A snippet of the conversation I had with my mother yesterday —
Me: The governor has declared a state of emergency and we’re in a potential flood zone. But don’t worry, we’re stocking up on bottled water, food, and batteries.
My Mother: (horrified) Does that mean I can’t see Claire this weekend?
Geez, thanks for being concerned for our safety, mom. 🙄
J and I aren’t too concerned about Hurricane Irene. We feel that the media is probably blowing it out of proportion, and we’re hoping that the damage it leaves in its wake will not be too severe.
If it weren’t for Claire, we would probably have just gotten a couple of gallons of bottled water and called it a day. But as parents, we decided that it’s better to be safer than sorry…
All the stores in our area have been sold out of bottled water and batteries since the middle of the week. Luckily, J arrived at our local grocery store right after it received an extra shipment of bottled water:
I THINK we’ll be safe on the water front.
Our neighbors have been complaining that they could not find batteries anywhere, but with an infant in the house — one whose toys and equipment require tons of batteries — we always have a crapload of batteries on hand and so we didn’t need to worry about that.
We were also relieved to remember that we have a portable stove with extra cans of butane (thanks to our love for hotpot), as well as a portable generator we purchased last year when our car battery died. (It can be charged via an electric plug, and has other emergency features like a floodlight, emergency siren, and even an USB adapter!)
Additionally, we are currently doing laundry, charging all electronics that can be charged, and will be filling the bathtubs and sinks with water before we go to bed.
And for once we are happy for our condo’s lack of a view — no trees, just the adjacent apartment building that is less than 20 feet away — because we will not need to board/tape up our windows.
I am not too worried about flooding either, since our building is well above sea level. Once again, we feel very fortunate, because practically the entire city of Hoboken, which is literally just 5 minutes away, is in danger of severe flooding.
So I think we’re in pretty good shape…at least for now.
Are you, or will you be affected by Irene? If so, how are you preparing for the hurricane?
(And isn’t it crazy how the northeastern U.S. is getting an earthquake and a hurricane within just days of each other?)
