Preparing For the Frankenstorm

Preface:  It’s a gray Sunday morning and I sat down to write about how Ryan prepares for storms. . . and ended up rambling a little bit.  I guess I was just in a story-telling mood.

Here in the Washington, DC area we’re preparing for a massive storm expected to hit later tonight on through Tuesday.  Always ones to come up with a dramatic and catchy name, the media has dubbed this one a “Frankenstorm.”  This monster of a weather event is apparently the collision of a strong hurricane and a nor’easter.  Well that’s a new one to me (and apparently to everyone else, too!)

The news first made it to my ears on Friday afternoon. I was swamped at work but took a moment to email Ryan. I hate to be that person who goes overboard and floods the grocery store before a storm, but after some of the Derecho this summer that left many in our area without power for 4-5 days, I decided that we might as well be calmly prepared.

The main item of preparation for me is water.  Having lived in Richmond with 2 large dogs and 2 cats when Hurricane Isobel crippled the city, it really sucked to be unprepared. I didn’t store water, and while everyone I knew (we were early 20’s) was stocking up on beer, I made sure to stock the freezer with ice cream.  Dumbest. Idea. Ever.

Unfortunately, when the aftermath of Isobel had us without power and water for days, and downed trees and power lines cut off the roads around my apartment, I had to walk a mile to the grocery store to buy water for a) the toilet and b) the animals to drink. In the draining August heat, the animals were thirsty.

As for me? I didn’t even get to eat my ice cream.  I kept the freezer shut hoping it would stay cold.  That’s what my parents told me growing up.  Unfortunately that only works for a short period of time.  A week later, when I peeked at the freezer, I found that all the ice cream had melted, soaked through the containers, and spread out in an even layer all. over. the. freezer.  What a mess.

With that experience in mind, I sent Ryan a note Friday suggesting that we prepare.  My ideas: jugs of water, a plug for the bathtub so we could fill it with water, batteries, more prescription food for the cat.

His response? Probably a bit more thorough, and 10x more amusing:

I was shocked to see that Mow the Lawn was such a high priority to him, but apparently it was also a priority for every one of our neighbors, who were outside doing it on Saturday. They also apparently had to cross Blow the Leaves off their honey-do lists, so there are now massive piles of leaves on the curbs. Not sure how that’s going to help when the storm hits – in fact it may clog the drains just that much more.

So now it’s Sunday.  Ryan’s mowed the lawn (not once, but twice) and discovered that when all the regular grocery stores, pharmacies, and Targets are sold out of bottled water on a Friday night, the Asian grocery stores are still fully stocked.In the mean time, I filled household containers with water and put them in the fridge.  I also filled bowls with ice from our ice maker and put them in the freezer, because supposedly that will help things stay cold if we do lose power. We’ve stocked the pantry with some canned goods and extra dog treats, and Ryan put our hammock and outdoor lights and furniture away.  All that’s left is for me to stock up on coffee.  Thanks to my nifty little drip maker, I can make coffee when the power goes out.

If’ you’re in the area and you’d like useful advice on how to prepare for a hurricane / Frankenstorm, check out Christina’s post.  Now if we’re done here, I must go call my parents.

They’re in Delaware, right where the latest forecasts show the hurricane making landfall.  On Friday night they didn’t seem to think they needed to prepare. But with them both in their 70’s, I think a little preparation is called for.  It’s funny how once you grow up you have to start parenting your parents. 🙂