MNN - Mother Nature Network

By now, you've probably heard all about a rather large and unruly gal named Irene, who after a quick but destructive jaunt through the Caribbean, is slowly but surely making her way into the Northeastern U.S., just in time to ruin everyone's end-of-summer weekend barbecues. Boo. Minor inconveniences aside, Hurricane Irene is a storm of "historic" proportions and should be taken seriously. So, please, if you're in Irene's path — she certainly has an ample one at 290 miles — take proper care and be optimistic ...  but also get the hell out if need be. 

 

Getting the hell out is exactly what I did earlier this evening since I live in the very low-lying waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook in Brooklyn, one of New York City's mandatory evacuation zones. I'm not riding this one out. I spent most of my afternoon duct taping giant "Xs" on all seven of my windows (question: does this actually do any good?), stuffing random odds and ends into plastic storage bins, and moving furniture into the center of the living room in my fourth-floor walk-up before throwing a tarp over it (pre-tarp photo above). I also spent 40 minutes in line waiting to check out at Fairway, my local supermarket. Imagine the day before Thanksgiving times 10 (but with a shortage of bottled water and more panic). 

 

Until its safe to return to my own home, I'll be camping out a friend's apartment elsewhere in Brooklyn where in addition to the requisite items — batteries, bottled water, flashlights, non-perishables, first aid kit, etc. — there's enough arts and crafts projects, carb-heavy treats (photo evidence pictured below), and tawdry V.C. Andrews paperbacks recently procured from eBay to keep us occupied for a few days. Plus, we've got enough candles to light up St. Patrick's Cathedral for at least a week. And on the topic of candles, another friend of mine just emailed to report that she was "apparently the last person to think to buy candles so my apt will smell of a mix of vanilla cupcake, melon, and Christmas morning!" Ha. 

 

I'll (hopefully) be back in action — from my own home or from elsewhere — come Monday. Until then, stay safe and (don't forget about the pets, especially those pugs) if and when big, bad Ms. I marches through your neighborhood. And as always, I'm leaving you with a few items for your weekend reading pleasure ... provided that you have electricity. And please, feel free to share any hurricane-proofing tips, tropical cyclone-related gripes, or supermarket horror stories in the comments section. Over and out.