Hurricane Irene Update

Everyone has been asking us if we are going to be ok so I thought I would post here to answer you all at once. Di and I are located on Long Island, in a hamlet called Centereach. While the storm will be passing directly through us tonight around midnight, we are pretty safe due to our central position on the Island. Our house is situated on top of a smallish hill and if we get flooding here, almost all of Manhattan would have to be underwater. We are still at risk for some rainwater flooding, but our basement has never leaked before so we feel that it can handle the rain adequately. None-the-less we have moved all of the stuff in our basement off of the ground.

Even though we are not really at risk for major flooding, we will be getting winds up to about 70MPH. To prepare for this, we have taken lawn chairs, hammocks, trash bins, and any other loose items from outside and placed them in our shed. While they probably won't be blown away, we don't want them smashing into the house or windows. We moved our cars away from the house in case of any siding that may come loose, but we think that we should be OK for the 6 hours or so that the wind is going to be quite strong. All blinds will be shut inside and we won't be sitting near any windows at all.

I really shouldn't say we because I am the only one going to be in the house with the Doggies. The Stony Brook Hospital is one of the only hopitals open on Long Island and they have called for Med-school students to volunteer to help with the patient load that will come in. Di will be going to the Hospital around 5PM and, if there is nothing catastrophic, staying there until late tomorrow. I am quite proud of her stepping up to volunteer and know she will be a major help in a time of need.

I will probably be posting updates to both my Twitter account and Facebook account so you can follow any major events there. Thank you all for being concerned and we will keep you updated :)