Posted on 14 Comments

It’s coming

Hurricane Sandy, I mean. And while we have been super lucky in the past, who knows if we will have power this time tomorrow? If I take a while to respond to email over the next week, you can assume we are without electricity.

We’ve stocked up on firewood, dragged much of our outdoor furniture into the garage, lifted things off of the basement floor, and filtered a few pitchers of water, just in case. I’ve been around the yard taking a small bunch of “before” pictures, which I very much hope will look remarkably like the “after” pictures in a few days…

I bought a nifty hand-crank weather radio, and a few mini tripod flashlights to go with the full-size one we already own and love. I’ve spent the last few days recharging every AA battery in this house, and Eamonn has already requested hand-crank duty for the radio.

Last week I ordered some new yarn, and today I ran to the yarn shop for a few circular needles I didn’t have. If we are going to spend the next three days hanging out in the family room without a TV to watch or an Internet to surf, I am going to at least keep myself happy with some new super-secret Christmas knitting.

For those of you who are also in the path of Sandy, especially those of you in New Jersey like me, I’ve got a few resources to pass along:

When Hurricane Irene came around last year, I was drawn primarily to Twitter. I liked reading about the progress of the hurricane from the normal, everyday people right there on the ground, as opposed to the weather guys on TV. As long as I have internet access these next few days, I’ll be keeping an eye on the #njsandy hashtag on Twitter.

Also on Twitter, I’ve created a list of people who are storm-tweeting in an official capacity (or who I noticed had very helpful tweets during Hurricane Irene). This includes national, state (NJ), county (Morris), and town (Long Hill) twitter streams. You can follow the list (as opposed to following each person individually) to get all of the news.

I noticed the Governor has also compiled a Twitter list, if you want to check that one out, too.

And, lastly, I like Google’s Crisis Map for a more visual approach.

Stay safe, everybody!

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Posted on 14 Comments

14 thoughts on “It’s coming

  1. I hope U will be fine…

  2. Tripod flashlight – thank you for the reminder that I bought one of them for a Christmas gift & it’s squirrelled away in the present stash box if I need it. Hope you & yours stay warm, dry & safe.

  3. For hurricanes I like Facebook. If you (your readers) also like Facebook, here are a few links for you.

    https://www.facebook.com/VAemergency?ref=stream

    https://www.facebook.com/FEMA?ref=stream

    https://www.facebook.com/US.NOAA.NationalHurricaneCenter.gov?ref=stream

    Well, there are a few anyway.

  4. Please stay safe! My prayers go out to all those in the eastern States.

  5. I would be petrified – we don’t get hurricanes in Australia! Stay safe guys, will be thinking of you and saying prayers. xxx

  6. I like your post. Nothing really that I have to say about it since all I did was look at the pictures. LOL

  7. Be safe you guys! I hope everyone has gotten prepared like you guys.

  8. I thought of you while watching the storm coverage-prayers for your safety. We’re getting snow here.

  9. I’ll be thinking of you as this storm moves in. I hope you’re all safe and secure. You sure are well prepared. We had Hurricane Ike in Houston a couple of years ago. The day before my husband & I tried to find batteries and there wasn’t one to be found. After the storm we had nearly 2 weeks of no power and found some batteries in a convenience store that we priced so ridiculously high we said no. Something like $15 for 2 D cells. Stupid price gouging! I’ll check back after!

  10. Stay safe! Hopefully it pass quickly and without causing too many problems.

  11. I hope you are ok? We saw on TV what happened to the Eastcoast.

  12. Am watching Governor Chrisitie as I type as well as videos of NJ. I don’t know exactly where you are but my prayers are with you and your family. If anyone can weather a storm, from what little bit I have learned about you guys, you certainly will! Here’s hoping you still have power and minimal damage — that you are safe and well. Your friend in Georgia, Robin

  13. Am waiting to hear from my aunt and uncle in Manahawkin, NJ. Hope they and all of you come out okay. Keep us posted!!

  14. little projects are must have when stuck inside, that’s for sure! hope things are still good.

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