As I write this, CNN News is “all Hurricane Irene, all the time,” and by the time most read it, the power will already have been shut off for a large part of New York City. A third of a million citizens there have been told to evacuate, and at this writing, nine people are dead from the storm along the East Coast.

I’m hearing the usual: people only now trying – desperately – to stockpile everything from water to candles to generators to flashlights. And of course, there’s the “it would be nice to own a gun along about now” that always seems to hit a certain kind of person a little too late.

Good luck to all in the storm’s path. Blog readers in that part of the country are invited to post here with “dispatches from the (storm) front.”

1 COMMENT

  2. 0815hrs in New Haven CT. All is mostly well, though a low-lying neighborhood directly on Long Island Sound has been evacuated.

    Rain being dumped from the sky with wind enough to shake the trees but no worse as yet. Still have power & water…and we’ve been stocked in *all* supplies* for a good long while. 😉

    BTW, Mas, even some of the Walgreen’s clerks were shaking their heads yesterday at the umpteenth time of being asked “Do you have any battery-powered radios left?”

  3. People never seem to understand. It’s not paranoia when you actually need it. By then, it’s probably too late. They’re lucky they were given time to stockpile. That is rarely the case.

  4. How true you are on this post, I live in Virginia Beach, Va and took the eye almost dead on. But unlike so many other’s I was sitting pretty with a full pantry, a full tank of gas and supplies to last me two weeks. That and a nice little supply of wepons if needed. Due to my job “Deputy Sheriff” I was unable to leave, So I was prepared! I was a little PO’d when I heared many say “they always say it’s going to be bad” yada yada yada. And while much of Va Beach came out of it fine, there were those areas that even if it was 12 hours without power the people there were not in any way
    shape of form ready to go through that. And who do they call? Well that is what us First Responders do… Respond!

  6. Good-bye Irene, Mas! We were ready, well stocked, had everything nailed down on the farm, and, now the West wind is knocking the wet right out of here. We still don’t have power, but are generated up, the ammo lockers are full, and life is good.

  7. It is times such as these that the grasshoppers hit the stores trying to get supplies. The ants already have theirs which I hope is all the BHM subscribers.

  8. Mas, what are you doing watching CNN (Clinton News Network) other than to see the hot Kiran Chetry? You should be watching Fox News for fair and balanced reporting. Besides, Fox News has better looking female talking heads and Kiran used to work there before her manger demanded too much money and got her fired from that media outlet several years ago.

    As some wise man once said: “Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.”

  9. Your right Mas,
    Recently a Anit-gun friend ( yea, he is still my friend , lol)said to me this is the time to have a gun with you . I told him goodkuck. My family and I are protected. A little to late for you if something happens. Come over to my home if you need protection. I think he might change his agenda on where his thinking is going. All it took was a lady named Irene.

  10. Sadly in New York, having a gun would get you a ride to jail and made a felon for life. One of those states I will not ever travel to.

  11. Speaking as a retired police officer I would say to alway have these items stoked in your home. Also to have a firearm as part of your home security plan and plenty of ammo. When emergencies arise there will be no time to purchase a firearm or ammo and you will be wishing you owned one. I am a firm believer in taking one’s personal safety seriously and that includes having the proper tools to defend yourself and your family.

  12. Flashlight: you want an LED headband light for big emergencies. It being “hands-free” makes it ideal for doing almost any chore – especially two-handed chores such as refueling generators. Ones made by Streamlight provide at least a week’s worth of nights on one set of ordinary AAA alkaline batteries that are cheap if you use the “low” setting that’s fine for any household use, these flashlights are inexpensive.

  13. One the one hand, maybe some of the too-clever will get a clue about what happens when one has no control over events; on the other hand, how are our fireams (and other) companies weathering the storm? Yes, much production has moved to friendlier climates, both economically and weather-related, but much remains in the Eastern seabord region. Pray for those injured or killed, and as always, be prepared.

  14. Mas
    I reached my friend in Virginia Beach in midst of it all. He and his family are ten streets back from the sea.

    He was proud to remind me that the S&W Model 625 and 108 rounds of ammo in a go bag never got more than ten steps away from he and his family the entire time.

    A year ago he wouldnt have a pistol, now he carries a big one and is trained too!

  15. Glad to hear it pretty much worked out okay for most folks (my prayers have been sent for those who’ve suffered and those few who died). I was looking at my .357 levergun yesterday and thinking how it would be a pretty decent thing for a New Yorker to own.

  16. In a way it’s almost hard to imagine people going through life unprepared then frantically trying to in the wake of a disaster.

    People call us paranoid for being prepared… well can we call them naive for not being prepared?

    Being a kid during the LA Riots, I saw you won’t be able to get a gun when you need it the most (especially in Kalifornia). And just living out in CO, you learn (or should learn…) that one nasty storm can shut almost everything down.

    Short of a zombie apocalypse, I think I’m pretty prepared.

    One particular thing I’m proud of is having good cold weather gear. While I doubt it’s likely to happen, I imagine one real good storm during winter could take out gas/electricity. It’d get awfully cold, even indoors without heating. Ice could start forming indoors before my wife and I started getting cold.

    As an aside, of all things, it’s being a CCW holder that has caused me to stock up on ammo, more than anything. It’s a real pain for me to find my favorite carry load in my caliber. So now when I see it in stores, I just buy all of it.

    It’s kind of fun when someone asks me “one box?” and I respond “no, all of it”

  17. Sadly today Irene has become a Category 3 political football. Had to turn off Rush Limbaugh just now after an hour of him ranting that it was all nothing. I can’t fathom how idiotic some people are. Cross the Hudson over to NJ and half the state is trying to recover. A 90 minute drive from NYC and there is MASSIVE flooding in the Catskillls. Take a look at Vermont and it is scary. Not to mention the Carolina’s, Virgina etc. And as I heard the FEMA director say last nite, the news media doesn’t even cover what happened in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Both part of the United States btw.

    So some will ignore the deaths and injuries, the BILLIONS of dollars worth of damage, and instead debate the wind speed and blame it on Obama, Al Gore and the myth of global warming. You can’t get any more right than me. Trust me. But this is just stupid.

  18. Citizens of this country should be prepared. Always stay ready for weather events, home invasions, defending yourself and you will not be caught off guard when things go wrong or bumb in the night.

  19. Was visiting family on the East Coast. I just got back as the airports reopened today but the family is still without power. Lots of downed trees, flooding, and unprepared people around.

  20. lessons from Irene. My friend Kath in Deleware wrote this up. We started talking about preps on Thursday afternoon:

    “1. Have emergency supplies on hand ALWAYS. Not just for a hurricane coming, but have it on hand. I did not. I was lucky and able to get everything I needed, but I would’ve been screwed had I not hauled ass and got what I needed.

    Delaware got hit with an earthquake, hurricane and tornado in ONE week. That #$%^ is not supposed to happen, but it did and could again.

    2. Have cash on hand in small bills and lots of coin change. I know Frank re-posted (thank you) but it’s important. I didn’t cash in my tips for the last few days, so I had plenty of small bills and coins – which just came in very handy at the 7-11 by my house and NO ONE in store had anything but credit cards or lg bills. Clerk said credit card machine was offline, so if you didn’t have cash, you were out of luck. I actually made change for one guy lol

    3. Be nice to your neighbors always LOL they can come in handy later. The guy across the street and his family are sweeties, they’ve helped us out with shoveling snow in the winter, we returned the favor during the hurricane by sending over hot food when their power went out and ours didn’t. (Ours went out hours later). His power is still out and ours is back on (go figure, way to go Delmarva Power!), his generator has been running, and I just told him to unplug it and run an extension cord across the street so he run more stuff.

    4. Clothing. During the storm, I changed into a pair of cotton capri cargo pants with lots of pockets. Had the pockets stuffed with my car keys, cell phone, cash, extra batteries, small flashlight, in case we had to evacuate, (Frank told me to do this) I didn’t need to look for anything, I had it on me. Cotton is important because after the electric gets off, it gets hot as hell. I’m definitely going out this weekend and getting some more cargo pants (in capris and regular lengths) because it was awesome how much I was able to keep on me at all times.

    5. Gas up your car, check your oil and tires. I parked my car the farthest away from trees and where it was more protected from the wind, and so I could get out quick if I needed to. I also had a couple of changes of clothes in the car, a case of water, and food. Everything else important I had in my pockets. LOL

    6. While you have power, keep your cell phone charged to the maximum. I was using my cell Saturday night and Sunday, and didn’t bother to charge it up after the hurricane was over. Imagine my surprise when I was low on juice and suddenly without power the day after.

    7. We get a lot of advance warnings for hurricanes, but I don’t think it would hurt to do this one now. Take ziplock bags and fill them 3/4 full with water. Then squoosh them inside your freezer along the top, bottom and sides. If your power goes out, this will keep your food colder longer. I didn’t have any ziplock bags (on grocery list on table LOL) but I did put unopened water bottles wherever I could in the freezer and the food in there was fine.

    8. I am seriously thinking of switching over to a gas stove so when the power goes out, we can still cook. We have a gas water heater so I’m wondering if its even possible, and that’s on my list to find out.

    9. Just when you think it’s over, wait… you never know. There was a fire by the transformer down the street the day after the hurricane and wires got melted and we lost power for almost 22 hours.

    We put all our emergency supplies away, and were completely screwed when the power went out on Sunday night. Everything was in the basement and it was too dark to get it. Yeah, flashlights too. I’m definitely keeping an emergency kit by the front door from now on.”

  21. EN good list. Can I add my two cents…

    I felt just a wee bit better up here on Long Island that I had a couple of fig trees with hundreds of flavorful fruits and a small garden on in my backyard. If needed I could have just squeaked out a good week or two of food from no more than 150 sq feet of mother nature in the suburbs.

    If I had more property than a suburban backyard, I would have berry bushes, more fruit trees, bigger garden, etc. Requires very little tending and they’ll be there for at least 2 seasons with a ready supply of food. The other two seasons can be taken care of by canning. I’m a big advocate of what I call ‘Bible foods’. Figs, dates, olives etc. They supported the beginnings of civilization and they’re cheaper than MREs.

  22. <>

    I have an emergency kit that I always carry in my car plus I also have a ‘grab and go’ kit to suplement it if I have to evacuate.

    I keep a flashlight in EVERY room at all times. Emergency flashlights don’t do any good if they are in the basement when the emergency hits.

  23. I’d also like to advocate for the idea of getting a ham radio license, and getting a radio that will communicate on the 2 M FM band.

    The cell phone system is going to be unusable in a nasty disaster. Either the government is going to reserve it for their own use, or zillions of calls will shut down cell sites everywhere. 2 M FM ham radio will cover a 40 mile radius (often more), and the repeating stations that operate there are usually on emergency power. Ham radio will allow you to keep in touch with people in your community to find out what’s going on beyond the range of your own senses, and will keep you apprised of weather developments. Plus, if you have to evacuate, 2 M will let you stay in touch with family members so that you can protect each other in the middle of a mass evacuation.

    License exams are pretty easy to pass, and many radio clubs teach exam classes to help people get started. Radios can be had for $150, and are easily operated by anyone. Hams are polite, and helpful, and communications are usually free of crude comments, swearing or impolite behavior.

    I’d sooner be without a functioning ham radio in the car and house as I would without a firearm.

  25. Gary, the reason I posted that was to illustrate that very point, amongst others. This woman had no practical knowledge with any of this Thursday afternoon. By Monday she was doing very well. But some lessons she had to get through the dreaded, “experience”. She gave me the good, the bad, and the ugly, which will hopefully make others listen.

  26. Lots of good tips!

    Definitely going to remember the ziploc ice trick.

    I’d highly recommend keeping supplies in the car at all times. One reason I do is, I’ve known people who’ve been caught in a nasty snow storm out here in CO. A few had to spend the night in their car before the roads were cleared.

    Another thing that’s worthwhile to keep on hand is batteries. Flashlights and radios are only useful if there are batteries around. Heh I just thought of this as I noticed I’m out of CR123s….lots of AA and AAA on hand but out of the 123s…

    Speaking of flashlights, there are these nifty LED lights that you can mount on any flat surface (like a wall). I don’t have the name of them (Costco sells them). I ended up tacking one above each light switch at my place. They’re triangle shaped and has 3 moveable lights to angle the beams. Like all LEDs they have a ridiculously long run time. Nice thing too is they can pop off their wall mount so you can take the light with you if needed.

  27. It’s one thing to be without emergency equipment, but I’m utterly baffled to find people who don’t own a flashlight. I’ve always thought of the flashlight as a handy piece of EVERYDAY equipment. I’ve always got my little Surefire in my pocket. I’ve used it in emergencies, sure; but more often it’s been just the thing to make a lot of everyday chores go easier because I can see better with the light. Crikey, doesn’t anybody do anything themselves anymore, is that why they don’t have a flashlight?