Image from National Weather Service.
Well, “Hurricane” Sandy is about to bare it’s rain- and wind-soaked fangs. We’ve watched in the mid-Atlantic as she meandered past Cuba and nicked (snockered?) the Bahamas.
We watched as she weakened somewhat as she crossed the open seas.
But now, wow. She’s strengthened a bit and here she comes, full speed ahead. Full-speed is relative, I guess, seeing as she’s a Category 1 Hurricane, barely more than a Tropical Storm, actually.
The Washington area is in full #Frankenstorm prep mode. I’ve seen pictures of bare shelves in the bottled water section at grocery stores. I’m sure the toilet paper and milk sections are similarly denuded, as well. It’s only natural here, I guess. (I’ve lived here for 30-some years and still am amazed at this local behavior quirk.)
We prepped 2-3 days ago (gassed up the vehicles, got $$ from the ATM, got some food that will either 1) fit in a cooler or 2) can be reheated on the burner of our smoker. (Which I’m hoping is stored in our shed; otherwise, it’s MIA.)
We also have a generator this year (which we didn’t have when Isabelle Irene grazed us last year or when the derecho hit in last June 29th). We’ll now be able to at least cycle power between our refrigeration and freezer to keep stuff cold and/or frozen is the power goes out. It won’t be too cold, so we don’t have to worry about the pipes freezing. We’ve laid in some wood to run the wood stove & take of the chill, if need be.
So now we’re staying glued, not to TV, but to the Capital Weather Gang, the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, and AccuWeather.com. We’ll peep in on TV (The Weather Channel, the local weather) now & again. But not ’til later this evening. We’ve got our 9V batteries at the ready to power our battery-operated radio if/when the power goes out.
Over an out. Stay safe everyone. I’ll report when we come out the other side of this mother-of-a-storm.
Patchwork Jumble 