Well, we have been home over a week now and I am still trying to catch up. The laundry was done the first 2 nights and put away the next mornings in anticipation of perhaps a couple of days travel at the end of last week - Labor Day weekend. We did not go away.
We were in the line of Hermine - a hurricane which did damage along the eastern seaboard and then came north to visit us. It was like preparing for one of our trips - Hermine was to hit sometime between last Friday and Monday and stay around swirling off the coast to the south of the Island. People along the coasts of our Island are still recovering from “superstorm” Sandy less than 5 years ago - some people are not back in their houses yet as their houses are not yet rebuilt. Hermine was not a welcome guest here. As last week went along it became a situation of - she might hit us - she might just stay offshore - she might miss us altogether (but probably not). She might be a hurricane or she might be a tropical storm or a subtropical storm. She might be gone by Monday or she might be here through (tomorrow) Thursday.
We had extensive days of no electricity at our house in 2011 after Hurricane Irene and again after Sandy, and after we got our electricity back after Sandy, it went out a day later when the area was hit by a “nor’easter” Yes, we were hit by a tropical storm and in less than a week after we were hit by a winter storm! So we made preparations for the worst, hoping for the best.
We have learned from the prior storms what we need to do. We have been told that we should have (always) 2 gallons of water per day per person for, well it used to be 3 days, since Sandy we are told 5 days. We have a small house - full of stuff, no room for 6 to 10 gallons of water always in the house (and when I used to keep 2 gallons in the basement one gallon sprang a leak and we had water all over). We have another system. We were away in Pennsylvania immediately before Irene. (We actually pulled over into a McDonald’s parking lot to use its wifi as we tried to locate a campground near Pittsburgh, PA, the closest area which did not seem to be under the hurricane warning as we decided if we were going to run to same and sit it out or go home. Not finding any campgrounds, we went home. When we arrived home we still had most of the water in the RV tank. We left it. We were supposed to be going away a day after Sandy hit. Husband said what should we do to be ready if we can leave and go on the trip? We filled the water tanks - if we were able to go we had the water in the tanks, if not, emergency water! So last Friday we filled one of the RV tanks with water - 15 gallons. This idea only works in warm weather, once we winterize the RV we cannot really use it for water storage again until we clean out the tanks when we dewinterize in the spring - plus the chance of the tanks and lines freezing in cold weather.
We also plugged in the RV and charged its batteries overnight. We also found during the 2 earlier storms that this gave us something to do in the evening. We would go in and turn on the batteries, put up the TV antenna on the RV and watch TV. Especially after Sandy this was good. The local (Long Island, not NYC) radio station was turning its air over to the local (again, Long Island) news channel to broadcast their broadcasts so that those without electricity (most of the Island) could get more extensive local news. This was very nice of both, but much of the local news consisted of “Look at this - can you believe this happened?” which did not help all that much. By turning on the TV we were able to see what was going on and get more news. We also had some diversion. Husband figured out that we could use the RV batteries for 2 hours to watch TV, recharge computers and cell phones, etc. and then put on the RV’s generator for an hour to recharge the batteries, using only 1/3 of a gallon of gas. We had to be careful as most of the gas stations on the Island were either out of gas or unable to pump gas due to not having electricity. (After a quick drive to look around the day after Sandy when we then found out about the lack of gasoline, we took the car out once for an emergency related to my mom and walked everywhere for about 3 weeks to a month. We were lucky. Most people here do not live within walking distance of stores, etc. We do.) After Irene things were considerably better than after Sandy and not as widespread, so that there were large areas with electricity (and with working gas stations) we went one night to the movies for something to amuse us. The freezer in the kitchen refrigerator is set it’s coldest setting. The refrigerator itself is set as cold as I can let it go without ruining husband’s insulin. We always go out before a large storm that has warnings and fill the car gas tanks.
Back to getting ready for Hermine. We brought in the electric lantern we keep in the RV. It is rechargeable plus it can use batteries instead. We plugged in the rechargeable pack to charge. We also plugged in our laptops and tablets and when not using them, our cell phones. They were all left charging whenever we were home. I always do the laundry if there is a possibility of losing the electricity so that we have a maximum amount of clean clothes, towels and bed linens, but since I had just done them, I did not need to. I unplugged the washing machine and threw the breakers for the clothes dryer - no need to take a chance on a surge coming through. The dehumidifier and stove would have this done also if and when we lost electricity.
We know that in the 1700s it was the standard to “put the room to rest” after using it. This involved moving the furniture against the walls where it was normally kept. This did two things - it allowed different furniture to be moved to the center of the room as needed for different activities and also allowed one to walk through the room in dim light without bumping into anything. I did this, clearing the floors - including furniture and general stuff and it really did help when we had to walk around the house during the day lit only by the light through the windows. I did this again. I pushed our portable air conditioner in the dining room further into the room into a small space where it would not be walked into. I then went to the living room where husband has his loom. I did not want to move the loom - it was set up to work, but I folded down the side of the drop leaf table he uses when warping the loom and moved it further into the room next to the side table next to the sofa. I took the standing lamps and moved them and their cords out of the way so that we would not walk into them nor trip over their cords. Upstairs we have mostly walkways around furniture so it was already clear, as was the kitchen and the parts of the studio we might walk around in.
We went about our life listening to the constantly changing weather reports - not only did they vary from source to source - they also varied hour to hour - not sure what was coming. Each day it was a question of will it rain today or will there be heavy, fast winds today? We are far enough in the center (north to south) of the Island that we do not have to worry about storm surge - but I was concerned about my mom as she was hit by a wall of water after Sandy and had to throw out everything in her basement and the first floor of her house (the garage, den and a bathroom are on the first floor).
There are many activities on the Island in general and it was Labor Day weekend so there were many more. The various government entities from New Jersey through New York City and both counties out here put out a “don’t go out in the water or you will get a ticket” alerts. There had been problems recently with unusually heavy rip currents and the storm sitting off of here was making it worse as well as making a terribly active, heavy surf. Of course going to the beach is a major activity this “last weekend” of summer. (Yes, it ends later in the month, but it is the symbolic end.) One of our local Native American tribes has a large Pow Wow on Labor Day weekend every year with their family members who have moved or traveled away returning every year to the reservation for it and it is open to the public - we have gone several times and might have gone this year - but no one knew what the weather would be.
Saturday we went outside to bring in some items early on in the preparation. We brought the garbage cans into the garage, small solar lanterns and the stands they hang from into the porch. I glanced out into the road and my eye caught on the large orange plastic “barrels” left there by the road crew still working on our street 4 weeks after the 2 weeks they were suppose to be here. There were also large piece of PVC pipe that hold signs and things for them - all ripe to go flying in a gale and do damage. I checked the Internet about contacting the County emergency office which was suppose to be up and runnning and tried calling them - I either got a busy signal or the phone kept ringing. I sent them an email to let them know about the barrels and other items and that someone should come and secure or remove them - no response and it all stayed out waiting to be blown about.
Saturday night the next county put out a warning that people on one of the barrier islands (our Island has smaller islands around it) should evacuate - voluntarily - from the island since if the surf got worse as expected, the ferries would not be able to run and they would not be able to leave. Instead somehow the warning that was sent and shown on TV, announced on the radio, was robocalled to all of the county residents (instead of just those on the island), and was emailed out was that the entire county was under a mandatory evacuation! Calls flooded their emergency management centers and a correction was put out. We came home from the movies and there was a notice on the top of the TV picture - annoying me as it was on constantly for about half an hour and the cable controls were not working right - about the error and correcting it.
So day by day the storm sat off the Island and we were told - later today or tomorrow. As of yesterday, they finally lifted the storm surge warnings and the storm is sitting further east, south of the Island.. While the preparations were needed based on the original state of things, luckily they were not needed. Unfortunately businesses at the beaches and also otherwise that anticipated an influx of visitors lost the income they were expecting for the weekend - we went to the movies Saturday night and the theater was empty.
Now, of course, everything that was moved or dealt with has to be put back into place. The water has to be let out of the RV the items moved in the living room were already moved back so husband could weave and so on. Until next time - the next storm is already forming!
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