STAND DOWN FROM RED ALERT.
In a nutshell -- Dear everyone: I AM GOING TO BE FINE, and you should stop watching CNN.
In more detail:
I started checking on all of the city evacuation zones about three days ago. That one map has been posted in about ten different places online, and hasn't changed once; and according to that map, I am a half a block from the border of the evacuation zone for a category THREE hurricane, and two blocks from the border of the zone for a category ONE. Moreover, I'm on the fourth floor of my building, and there are stairs as opposed to an elevator. So unless we have an actual tsunami, I will be dry and unflooded. The worst case scenario is that I will be able to joke about having "lakefront property" for about a half a day.
I've still got about two and a half gallons' worth of water bottles all filled, and also filled up the 10-liter camping shower I got a couple months back to use as "I need to flush the toilet with something" water. I'm also getting out my camping lantern handy as well. My parents have also had this strange habit of getting me small portable LED keychain flashlights for about three Christmases running now, and I'm rounding all of them up.
As for food, I had my CSA pickup today; and a good deal of the stuff they gave me can stay unrefrigerated, and also requires no cooking -- five pounds of peaches, a pound of tomatoes, and two canteloupes. That's on top of the two pounds of Swiss chard and the beets I already have; there's also two pounds of cucumbers which I'll get out of the fridge first if the power goes out. So if I do indeed lose power, it will probably only be for a couple days, and I will be living on bread, cucumbers, fruit, and crackers, and honestly, there are worse fates.
And as I was picking up my CSA, I noticed a lot of spots where big dead tree limbs were down on the ground, carefully placed by the curb -- I realized that that was the city having come around and taken down dead tree branches in advance of the storm, so they couldn't blow loose and break windows. Which also inspired confidence.
Other than that, my big "storm prep" consisted of "doing laundry before everything shuts down," because otherwise I'd be going without underwear for three days and that can't be pleasant.
I hit the supermarket for one last bottled water run while the load was running, and also picked up some pasta to go with the chard; the place was mobbed, with people buying up pounds and pounds of meat, 20-packs of toilet paper, entire cases of bottled water, boxes and boxes of cereal...honestly, some people are preparing for a full-on zombie apocalypse. I didn't understand why until I got a panicked call from Sue, offering to drive to New York if necessary and collect me so I would be safe. When I asked why, because it was going to be okay, she told me that CNN was making it sound like the whole of New York would be swamped with a several-foot-high storm surge that would wash out every last city street. There are parts of the city that are indeed facing storm surges, yes, and some parts have been evacuated. But I'm not in them, and so really all I'm facing is a day stuck inside watching a hell of a lot of rain and wind, and possibly having to live as a fruititarian, commute by bike, and go without television for 36 hours. And honestly, there are worse fates.
But the laundry's in, I'm closing all the windows and filling up the occasional stock pot as I think of it, digging out all the flashlights, candles and matches so they're at the ready, and maybe in a couple hours I'll go up to the corner bar for a Community Bonding Experience before digging in and preparing for a day of knitting and reading tomorrow. I am really, really going to be fine.
In more detail:
I started checking on all of the city evacuation zones about three days ago. That one map has been posted in about ten different places online, and hasn't changed once; and according to that map, I am a half a block from the border of the evacuation zone for a category THREE hurricane, and two blocks from the border of the zone for a category ONE. Moreover, I'm on the fourth floor of my building, and there are stairs as opposed to an elevator. So unless we have an actual tsunami, I will be dry and unflooded. The worst case scenario is that I will be able to joke about having "lakefront property" for about a half a day.
I've still got about two and a half gallons' worth of water bottles all filled, and also filled up the 10-liter camping shower I got a couple months back to use as "I need to flush the toilet with something" water. I'm also getting out my camping lantern handy as well. My parents have also had this strange habit of getting me small portable LED keychain flashlights for about three Christmases running now, and I'm rounding all of them up.
As for food, I had my CSA pickup today; and a good deal of the stuff they gave me can stay unrefrigerated, and also requires no cooking -- five pounds of peaches, a pound of tomatoes, and two canteloupes. That's on top of the two pounds of Swiss chard and the beets I already have; there's also two pounds of cucumbers which I'll get out of the fridge first if the power goes out. So if I do indeed lose power, it will probably only be for a couple days, and I will be living on bread, cucumbers, fruit, and crackers, and honestly, there are worse fates.
And as I was picking up my CSA, I noticed a lot of spots where big dead tree limbs were down on the ground, carefully placed by the curb -- I realized that that was the city having come around and taken down dead tree branches in advance of the storm, so they couldn't blow loose and break windows. Which also inspired confidence.
Other than that, my big "storm prep" consisted of "doing laundry before everything shuts down," because otherwise I'd be going without underwear for three days and that can't be pleasant.
I hit the supermarket for one last bottled water run while the load was running, and also picked up some pasta to go with the chard; the place was mobbed, with people buying up pounds and pounds of meat, 20-packs of toilet paper, entire cases of bottled water, boxes and boxes of cereal...honestly, some people are preparing for a full-on zombie apocalypse. I didn't understand why until I got a panicked call from Sue, offering to drive to New York if necessary and collect me so I would be safe. When I asked why, because it was going to be okay, she told me that CNN was making it sound like the whole of New York would be swamped with a several-foot-high storm surge that would wash out every last city street. There are parts of the city that are indeed facing storm surges, yes, and some parts have been evacuated. But I'm not in them, and so really all I'm facing is a day stuck inside watching a hell of a lot of rain and wind, and possibly having to live as a fruititarian, commute by bike, and go without television for 36 hours. And honestly, there are worse fates.
But the laundry's in, I'm closing all the windows and filling up the occasional stock pot as I think of it, digging out all the flashlights, candles and matches so they're at the ready, and maybe in a couple hours I'll go up to the corner bar for a Community Bonding Experience before digging in and preparing for a day of knitting and reading tomorrow. I am really, really going to be fine.