Hurricane Sandy and East Coast - anyone preparing yet?

[tweedlemom]

Checking in from NJ.
Hoping the weather stays OK through tomorrow (Sun) so we can go see Newsies in NYC!
I just want to be able to get in, see the show and get out (via NJ Transit) without issues!

 

[kacaju]

My DS was there last year as well. No issues. Of course he was a freshman last year and move in day was 3 days late due to Irene. But the October storm last year they were fine. But in mackin and a long cold walk for food. Lol

Thanks She wants to stay...I told her she is welcome to come home if she wants...She is in Pine..she said she is going to stock up on some food today!

 

[HelenePA]

How do I nicely ask my neighbor to either take down his trampoline or put something VERY heavy on it? its RIGHT next to my living room window which is making me a tad nervous! We have a very good relationship and would even take it down myself if he let me...

 

[Nancyg56]

How do I nicely ask my neighbor to either take down his trampoline or put something VERY heavy on it? its RIGHT next to my living room window which is making me a tad nervous! We have a very good relationship and would even take it down myself if he let me...

I would go over and just express your concern. It is valid. Just tell him you are worried about the wind taking it.

 

[HippieChickadee]

Well, if nothing else, I can thank "Sandy" for a clean house, fresh sheets, laundry folded & put away, a restock of the battery supply, snacks and cookies out the wazoo (not to mention the trick-or-treat candy I have hidden) and enough gas in the gas cans to last me the next 3 to 5 summers. We're ready here in Central VA!

My thoughts exactly... minus the gas cans part... I live in an apartment...

 

[Jessica14]

Checking in from NJ.
Hoping the weather stays OK through tomorrow (Sun) so we can go see Newsies in NYC!
I just want to be able to get in, see the show and get out (via NJ Transit) without issues!

I'm thinking you'll be OK. If not, Disney was very good several years ago about switching my Beauty and the Beast tickets because there was a snow storm and we couldn't get in. I talked to someone at the box office and they said it wasn't an issue even though the show ran that day.

We are certainly preparing here on Long Island in Suffolk County. My 81 year old dad is at a rehab facility with a broken ankle and Mom is coming out to me. Three adults, two kids, two dogs, three cats, and two bedrooms. Should be a hoot!

Jessica

 

[njmom47]

I was always curious how Willoughby Spit developed. It was obviously created somehow. Not "natural" in the sense of always having been there. And yes, it's odd that nature hasn't come back to reclaim it after 350 years.




Howdy....down in Beach Haven. Yes, year rounder. I haven't heard anything about evacuation yet. We left for Irene but it turned out to be unnecessary. But if an order comes to leave, we will. Not panicking, but wife is getting a little skittish. Certain areas of Brant Beach and BH Gardens flood in any heavy rain and I don't really want to get stuck for several days. We'll go to father-in-law's in Manahawkin so DW will feel more secure.

I'm optimistically expecting minimal damage. Stay safe.

Jim

I love that APP.com states "authorities say Monmouth/Ocean counties will be hit the hardest." Yay. My dd just moved to Tuckerton about a mile from the Seaport....I don't know about that area during storms. I hope she and dgd will be ok!

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

All the stores have been wiped of water and flashlights for a few days. On a whim, I decided to stop by Target on the way home from the mall, and they had about 15 gallons of water on the shelf. I grabbed two for my parents and two to take back to school in Arlington with me. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning and hoping to make it back before the worst of the rain starts.

 

[bas71873]

How do I nicely ask my neighbor to either take down his trampoline or put something VERY heavy on it? its RIGHT next to my living room window which is making me a tad nervous! We have a very good relationship and would even take it down myself if he let me...

I would go over and just express your concern. It is valid. Just tell him you are worried about the wind taking it.

It would have to be something VERY heavy. Mac truck heavy. We've lost 2....one in Irene last summer and one in a spring storm a year before that. We thought we had tramp #2 secured really well with these huge ground anchor things and thick chains, but nope, still wrapped itself around a tree in my yard. I would just politely express your concern because as PP said, it's valid!

DH even commented this AM as we were bringing stuff in that's it's nice to have a trampoline to worry about anymore.

 

[vicki_c]

Your neighbor needs to take that tramp in, so buck up and talk to him. The only damage our house suffered during Wilma (FL 2005) was from the neighbor's trampoline as it soared over our house and landed in our front yard and on the street in front. Took off shingles, ripped our roof vent up (causing water to come into our house). All avoidable if that trampoline had been put away. We were lucky that none of the springs came through our window. DH and my son were out in the street just as the storm started picking up pieces of that damn trampoline. Very scary.

 

[Promomx2]

Yup, I'd say something about the trampoline. I've got everything up including my pumpkin and my neighbor has his trash cans, etc out, even has his umbrella open. Walmarts were crazy here but I did find water at Target and C batteries. I'm used the the drill and having dh at work during the major weather events, but this year my dd and her family (including a 2mos and 22 mos old) are within 2 miles, so I get to worry about them and make sure she has prepared.

 

[maxaroni]

Thanks She wants to stay...I told her she is welcome to come home if she wants...She is in Pine..she said she is going to stock up on some food today!

How is your DD liking Ramapo? Having food in the room is good and will save going out in the pouring rain. My DS had easy Mac and soup a lot in the room as well as hot chocolate.

 

[HelenePA]

 

[monkeybug]

I'm on it!

 

[JessicaR]

I made my rounds today - hardware store - supermarket - liquor store.

I actually laughed really hard when I couldn't get a parking spot at the liquor store. The owner told me there was a line when he showed up to open this morning.

We have our priorities straight!

 

[fitzy819]

Well, if nothing else, I can thank "Sandy" for a clean house, fresh sheets, laundry folded & put away, a restock of the battery supply, snacks and cookies out the wazoo (not to mention the trick-or-treat candy I have hidden) and enough gas in the gas cans to last me the next 3 to 5 summers. We're ready here in Central VA!

Same here

I have laundry washing right now and dishes are next. We have flashlights and candles, water, bread and PB&J, cereal, soup, a new grill (Ok, we wanted one anyway and this was just a good excuse) and a battery operated carbon monoxide detector. Now we just need to figure out how to work the gas fireplace (we just moved and haven't tested it out yet) and fill up our cars and get some cash.

I really don't think it is going to get bad here but we will be good without power for a while if it happens. We live on a peninsula and are about 3 miles inland from the Chesapeake Bay. I guess we will just wait and see....

 

[3boymthr]

inland MA here. Currently not expecting more than 40-50 mph winds & rain despite the major news stations like CNN rotfl2 insisting on using words like "Sandy to ravage New England". Really? All of New England? Its more like SW CT is what they are talking about and CT, RI & SE MA coastlines for now. I don't see northern VT being ravaged as they insist on using in their titles.

Stick with local news in New England. Going to be more of a coastal storm for MA as it currently stands. Not expecting a life or death situation. Not doing a lot to prepare as I'm on very high ground with no trees immediately near house & have underground utilities in the area. We have a very good track record of not losing power. At most its ever been out for 6 hours once in 19 years. We are on a major line that is restored immediately it seems.

We always have batteries & flashlights. Its not cold enough to worry about heat. We have a large battery backup thing for a radio, a light, etc. Always something in the house you can eat or cook on the grill. Not going to starve to death. Sure, losing power might be an uncomfortable inconvience, but not going to die from it, and there are always friends houses or shelters to go to but honestly don't anticipate such a situation this time.

Media loves to hype this stuff. They will be out searching for something to report when there is nothing happening & make it sound like its a horrible storm. And they will do it all day long.

One of these times it will be a really bad storm & no one will be paying any attention to them.

I watch NOAA weather reports & don't pay any attention to the media hyping up the info to give themselves something to talk about for a week.

You are very lucky. We're also in MA. Despite not getting the worst of the storms like they did in CT and VT last year and not usually losing power - we went years without losing it for more than a few minutes - last year we lost it twice - for 5 days each time and a few of our local neighborhoods were down for up to 10 days - even in neighborhoods with underground wires. Both times there were tons of limbs down everywhere due to the storms, many on the main (numbered) roads. On my road I counted 20 limbs resting on the lines in the space of half a mile. It was horrible being without power so long. So we're preparing not for a lot of damage from the storm due to flooding but for power outages due to so many limbs being down. I'm hoping that maybe because so many weak limbs were lost last year we won't have as much trouble this year but I'm still preparing to be days without power - especially since they are saying - even on the local news - that although the storm won't be as bad as down south- we should expect to lose power.

 

[monkeybug]

Same here

I have laundry washing right now and dishes are next. We have flashlights and candles, water, bread and PB&J, cereal, soup, a new grill (Ok, we wanted one anyway and this was just a good excuse) and a battery operated carbon monoxide detector. Now we just need to figure out how to work the gas fireplace (we just moved and haven't tested it out yet) and fill up our cars and get some cash.

I really don't think it is going to get bad here but we will be good without power for a while if it happens. We live on a peninsula and are about 3 miles inland from the Chesapeake Bay. I guess we will just wait and see....

We are near(ish) you, (on other side of James River bridge) and also just moved here. I think we are supposed to get 30mph sustained winds and gusts to 50. That isn't bad compared to the storms we've had in other places we've lived, but people around here are saying that it's enough to knock power out. Blech!
We have food, water, flashlights, batteries, our stove is gas, and the house came with a generator. Oh, and we have wine! Lots of wine!

 

[fitzy819]

We are near(ish) you, (on other side of James River bridge) and also just moved here. I think we are supposed to get 30mph sustained winds and gusts to 50. That isn't bad compared to the storms we've had in other places we've lived, but people around here are saying that it's enough to knock power out. Blech!
We have food, water, flashlights, batteries, our stove is gas, and the house came with a generator. Oh, and we have wine! Lots of wine!

I totally forgot, we have beer and hard apple cider too! It wouldn't be a hurricane without alcohol.

Yep, you aren't far from us at all. We have lived here for three years so not that long either. We previously lived in apartment and never lost power during any of the storms that came through but many people I worked with lost power for a week+. We moved in to a house about a month ago so I guess we will see if we keep power here. Every time they update hurricane reports the forecast for here changes. One minute they say we will be hit, the next we wont. Who knows!

 

[RedSox68]

They just changed the timeline at 6 p.m. from it hitting us head on Monday night to it now hitting us head on at 6 a.m. Monday!

I did laundry today, my DH cleaned all the items off the basement floor and moved everything up high, moved branches and trash cans and outdoor items into the garage; refrigerator is stocked; plenty of bottles of water; lanterns ready with batteries and plenty of candles; pitchers filled with tap water for the dogs; and tomorrow I am filling all empty (cleaned) trash cans and water bins with water for washing and toilet and other necessary in case we lose power.

We also stocked up on canned items, soda, juices, breads and wine!

I'm taking this very seriously since I used to live in Miami and lived through many a dangerous hurricane. They are predicting 75+ mph winds, 10+ inches of rain, flooding, high tides (we live near a river) and massive power outages. Areas to our west are expected to get two feet of snow!

The governers in the tri-state area have all declared states of emergency and asked cars to be off roads by 6 a.m. Monday morning, but yet none of them have told us what they plan to do with the government offices and state universities!

Good luck to all and stay safe.