After 2011’s Hurricane Irene flooded our basement and the Snowtober nightmare caused us to lose power for a week (and ruined Halloween), we resolved to waterproof our basement and buy a generator. And then life got in the way and we didn’t waterproof our basement or buy a generator.
And now that inaction could very well bite us in the ass in less than 48 hours, when Hurricane Sandy (which I have not so affectionately nicknamed Frankenstupidstorm) is poised to slam our state.
What have we done to prepare, you might ask? I bought lots of water. We removed everything we could lift from the floor in our basement. I cleaned out some relatively easy-to-reach gutters. We put any potential flying objects into the garage. We made sure the storm windows were in place. We put fresh batteries in our flashlights.
And my dear husband bought a snowblower. Which would have been a perfect purchase for this storm if we lived in Appalachia. But we don’t live in Appalachia. I suppose he felt bad that all of the generators are gone. So better to act now and be prepared for our first snowstorm than to be caught empty-handed in a different season.
I was stressing him out this morning, big time. Friends and family know that I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder since a tree fell on our house in 2006. Any storm that produces lots of wind freaks me out. So I’m anxious about what we might experience in the next couple of days, which drives my husband crazy.
So I need to thank him for buying a snowblower – today, of all days. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the order confirmation from Amazon. It will be here by Tuesday. Just in time for what will likely be a flooded basement and no power. Woo-hoo! I’m not sure he realizes that by making that particular purchase today he has deprived another homeowner in Appalachia of machinery they’re going to need a lot more than us over the next few days. But no mind. Because at least now we’ll be ready for the first blizzard of the winter.
Hi! I work for the Red Cross and came across your post when monitoring for Sandy related mentions online (I’m on the social engagement team and we try to interact with people to help them deal with disasters).
I loved that your husband bought that snowblower because the generators were sold out – sounds like his heart was in the right place when it comes to keeping the family safer! 🙂 I hope that your basement makes it through this storm with no issues. Fingers crossed.
So sorry to hear about the anxiety you’re experiencing with these storms. It’s tough for sure, and you’re definitely not alone. I see lots of people talking about feeling stressed, anxious, afraid- it runs the gamut. If you ever feel that you could benefit from talking to a trained counselor, there’s a great resource called the Disaster Distress Helpline that is always available with really great people on the line to talk you through it. You can find more info here: http://1.usa.gov/JWvyRj
Good luck and thanks for the interesting read! 🙂