Hunkering Down For Sandy

I imagine everyone in the US, Caribbean & most of Europe are well aware of Hurricane Sandy.  I'm sure all the people on the East Coast, particularly in the North East are well aware that as Hurricane Sandy travels North West and is expected to hit land today before it travels up the Eastern Seaboard there is another storm approaching.  A Winter storm from the North that will collide with Sandy creating what Meteorologist have now coined the Frankenstorm.

This is a storm with pressures that the East Coast has never before seen or experienced (at least since such events have been measured & recorded).  I'll be honest - that's what scares me the most.

The part that bothers me the most is my proximity to my family... or lack thereof.

My family is located in Queens, NY.  Thankfully they are a few miles outside of the evacuation zones.  The part that scares me about this is that on Saturday, my Grandma was discharged from the Rehab she was staying at for 1 month, while her broken arm healed.  I don't want her to experience any discomfort or lack of necessary care at home.... that includes losing power or not having enough to eat.  On the good side, she's within very close proximity to 2 of her cousins & 1 of her sons.  The other son is a bit further away, but given decent weather conditions, he would find it easy to get to her if she needed help.  And the saving grace is that my sister & brother in law are in the house with her.  If I was in NY, I'd have definitely hunkered down for the storm at her home with her.

I also worry about my mother & my baby brother and sister.  They live in Putnam county... in lake country surrounded by large trees.  I worry less about flooding because they live at a high elevation compared to the lakes, however, the trees.  Even the smallest storms seem to fall trees causing them to lose power (and thus the ability to cook or have heat!)  A Fireplace only warms the livingroom and even then, only barely.  Thankfully this is the fall and not the winter.

My Mother in Law lives alone... close to my Grandma.  She has a giant tree above her bedroom.  We urged her to sleep in the guest room - because you never know.  I hate that she's alone.

In the end I just hope everyone is safe!

We are prepared here in Boston - Paul & I are working from home.  I made banana bread last night, I bought a case of water and filtered a few pitchers just in case.  I made tuna pasta and a salmon salad - you know, in case I can't use my stove - which I think I still might be able to even without power.  So I think we have what we need... the only thing we don't have is family.