Hurricane Sandy! (Watch out, NE)

[nanette1985]

I saw one guy buying nothing but a 60" TV. No flashlights, no batteries, no groceries. I liked his style, he and I were the only 2 people in the store not panic-buying.

love your story. Made me laugh.

I still haven't been to the store since I heard about the storm - my son is working double shifts all weekend and he has the car.

only thing I want to get is a fire extinguisher. I have a huge amount of candles and I'd like to have an extinguisher just in case. I've been cleaning and I'm finding all sorts of interesting things left over from last year's hurricane prep.

I've got a case of 6 of those gallon bottles of water. Question - is there any reason to worry about drinking them after a year? Or has the plastic become poisonous?

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
No sign of my original post of this beast.



As usual, yes

I noticed it way down south of the Caribbean before anyone said anything about it.

Sorry you don't have great oracle powers

Sorry Dave, having "weather underground" bookmarked is not considered a "great oracle power....

 

[DrPizza]

love your story. Made me laugh.

I still haven't been to the store since I heard about the storm - my son is working double shifts all weekend and he has the car.

only thing I want to get is a fire extinguisher. I have a huge amount of candles and I'd like to have an extinguisher just in case. I've been cleaning and I'm finding all sorts of interesting things left over from last year's hurricane prep.

I've got a case of 6 of those gallon bottles of water. Question - is there any reason to worry about drinking them after a year? Or has the plastic become poisonous?

Once you're rid of the candles, consider oil lamps. They put out 10 times as much light, no wax dripping all over the place, and much lower risk of catching things on fire.

There is no more lamp oil for sale within 15 miles of me. I bought the rest of it today. (I can light my house for a month now.)

 

[ussfletcher]

I'm south of Baltimore and I'm roughly certain that I will be losing power. I went to stores all over the place today, couldn't find flashlights or D batteries. I did consider getting some deep cycle marine batteries, a charger, and an inverter at least then I'd have power for my laptop for a while. I'll just have to make due with my battery backup and charged batteries. Also expecting not to have work for most of next week, so I took the liberty of stocking up the bar. I think I'm going to go out and buy some books tomorrow.

 

[Baked]

I had a look of the hurricane on weather channel this morning. OMFG, the thing is bigger than the entire easter seaboard. Yeah, you guys need to get the fuck outta there now.

 

[BoomerD]

Hurricane Sandy! (Watch out, NE)

In case it hasn't been mentioned...I really doubt this storm will affect Nebraska too much...

 

[BUTCH1]

I had a look of the hurricane on weather channel this morning. OMFG, the thing is bigger than the entire easter seaboard. Yeah, you guys need to get the fuck outta there now.

Yup, it's a whopper alright, if your gonna leave, don't wait, nothing worse than riding out a hurricane in your car stuck in traffic, if your gonna stay here's a few things to remember..

1) instant coffee and dry creamer, yea it sucks but no coffee at all?, no way

2)If you've got a gas grill get a tank or 2 of propane, very handy

3) trim any bushes or trees near your house, the wind can whip them on your shingles and siding causing damage.

4) mow the lawn...why?, you WILL be doing LOTS of raking debris when it's all done with, it's a lot easier to rake a close-cut lawn, buy extra plastic bags too.

5)if you have any empty freezer or fridge space put jugs of water in it, they will help it hold temps down longer, crank the fridge to max cold.

6) stow or tie down lawn furniture, ornaments less they become projectiles and hit yours or your neighbors home..

7) clean the gutters, yea it's a sucky, dirty job but they will be getting a workout like never before, if they are filled with crap they might bust open.

8) Fill the car with gas and if you've got a genny every can you can find, ice and gas are hard to find after a storm, buy 3-4 qts of whatever oil your genny uses, if the power is out for extended period you will need to change the oil on these.

9) Paper plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, you will want to keep the hot water in your water heater for personal hygiene, not dishes.

10) canned food and batteries(if you can find much left, don't delay or there will be NOTHING left) oil lamps are much better than candles whichever you wind up using keep them lit in a spot where kids and pets can't knock a lit one over.

11) laundry, wash all you can before the storm hits, wearing dirty underwear sucks, washing during a power outage, nope..

11.5) I almost forgot, get your scripts re-filled, without power pharmacies are useless..

12) finally take a nice, long hot shower or bath and save time for a long nap, it's difficult to sleep during a storm and it's best to be awake anyway to keep an eye on things. BTW by taking "navy" showers, (water on just enough to wet, off while soaping/shampooing, then again to rinse) I squeaked 3 days of useable hot water after the juice went out, hope this helps and good luck to all.....

 

[TXHokie]

Don't forget cash is king when there's no power (i.e. no ATM or credit)

 

[irishScott]

Yup, it's a whopper alright, if your gonna leave, don't wait, nothing worse than riding out a hurricane in your car stuck in traffic, if your gonna stay here's a few things to remember..

1) instant coffee and dry creamer, yea it sucks but no coffee at all?, no way

2)If you've got a gas grill get a tank or 2 of propane, very handy

3) trim any bushes or trees near your house, the wind can whip them on your shingles and siding causing damage.

4) mow the lawn...why?, you WILL be doing LOTS of raking debris when it's all done with, it's a lot easier to rake a close-cut lawn, buy extra plastic bags too.

5)if you have any empty freezer or fridge space put jugs of water in it, they will help it hold temps down longer, crank the fridge to max cold.

6) stow or tie down lawn furniture, ornaments less they become projectiles and hit yours or your neighbors home..

7) clean the gutters, yea it's a sucky, dirty job but they will be getting a workout like never before, if they are filled with crap they might bust open.

8) Fill the car with gas and if you've got a genny every can you can find, ice and gas are hard to find after a storm, buy 3-4 qts of whatever oil your genny uses, if the power is out for extended period you will need to change the oil on these.

9) Paper plates, cups, glasses, cutlery, you will want to keep the hot water in your water heater for personal hygiene, not dishes.

10) canned food and batteries(if you can find much left, don't delay or there will be NOTHING left) oil lamps are much better than candles whichever you wind up using keep them lit in a spot where kids and pets can't knock a lit one over.

11) laundry, wash all you can before the storm hits, wearing dirty underwear sucks, washing during a power outage, nope..

11.5) I almost forgot, get your scripts re-filled, without power pharmacies are useless..

12) finally take a nice, long hot shower or bath and save time for a long nap, it's difficult to sleep during a storm and it's best to be awake anyway to keep an eye on things. BTW by taking "navy" showers, (water on just enough to wet, off while soaping/shampooing, then again to rinse) I squeaked 3 days of useable hot water after the juice went out, hope this helps and good luck to all.....

One step ahead there: http://www.rei.com/product/746099/no-rinse-shampoo-8-oz?preferredSku=7460990018&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-pla-_-product-_-7460990018&mr:trackingCode=6D8B071B-81F9-DE11-BAE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla&{copy:s_kwcid}=&gclid=CIy_75jIorMCFY-d4Aod4V8AJQ

 

[Anubis]

im pretty far in western NY but im still gonna move all the stuff off the deck tom.
id go buy food but i dont have a kitchen, haven't had one since July so im kinda used to it by now

actually they are supposed to come and install my countertop on Tuesday. lol

 

[disappoint]

I had a look of the hurricane on weather channel this morning. OMFG, the thing is bigger than the entire easter seaboard. Yeah, you guys need to get the fuck outta there now.

It's even bigger than Christmas Island!

 

[tboo]

Reconsidering Sandy

 

[BUTCH1]

One step ahead there: http://www.rei.com/product/746099/no-rinse-shampoo-8-oz?preferredSku=7460990018&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-pla-_-product-_-7460990018&mr:trackingCode=6D8B071B-81F9-DE11-BAE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&mr:adType=pla&{copy:s_kwcid}=&gclid=CIy_75jIorMCFY-d4Aod4V8AJQ

I've tried some, meh results. If your careful and have a shower head with a shut off I can shower with 5 gallons..Oh yea, thanks for above, I forgot cash, of course ATM's will be down as well as POS terminals..

 

[Jeff7]

Better idea, push it back a couple of days. You do not want to be in a grocery store a day before a major storm hits. Or even a couple of days. I stopped by BJ's to pick up a couple of things and walked out without buying anything because the store was such a zoo. People were shopping like they were going to be without water and electricity until Christmas. The carnage was truly awe inspiring.

I saw one guy buying nothing but a 60" TV. No flashlights, no batteries, no groceries. I liked his style, he and I were the only 2 people in the store not panic-buying.

I'm actually interested to see if people are panic-buying here. We regularly get a lot of rain, and the winters are pretty absurd. Such are the joys of living right next to a large body of water.

But, I also don't know how susceptible the average person is to the "OH GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!" crap that cable news-like outlets always put out to try to draw more viewers.


Bleh, I suppose I could venture outside tomorrow though. Don't want to push it off too long - I don't always keep too much food stocked here. I live <2mi from a grocery store and many restaurants, so there's really never any need.

 

[BUTCH1]

I'm actually interested to see if people are panic-buying here. We regularly get a lot of rain, and the winters are pretty absurd. Such are the joys of living right next to a large body of water.

But, I also don't know how susceptible the average person is to the "OH GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE FOR REAL THIS TIME!!!" crap that cable news-like outlets always put out to try to draw more viewers.


Bleh, I suppose I could venture outside tomorrow though. Don't want to push it off too long - I don't always keep too much food stocked here. I live <2mi from a grocery store and many restaurants, so there's really never any need.

I wouldn't worry about wind damage so much but the power thing, yea, that happens a lot and without juice the grocer can't sell you anything anyway. I think the Publix near me had a genny installed after they threw out all their meat/produce/frozen 2X in 2004. Dinty Moore beef stew isn't that bad, you get used to it, spam, fry it up, I'll eat that too!..

Just saw this on WU, Sandy now the second largest tropical cyclone ever, with sustained tropical force winds extending 450 miles from it's center

 

[Jeff7]

I wouldn't worry about wind damage so much but the power thing, yea, that happens a lot and without juice the grocer can't sell you anything anyway. I think the Publix near me had a genny installed after they threw out all their meat/produce/frozen 2X in 2004. Dinty Moore beef stew isn't that bad, you get used to it, spam, fry it up, I'll eat that too!..

Just saw this on WU, Sandy now the second largest tropical cyclone, ever with sustained tropical force winds extending 450 miles from its center
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Yeah, that thing is ridiculously large. It'll be interesting to see how much rain comes from this, and how well the drainage systems here cope. I've (only) lived here about 7 years now, and the power is pretty reliable. I think there was one time where it was out for close to a day...don't remember why though. I do remember that the college campus' primary power feed was apparently done with a few strands of 24ga wire - there'd be outages a few times a year, sometimes where they'd have to cancel classes.

 

[Iron Woode]

ah crap!

This storm is supposed to hit us here in London starting around Monday. Forecaster is calling for 100 mm of rain here. It showed rain from Monday to Wednesday or so.

I hate big storms.

especially snow storms.

 

[sjwaste]

As of now we're not sure what the hell is going to make it here. Current track shows it going north from NJ and crushing Vermont. I'm in coastal Maine, but 50 feet above sea level so I don't think we have to worry about storm surge. I'll probably go to Walmart tomorrow and just get some canned food and prepared baby formula just in case. We have a ton of bottled water after a recent Staples deal.

 

[sjwaste]

Well, I spoke too soon, I don't have work on Monday or Tuesday - university is closed.

 

[Kaido]

As of now we're not sure what the heck is going to make it here. Current track shows it going north from NJ and crushing Vermont. I'm in coastal Maine, but 50 feet above sea level so I don't think we have to worry about storm surge. I'll probably go to Walmart tomorrow and just get some canned food and prepared baby formula just in case. We have a ton of bottled water after a recent Staples deal.

CT is in a state of emergency and it looks like they're going to start shoreline evacuations tomorrow. I considered buying a generator, but even after being out of power for a couple weeks last year, it wasn't really that bad. Fortunately I have a gas-powered water heater, so I still had hot water through the whole thing, toilets worked, faucets worked, opened the windows during the day, and used flashlights at night and a propane camping stove to cook.

Meh.

 

[BUTCH1]

Yeah, that thing is ridiculously large. It'll be interesting to see how much rain comes from this, and how well the drainage systems here cope. I've (only) lived here about 7 years now, and the power is pretty reliable. I think there was one time where it was out for close to a day...don't remember why though. I do remember that the college campus' primary power feed was apparently done with a few strands of 24ga wire - there'd be outages a few times a year, sometimes where they'd have to cancel classes.

Primary power feed of a couple strands of 24ga wire, yikes, 18ga romex is usual code for inside homes, who the hell rigged that thing up, the nutty professor?. Anyway what exasperates the issue is so many outages to deal with at once, typically utilities have agreements with neighboring utilities to "borrow" assets in an emergency situation but with the size of this monster those assets will be trying to deal with issues from their own counties..

 

[Wyndru]

I took Tuesday off to get some shit done, I'm going to be pissed if we lose power. I'm still skeptical about this storm though, they always blow it out of proportion and it never hits my area (Albany) as hard because of the way the valleys sit and because we are so far inland.

 

[Jeff7]

Primary power feed of a couple strands of 24ga wire, yikes, 18ga romex is usual code for inside homes, who the hell rigged that thing up, the nutty professor?. Anyway what exasperates the issue is so many outages to deal with at once, typically utilities have agreements with neighboring utilities to "borrow" assets in an emergency situation but with the size of this monster those assets will be trying to deal with issues from their own counties..

(That was a joke. Trying to feed an entire college campus over a few strands of 24ga would only work if they were superconductors. Though I suppose it might work over copper, at least for a few dozen nanoseconds, right up until the load of tens of thousands of amps converts the wires into puffs of plasma.)

 

[BUTCH1]

CT is in a state of emergency and it looks like they're going to start shoreline evacuations tomorrow. I considered buying a generator, but even after being out of power for a couple weeks last year, it wasn't really that bad. Fortunately I have a gas-powered water heater, so I still had hot water through the whole thing, toilets worked, faucets worked, opened the windows during the day, and used flashlights at night and a propane camping stove to cook.

Meh.

Yea, that's not too bad a deal, fortunately it's not January where you would be freezing your ass off or August in FL where you just sit in a cinder block adobe house and be miserable without AC..

 

[KillerBee]

Start freezing up a couple old coffee or gallon milk jugs
to make some big ice blocks for when the power goes out