Hurricane Irene

Since moving here, I have experienced the bitter cold of a never-ending snowstorm. I've driven/ridden through some treacherous icy roads. I've faced mud season. Recently, I felt my first earthquake tremors. Looks like this weekend, I will get to experience my first hurricane. Hurricane Irene.

 

Much like snow storms, I don't think the meteorologists really know what is going to happen. The tag line around here is always "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best", which I think means "We don't really know....we might be out of power for a week or we might just get a whole lotta rain." But regardless, stay tuned to your local weather! (It's a lot like tornado season in Texas).

 

I have to admit, I wasn't buying into anything they were saying on television until I got to work and heard the horror stories of people who have lived up here without power for days on end. (Nancy & George winter ice stories start passing through my head. I can just see me washing my hair in the sink oatmeal water!)

 

No, we aren't on the coast. We aren't Long Island. No, big giant waves aren't going to be crashing into our house. No, we aren't putting up plywood and sheets of plastic. These are my images of a hurricane and the reason I have been rolling my eyes at all the hurricane talk until this morning. This morning I was educated.

 

No one is worried about big giant waves unless they have a boat or beach house. (My boss is out today trying to move his boat off the RI coast.) What people are worried about is strong winds knocking down trees on power lines. Power outages. Being out in the little town of Hebron will put us a little lower on the list than say a larger town like Hartford or West Hartford or Middletown. Towns with hospitals and higher populations will get higher priority if a massive power outage occurs. So there are a few things we are going to have to take care of before Sunday:

 

1. Get bottled/gallon water for drinking & non-perishable foods that do not need to be heated.
2. Get ice for the cooler to attempt to save the more expensive items in the freezer.
3. Fill up the cars with gas.
4. Get cash - just in case.
5. Fill up buckets with water (in case we need to flush the toilets). Oh boy.
6. Make sure we have matches, candles, flashlights and batteries that work.
7. Fully charge our cell phones and anything else that needs to be charged.
8. Buy baby wipes or moist towelettes for personal sanitation. Another oh boy.
9. Make sure we have books and cards and "non-electronic" entertainment at the ready.
10. Keep the camera CLOSE AT HAND! :) So I can blog any stories later on.  

Got any other good tips? Let me know. We'd appreciate it if you keep us in your thoughts and prayers this weekend. Hopefully we will get lots of good rain and minimal damage. I'll keep you posted on the blog as best I can and let you know how it's going in little 'ol Hebron, CT.