By Robin 'Red Hot' Kaye
I’m no stranger to bad weather. Hell, I spent over ten years
living in Florida and lived through countless tornados and hurricanes. I rode
out a hurricane on Long Island—I think it might have been Gloria. We were in
the Hamptons and then moved inland when we were evacuated. The house on the
ocean was fine but the roof of the hotel we stayed in blew off.
In Maryland we’ve been through blizzards (several), ice
storms, hurricane Irene, and spent many weeks becoming one with our generator
(as well as becoming good friends with our neighbors without power). I’ve
shopped before storms—I’ve seen Costco with empty shelves, witnessed
fist-fights over batteries, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that
can compare with the insanity of the people readying themselves for
Frankenstorm. I swear there’s not a gallon of milk, water, or a roll of toilet
paper to be had in the tri-state area. My friend who works at a liquor store
told me they did more business on Saturday than they usually did the Saturday
before New Year’s. I guess if you have to be stuck in a house without power,
it’s good to have booze.
If you’re wondering what I do to prepare for the storm of
the century, I’d have to say, not much other than cook. What else are you going
to do when you have two teenagers under the same roof and just enough power to run
the microwave and the freezer except eat? Now, if we didn’t have the teenagers,
I’m sure my husband and I would find plenty to do—which, come to think of it,
is probably why we have teenagers. <grin>
So yesterday I made slow-cooked chicken with lentils for
dinner and then I turned the leftovers into soup. I got up early this morning and,
while my husband moved our wicker porch furniture into the shed and made sure
the generator was in working order, I threw together a 20-quart pot of
spaghetti sauce with sausage and meatballs before going to my critique meeting.
See, I do plan ahead. I even thought to put the blog up early, just in case
we’re without internet access tomorrow. So, if you don’t see me comment on the
blog, know I’m hunkered down riding out the storm of the century and will come
out of it just fine, though I’ll probably gain a few pounds.
So, what do you do to get ready for storms?
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11 comments:
we make ice, ensure we've got plenty of groceries, and get out the flashlights. we survived here in NoVA, only lost power for a minute. the winds have died down and it's only raining now. hope everyone else is safe!!
I made a cake.
Hopefully you all are safe up there. We made it through pretty clear here in Va Beach. In fact, I'm back to work and have already mistaken this for a Monday twice.
Made soup, gassed car, located flashlights. Stocked paper goods, etc last week. We kept power and cable. So, we ate soup and glued ourselved to the couch to watch the weather channel. Clean up outside begins today.
We're fine here in Mt. Airy--but then I saw Howard County (within spitting distance) on the national news with terrible flooding and it's still raining. Sigh.
I look at all that's happened to New York and New Jersey--both my old stomping grounds--and my heart sinks. I'm praying Dune Road is still in the Hamptons, that the Jersey Shore--the one you don't see on TV will be rebuilt. I pray that Rehoboth Beach in Delaware has survived, and that the people of Breezy Point, Queens can rebuild their homes and their lives.
I'm off to donate to the Red Cross. Here's the link if you want to join me. http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations
I'm in southwest PA so we've had lots of rain and some winds and flooding in the area and are waiting to see if we get the snow. I make sure we have batteries and I always have a supply of food and water but I would love to have a generator. Oh, and always have lots of books lol.
Great post! I bought paper goods, bread, and water ahead of time. Passed on the fridge/freezer goods (previous exp. with losing power taught me a few things). Checked the battery supplies and charged all electricals. Once the forecasts got worse, I bought more canned goods that could be eaten without heating.
All's well that ends well. Didn't lose power or Comcast. Still have an open door for friends/family who did.
The news pic from Ocean City and the rest of the Eastern Shore are pretty drammatic. :-( My bro & SIL near Annapolis lost power but no downed trees like during Irene.
We're out of the weather loop here. Though our temps dropped and we have had high winds.
I'm hoping all my friends up North are okay.
We had a huge ice storm here about five years ago and were without power (no generator) for a week. We stocked up on canned soups and bread and cheese. We filled our coolers and kept them outside and made sure we had lots of water. Of course that's also the winter I discovered that kerosene heaters make me sick as heck.
Living in the south, you knew as long as a hurricane was in the gulf to just stayed prepared.
This year with Isaac was a little different. I live in Seattle now, when my sister called and said I needed to fly home right away, my Mom wasn't doing well. Managed to get a flight home, made arrangements to bring my Mom home with hospice care. After getting her settled we now find out we are in direct path for Isaac, with my Mom not being stable enough to transport out. Made a last minute rush to the store and was able to get bread, water & tuna. Had eggs in fridge so I boiled them ready to make tuna sandwiches. Of course, Mom passed away during all this, funeral had to be delayed, we didn't know what kind of flower arrangements we would get because the lady at flower shop didn't know what would come in after the storm.
Have to say, as usual people of louisiana pulled it out. The funeral was beautiful, and I don't know how the flower shop managed but the flowers were more than we expected.
By far, the worst hurricane experience I had, but thanks to family and friends we know we would have made my Mom proud with the service we had
Living in the south, you knew as long as a hurricane was in the gulf to just stayed prepared.
This year with Isaac was a little different. I live in Seattle now, when my sister called and said I needed to fly home right away, my Mom wasn't doing well. Managed to get a flight home, made arrangements to bring my Mom home with hospice care. After getting her settled we now find out we are in direct path for Isaac, with my Mom not being stable enough to transport out. Made a last minute rush to the store and was able to get bread, water & tuna. Had eggs in fridge so I boiled them ready to make tuna sandwiches. Of course, Mom passed away during all this, funeral had to be delayed, we didn't know what kind of flower arrangements we would get because the lady at flower shop didn't know what would come in after the storm.
Have to say, as usual people of louisiana pulled it out. The funeral was beautiful, and I don't know how the flower shop managed but the flowers were more than we expected.
By far, the worst hurricane experience I had, but thanks to family and friends we know we would have made my Mom proud with the service we had
@ Catslady - I hope you miss the snow but not the books!
@ aarbaugh - Good for you. I'm glad you've come through it alright and it's always fun to have friends camped out!
@ Gail~ Have you seen the Jersey shore--God, it makes Maryland look lucky!
@ Brandy - Stay warm and away from the Kerosene
@ Sabrina - Wow, what a story. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, but it's great that everyone pulled through for you and you were able to have the service your mom would be proud of. I can't imagine that.
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