Frankenstorm Frenzy

I’m from the midwest, a place where natural disasters are rare. Sure, we had tornadoes and severe thunderstorms, but nothing super catastrophic — not in my day, anyways.

Since moving to New York, I’ve experienced — though I say this lightly because I didn’t actually feel anything — an earthquake, Hurricane Irene, and now Hurricane Sandy is hours away from making a major impact on the greater New York City area.

For Hurricane Irene, I camped out for a couple days at my friends Jen and Patrick’s, about a mile from my apartment. I left a few hours before the storm was supposed to hit, wheeling a shopping cart full of three different pasta dishes, bottled water, hard cider, my computer and iPad. We spent the entire time eating — Jen makes a men blue-box macaroni and cheese — watching the weather channel (and flipping between No Reservations and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding), and drawing in coloring books. The storm didn’t have much of an impact besides some wind and rain in Astoria, but I felt comfortable to be amongst friends.

This year, reports trickled in on Friday that people should begin prep. By that time, my local drug store was out of flashlights, so I made my way to the grocery store to pick up shabbos candles and yarzheit candles. Baruch hashem!

I have plenty of food and bottled water, and as of this morning, a few bars and restaurants are still delivering within Queens. Winds are picking up, as is rain.

I’m thankful to have power at this point, and continue to charge my phone and my iPad just in case that changes. I’ll spend the rest of the day working, and have made provisions in case power is lost — my iPad is loaded with some games (Jeopardy, Crazy Taxi, and Monopoly!), I have a few Nora Ephron books on-hand, and if all else fails, I’ll use my gas stove to do some cooking.

Stay safe, and stay warm to all those on the East Coast. For up-to-date coverage on the storm, head to The Weather Channel site.

My general thoughts on being under glorified house arrest?