Unless you're hiding under a rock...which by some accounts you probably should be if you're along the northern US coast...you probably know about the "Frankenstorm" making its way through the Atlantic and predicted to hit somewhere near Delaware/New Jersey early this week.
The effects of the storm are still speculative at this point, but I do know that potential chaos is being repeated in reports on television for both my home in PA and my current location in the city. My family had to cope with one major unfortunate storm that left us without power for several days; we learned from this incident, and because of this I have some consolation that they should be okay. They have high ground for the house itself; my parents during the last major flooding didn't have damage, and there were multiple routes for my family to get to their house where they can find a generator for electricity. They have a car for charging the cellphone for communications. There should be batteries. Multiple coolers. I reminded my wife to get ice prepared ahead of time in case food has to be stored and the power goes out at the house. My father's truck is capable of hauling items. And the temperatures aren't freezing, so pipes in the house should be fine. They should also have enough supplies of food that doesn't require cold storage to be okay.
So while they may have bad weather, my wife should now have enough experience and support to make it through okay.
This is my first time weathering a major storm in New York City. It's occurred to me that there are qualities that make the island of Manhattan less than idea for weathering storms. For one, it's an island. Islands generally don't do well when water rises, such as the case with surges that accompany large storms from the Atlantic. We have things called "floods." It's bad enough when it happens inland, such as the valleys of my home town area, but to actually be in a location near what is known as "sea level" I would think amplifies the prospective danger.
Speaking of sea level, we had this storm not too long ago called "Katrina" that demonstrated why cities located below sea level AND next to an extremely large body of water are not an optimal combination. Manhattan itself is above sea level, but we have a lot of critical services that are underground, like things called "subways" and "tunnels," both of which have incredibly high amounts of people and vehicle traffic. If water levels rise, there is apparently a definite danger of these areas flooding. Tunnel closures will inhibit traffic moving to and from the island, leaving just the bridges, which may temporarily be shut down if there are high sustained winds.
But at least bridge closures would be temporary (barring damage).
Floods are also one of those things that once you realize you're screwed, it's often too late to do anything about it. It's not like the zombie apocalypse where you can hole up somewhere and eventually decide when to venture out; with flooding, you hole up, and once you realize that the water is going to get to you may already be trapped.
I have some things going for me. New York City has flood evacuation zones, labeled A, B, or C. I'm in none of them. I'm kind of anxious to see how this works, since apparently there IS a flood zone across the street from me. Front row seats to the mayhem, if you listen to the news.
I'm also not on the lower floors of my apartment building, so low-level flooding, if it were to occur, shouldn't reach me. The worst of the potential damage from the storm surge looks like it will hit the southern part of the island; ironically, that's the financial district, where every workday hundreds of millions of dollars pass. You'd think they'd have more protections in place to prevent all of that from getting wet, or at least have a plan that doesn't involve "run away quickly."
The storm track being predicted puts the city at the edge of the effects of the storm, hopefully minimizing the expected damage.
After flooding, the second worry I have is electrical outage. I keep in touch with family using the Internet or, if that fails, the cell network. But if there's an extended outage my UPS will fail, as will my phone's battery, eventually. I also have a few foods that I'd like to keep frozen. Additionally I would need some supply of water, for drinking and flushing the toilet.
First, I have trouble thinking the city would be without power for really long lengths of time. A day. Maybe two. There are two and a half million people on this island, and too much of the infrastructure relies on the power grid before chaos breaks out. So I figure I might need to have two days worth of backup supplies if possible.
I picked up four gallons of distilled water in jugs, and to help keep things cold I started filling Ziploc baggies with water and putting them in the freezer. I'm hoping that they should turn into ice balls by the time the storm comes in, although there was apparently one baggie that didn't feel like cooperating because I checked the freezer and there was a thin layer of water covering the bottom. Whoops. (It seemed like a good idea at the time...)
Although I should probably note for future reference that water in baggies, since it wasn't particularly cold water, partially thawed the chicken patties I was trying to keep cold in the first place. I'm hoping that was the problem and not a problem with the freezer to contend with...just have to keep monitoring it, I suppose.
I don't have a tub. My apartment is too small. There goes filling that for a spare supply of water.
For power I have a UPS connected to my monitor and laptop. In the event of an outage I figured I can turn off the monitor and speakers and try running as long as possible off the laptop and cable modem, after dimming the display to increase runtime. The phone is fully charged; I can keep it charged longer by dimming its display, closing extra applications, and hooking it up to the laptop. I also brought my newer work laptop home with me in case I would need to use it for remote work but also it could be used to charge the phone if (or when) my own laptop died.
I have enough canned food and foods that don't require refrigeration to last the week.
A coworker also suggested getting some cash. "If the credit card processors go down, you'll need cash to get water or supplies. Nothing overboard, but you'd want some in your pocket just in case. People here don't usually keep a lot of things on hand since they can get stuff delivered or go out whenever they want."
Getting cash for emergencies and getting water were the two big goals for the day. And I managed to do that.
Overall I should be okay. I might be inconvenienced. I may not enjoy this. But I should survive. Without a doubt the worst part is the potential to lose touch with my wife and son back home. As I said, I'm confident they should be okay, and they have options and support through my extended family in the area. The most horrific flooding in our area in recent times personally affected us through an extended power outage, and if this storm isn't quite as strong as that one, they should be okay.
Me, right now I think I'm going to cope. I went to the supermarket for water, and while it was quite crowded, there was still gallon jugs of water available, and plenty of drinking water (so far.) I don't know if this is a reflection of New Yorkers not freaking out as much as the news reports want them to, or if there's a lot more supermarkets still being raided, or people waiting until the last minute to get their panic supplies. Again...will have to wait and see.
All I know is I'll be focusing on trying to keep in touch with my family for updates. There's time to panic later.
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