So, we spent the day preparing for Irene.
– Checking weather updates regularily: We had decided that we would stay put unless we’d be getting evacuation notices.
– Pack emergency kits. Ready.gov has neat lists of most stuff that might come in handy
– Get stuff around the house secured.
– Find a safe parking spot for the car (no trees, no powerlines, no water that could block a quick exit).
– Get gas!
– Go shopping. The three stores we hit: Walmart (for everything), Grocery store (better groceries, get rid of depositable bottles etc), Hardware store (wonderland and grownup-kids’ fav. playground;-)
– Fill all sealable containers with tap water and freeze as many as possible
– Prepare cold foods such as burritos
– Charge batteries of all electronic devices
– Find out where shelters and hospitals are
The fun thing at WalMart (besides these) is:
WalMart, of all stores, was basically sold out of everything important: Bottled waster, peanut butter, unscented candles, generators, bread, toast, duct tape, batteries, canned soup:
It’s not like the earthquake a couple of days ago, which came totally unexpected. Everybody has been talking about Irene for days. I would have expected slightly better logistics and planning from a global retailer like WalMart.
One of the few things nobody seemes to be buying, for obvious reasons: pink sausages:
So, we’re done with that now. Nothing remains besides waiting. Right now, there is no wind, no rain. It rained a little earlier today though.