Hurricane Sandy

Part 1

A category 1 hurricane is barrelling straight for us and should arrive sometime tonight.  The first bands of rain actually started yesterday evening, that's how huge this hurricane is.  In preparation we cleared the deck and Paul set-up his bucket so we can monitor how much rain we get.  Here's a picture of our deck yesterday afternoon.  

Of course we also stocked the house with food and water in case our electric goes out.  I went to BJ's Friday after work (remember, I only work half a day) and I thought I would beat the rush but no, that place was already packed!  They had everything I wanted though, food, water, and batteries so it was just a matter of waiting in long lines to pay for it.  Here's a part of our food supply sitting on the counter:

I don't know why that little cooler is sitting there.  Probably because I had no where else to put it because the big coolers were taking up the floor space.

So that was our storm preparation.  Clearing the outside of anything that could blow around and stocking the inside of the house in the event we lose electricity.  Which brings us to today, Monday, the day Sandy is expected to make landfall.  Here's a picture of our deck from this morning.  The rain was very heavy at times but the wind hasn't been too bad yet. 

We should have strapped a flag to one of our posts to show how windy it was.  Oh well, maybe next time.  You'll just have to take my word for it for now.

Paul saw that our paper had been delivered so we suited up Zach and sent him out into the hurricane to get it.  :)

It was really pouring when he went out and we told him to run fast and dodge the raindrops!  Since he was already dressed for the outside we also had him go out on our deck to check the water level in the bucket. 

There was a little over 2 inches in it.   We're predicted to get around 6-8 inches before Sandy is done. 

 

I tried searching for a satellite view of Sandy but couldn't find one that I like.  So for now I'm going to use this graphic.  The last predicted landfall of Sandy is in New Jersey but then she comes directly west and practically over top where we live! 

They're saying that Hurricane Sandy is going to be a superstorm because it is going to merge with cold air to the west and from arctic air to the north.  Then when she makes landfall it will be high tide PLUS there's a full moon.  One description I read about Hurricane Sandy that I just loved was that she is going to be "a large nor'easter on steroids!"  Another is that this is going to be a "once in a lifetime storm."  Great!  I'm so glad we're right in her path.  (I'm being sarcastic.)  I'll try to keep updating as the storm progresses.  At least until we lose our electric!  Stay tuned for part 2.

Part 2

We sent Zach out a few minutes ago to check how much rain we've gotten so far.  Since this storm is a hurricane we had to take safetly precautions.  We tethered him to one of Paul's tie-down straps!  

He didn't fly like a kite yet.  We'll try again in a few hours!  (Disclaimer:  We did NOT put him in harm's way in the slightest.  The wind speed is only 20 mph if that. We have to have a little bit of fun on a day like this!)  Anyway, we now have 3 1/2 inches of rain.

I finally found a satellite picture of Sandy that shows how massive she is.  Look how many states are affected by her.

They've updated her arrival to anytime between 5:00 and 6:00 pm today because she's sped up.  That's good news because now she's not going to coincide with high tide.   As of 2:00 pm she's 110 miles SE off the coast of Atlantic City.  I'll try to update again later as long as our power holds out.