all stuck inside for the next few days so we might as well do something fun!

 

[PatMcDuck]

Monmouth County, Jersey Shore here. NOT in an evacuation area though.

We are ready. Lost power for 4 days with Irene, we have a generator for sump pump and refrigerator, and a power strip to charge things. We plug in a laptop and watch movies, usually.

While there will be flooding near me, I do not expect my street to flood. Our biggest problem is usually trees taking out wires, and power. I parked my car by a tree, hoping for a new car. (we have 5 vehicles and none fit in the garage).

 

[ThreeKMom]

We are about 10 minutes from the beach and very close to the reseverior that broke during Irene. The pipes still have not been completely repaired. Over the summer we had a bad rain storm and they broke again - we had no fresh water for a week! Just drove by them tonight, all they did was put some sandbags and some type of straps around the pipes - it doesnt look good!
The river was already quite high!

I'm just hoping we don't loose both water and electric for more that a day or two!

BTW - my DD is a first responder - and works in an assistant living facility - Please if you are asked to evacuate - do it! She will be spending the next two or three days on call!

Stay safe and be smart!

 

[CandleontheWater]

NJ here...we are as prepared as possible and now we wait. we are north west so not really sure what to expect.

We lost power in the last 2 storms for about a week. Power is something you don't want to be without, no heat, hot water or lights just stinks.

We will be sleeping in the basement for the next 2 or 3 nights.

During the day, today we started to put up our Christmas things (inside). I know it is a bit crazy but we will be heading to the world soon and always do it before we leave and figured we are all stuck inside for the next few days so we might as well do something fun!

I'm glad I'm not the only crazy person who is thinking of pulling out the Christmas decorations! I knew I wanted to get everything up early before the baby came, and this is the perfect excuse. I bought headlamps for everyone in the family, so if the power goes out, we'll be decorating the tree by lamp-light!