Oct292012
23 Comments
LIVE Hurricane Sandy thread. Post your experiences, observations here!
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image by NASA Goddard Photo & Video
Has Sandy affected you or your loved ones yet? How? Were/are you prepared for this gigantic storm and what preps have turned out to be most helpful? Is there anything you forgot?
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(23) Readers Comments
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If you have a really green thumb, this at-home business concept might work for you
The great thing about California is all of our small farmers. I live i
If you have a really green thumb, this at-home business concept might work for you
This is sort of like CSA. Do they only deliver in Phoenix metro area?
Julie
We are about 30 miles west of DC. Lots of rain & wind, really picking up since sundown. Still have power so far, but many neighbors not so lucky. People right next door losing siding. I got into prepping a few months ago, so I didn’t have much to do for this storm. I have neighbors who’ve done nothing to prepare, not even bringing their lawn furniture in. Ugh!
Grannytraveler
I’m in CA but my sister is in NJ. They have been without power for a couple of hours now. They are just waiting for the storm surge because then their basement will flood. They have a creek running thru their yard. They have a generator to run the sump pumps at least for a while. Prayers gratefully accepted!
surayah
Currently experiencing Sandy in Bronx, NY. SO happy about the prep work my husband and I did after my grandmother almost lost her home to Hurricane Irene in NC. We keep two go bags in the closet, stocked with weather radios, first aid kits, copies of important documents, personal hygiene items, snack bars & water. I currently have an Ambient Weather Radio WR-111A (http://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weather-Emergency-Flashlight-Certified/dp/B0071BTJPI) and it has been working just GREAT!!! Highly recommended. Due to the small size of the average NYC apartment, we keep two plastic bins: one stocked with water and the other stocked with canned goods. Oh, and I almost forgot…..we also have 55 gallon Water safe (http://www.mywatersafe.com/) filled with water in our bathtub. Preparation brings peace of mind.
Linda
I’m in Pittsburgh. Besides the water and food, I have some LED lanterns ready to go if we lose power and my Ambient radio on standby. My best prep had to be the two boxes of Little Debbies, Fig Newtons, and Oreos!
Linda in Mass
I did not have much prepping for the storm because I already have a bunch of food, water and a way to cook when I lose electricity. We lost power for about 2 hours. Made dinner while the power was out and then it came back on. Hopefully we will not lose it again. I filled up some buckets with water for the toilets and to wash dishes before we lost power. I really did not need to use it, yet. I washed my dishes from dinner right when the electricity came back on, just in case we lose it again. Just one thing I do not have to worry about.
I did not have to run to the store for batteries, food, water bottles, etc. All set here but the storm is not bad here. Just a lot of wind and a lot of rain.
Magpie57
I recently moved to the US mainland after living in Hawaii for 20+ years. Each year in Hawaii my husband and I updated our hurricane survival supplies. Here is what we always made sure we had in fresh supply and enough of it to get us through 2 weeks of supply disruption: bottled water in small portable sizes, pre-cooked food in small size pop-top cans and tear open plastic containers (Spam, Vienna sausage, the various types of Ready Rice, baked beans, whole kernel corn, salsa, sliced peaches), saltines and other crackers/pretzels, cookies, candy bars, trail bars, peanut butter, cans/bottles of full-sugar cola drinks and coffee/milk/chocolate drinks, Tang drink mix, sun screen, insect repellant, antibiotic ointment, assorted sizes adhesize bandage strips, and baby wipes.
Hannibal
We were watching the Hurricane Sandy news when the Hawaiian Islands was hit with a Tsunami Warning and evacuation of the coastal areas on Saturday night 10/27 at 715 pm. Being on Maui, we’re always prepped with at least 3 weeks of water and supplies. My wife has been great with the food preps and has really gotten into it! When the warning came she got the extra 5 gallon buckets out and filled them with the shower and left them in the stall and she filled both tubs up. I got the Goal Zero solar gear and flashlights out and we were ready in less than 10 mins.
There were reports of gas lines over 2 blocks long within 15-20 mins and stores had lines 15 carts deep at every register with last minute grabbers. Luckily we were good to go and stayed put. Many we’re out and about and refused to heade the stay away from the water warnings. Many were at Halloween parties that were being cancelled and felt inconvenienced.
All hotels evacuated anyone on the 1st three floors. The airport remained open, but all roads in we’re closed. It was good to be prepared, thanks Mom!
Goal Zero
That’s great to hear – we’re all about empowering people and helping families be prepared. With our “You Buy One, We Give One: Hurricane Sandy Relief Program,” our goal is to help people prepare themselves and their families – and in turn, give power to those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Check it out here .
Isabel
I’m glad I was ready… I live in montauk Long Island and the Atlantic Ocean is two block away from main st my house is on the north side the Long Island sound but its across the street from it. I was more worried about the neighbors than my family. A few weeks ago I bought the book the survival mom and went right to work buying extra food lots of water and emergency supplies. It was all organized bug out bags ready and all, then I turn on the tv and sandy is coming straight to me. In the end my husband was proud from my prepared and calm state because when the lights went out we had food water coffee refuge and electricity when the neighbors didn’t. I AM A PROUD SURVIVAL MOM
MikeM
It sounds like you were in the thick of it. Hope you are doing alright.
Samantha35
way to go Isabel!
Tami
I’m in southeast Va. We always have our hurricane supplies handy during the entire hurricane season. Not including our normal preps. We were blessed to not lose power except for a blip that only caused our clocks to start flashing. We did lose our phone for about 24 hours. My city had a great deal of tidal flooding but that isn’t unusual even during a nor’easter as we are at about sea level or a little above. My home is 10 ft above. Some power outages and trees down as well. On the whole though we were blessed to not get directly hit by this storm. We would’ve had to evacuate. Prayers for the northeast where they did get a direct hit. I think our highest wind gust was 49/50 unless we had a higher one during the night.
Diane
From the west coast, our thoughts and prayers are with you!
warren
We are in WV and got a bunch of snow…here is a link that has some pics and description of it:
SingleMom
We’re in SW PA, and it’s been raining since Friday, although the bulk of the storm missed us. A lot of businesses shut down early yesterday, and the schools had to change their planned 2-hour delays to cancellations this morning. We have roads closed everywhere due to massive flooding. Because we’re in a rural area, with never-ending hills and dips, I had to take a zigzag route to work that took twice as long as usual. I stopped a few places on the way home just to look, because this is much worse for our county than what I remember of Agnes back in ’72. Now we’re dealing with snow, freezing temperatures, and more rain tomorrow.
Since we had some warning, I just added some extra water and canned food last weekend and dug out our flashlights, lanterns, and sleeping bags. No power outages here, but they’re cautioning everyone that it isn’t over yet. I really need to get a propane heater soon.
Di
Here outside of Boston, Sandy swerved more westward at the last minute so all we got was rain and wind, some minor power outages and many downed trees. With the lead time, the power companies did as much tree work as possible, which really helped. The long lead time also prevented long lines and empty shelves in our suburban town, though I am unsure how Boston supermarkets fared.
I have been prepping for years so we were in fine shape. Moved into the downstairs bedroom so any downed trees didn’t fall on us in our bed! Had the Water Bob filled, fuel for the generator and the butane stove but no need for any of it. I felt very calm and prepared, thanks to this site and others like it that have taught me so much. Thanks, SM!
Heather
We live outside DC and are thankful we weren’t hit harder.
I am thankful that I started prepping a couple months ago. I was not too panicked which was a great relief. I made sure we were decently stocked for a couple of days and were lucky to be less than 24 hrs without power.
We will need to prep a lot more for anything more serious or if evacuations are called for.
Thank you for all the great information you put out to help us all get ready for an uncertain future!
Joe
Here is a good link to case studies on previous mass power outages affecting the East Coast with good prepper tips and a short checklist for what to expect and how to prepare. From the looks of it, even though it was posted before the storm hit, it is spot on with its predictions from loss of 911 services to a shutdown of the transportation network. I think a revised version would probably include the potential for mass fires after what happened in Manhattan. Either way, a good read. It is at http://www.lastminutesurvival.com/ and titled “Storm Survival: A Case Study of Mass Power Outages.”
kandi
The best ‘prepping’ thing I did for Sandy happened 5 years ago. We were living not far from Hoboken, NJ directly across from NYC. I relocated my daughter and I back to the midwest where I had grown up. Dont mean to ruffle any one as I know relocating isnt an option for everyone. It was for us. And yes disasters can and probably will happen in the midwest. But when they do I only have to contend with maybe 100,000 other people instead of 10 million or more. In fact this spring I am looking into relocating us further to a smaller town. But not too small. I want a functional town at my disposal and my livelihood depends on face to face contact with others. (I’m a nurse)
I still have friends on the east coast and have heard from all of them except one couple who are in their early 70′s and live in Virginia. I assume they are simply without power but it is concerning.
irontomflint
Here in Northeast Ohio we’ve been without grid power since Monday night and it looks like we’ll be out until Tuesday. Our phones are down and one cell tower is out, giving us iffy contact.
We’ve been running on generated power, our neighbors have been forced to find other places to stay. The only thing worrisome is getting gas for the generator because many gas stations are without power.
Looking at the east coast I’d say we are d*mned lucky!
molloaggie
Maybe bargain your way to free gas. If you can take your genny to the gas station and let them borrow it for just an hour, then you could probably get some free gas from them.
Mma800
Also here in Massachusetts.( hi Di!)
We had a lot of wind and rain as well. Loads of trees and branches down in our town. We lost power on Monday at 2 pm and it was restored on Tuesday at7pm.
The schools were closed mon, tues and wed.
All in all we were fine, and it was a great way to check my preps.
My biggest struggle was keeping the generator going for the freezer. I had just filled it with a side of beef!
I need to practice getting the generator going as I had a tough time with the starter when it needed to be refueled. I also need to get a lock and chain to keep it from “wandering away”. We live in a nice area, but the generator is so loud it will be heard for miles.
We had a buddy heater which worked so well I am going to get a couple more. The kids and I all slept in the family room. We had enough warning that all iPods were charged flashlights had batteries and a few board games were out and ready. Had a big pot of chili in the crockpot.
Now that all is well, I am going to restock on D batteries, propane and Candles.
Imade a wish list of things to get for my preps:
More led lanterns
Another battery operated fan to keep heat flowing
Another Coleman power cube for charging cell phone, etc.
An easy to use chainsaw for downed branches
Another cooler for ice pre storm
More solar torches- nice for kids and for taking the dog out
We are expected to get another storm (smaller) next week. Another good chance to test my preparedness.
Prayers for all those who have lost so much in the last few days!
irontomflint
Here’s my update!
Grid power was restored on Friday afternoon! Friend disconnected the genny and hooked up the grid power Friday evening. Saturday I drained the genny and prepped it for storage. Put all the cables away and moved the genny to the basement to await the next catastrophe. The rest of Saturday was spent mowing and raking leaves and getting the yard in order for winter.
Sunday was spent grocery shopping, where pumpkin pies were bought and tasted throughout the day, checking for freshness, both with and without Cool Whip added