What is everyone doing inorder to prepare for "SANDY"? (Philadelphia: home, neighborhoods)

[Raena77]

Hello fellow Pa-ians,

I wanted to know how everyone is preparing for this darn big Nor'eastern/Hurricane?

We went out and got batteries for flashlights,water, food you can eat without heat. Getting Gorilla tape for our cellar door. Bags of dirt for sandbags. Have candles already. And space heaters. Make sure the cars are full of gas and cell phones charged.

For OUR sake (PA) I hope it isn't bad at all.

[wanneroo]

What am I doing to prepare? Nothing.

Maybe for fun I'll race to the store in a crazed wild eyed panic to get milk and bread.

Sounds like flash flooding will be the biggest issue and maybe some downed trees. Doesn't look like we are going to get snow out of it.

[bradjl2009]

I have the weather channel on and they had Corbett on the phone and he said PA is now under a state of emergency. I'm expecting a lot of rain with snow mixing in at times here in Pittsburgh with the wind of course. Not too worried about losing power unless we'd get some heavy snow.

[wanneroo]

The snow is the variable I am wondering about. Right now accuweather says rain, but we'll see. Flooding has happened too many times to count so I am used to that. I went ahead and fitted my snowplow anyways about a week ago.

[2nd trick op]

The most discouraging part of this story is that the media have hyped it in order to pander to the impressionable -- just as with the election. Preparedness is a good idea, but it's hijacked by politicians and others seeking to feather their own nest, and we all end up paying for it. We need to temper our obsession with security with a closer look at what happened the last time around (when the ground was already saturated, as is not currently the case) and a little healthy skepticism.

[btownboss4]

Philly Mayor Tells People in Flood-Prone Areas to Leave
If you live in a flood-prone neighborhood of Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter wants you out of your home and to safer ground by 2 p.m. on Sunday, before Hurricane Sandy's heaviest rainfall. The neighborhoods are listed below:

Link

[SteelCityRising]

I want snow in Pittsburgh!

[Craziaskowboi]

I bought guns, ammo and a bazooka, plus a garage full of Dinty Moore beef stew and chicken and dumplings. Tomorrow I'm gonna go up to Dahlonega and pan for gold, and then I'll hit the Army/Navy store to get some sterno jars. Never mind Georgia won't get anything from Hurricane Sandy; I just want to be ready for when the ninja biker gangs attack.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

I bought guns, ammo and a bazooka, plus a garage full of Dinty Moore beef stew and chicken and dumplings. Tomorrow I'm gonna go up to Dahlonega and pan for gold, and then I'll hit the Army/Navy store to get some sterno jars. Never mind Georgia won't get anything from Hurricane Sandy; I just want to be ready for when the ninja biker gangs attack.

Don't forget your Elvis-commemorative wood-burning CB base station!

[Hopes]

I'm not doing anything. If I was low onu toilet paper, I'd buy some, but I'm farily well stocked. Toilet paper is my standard for civilization.

I'm hoping for snow. Rain would cause flooding. Snow won't. If the electricity goes out for days, I'll be pleased. We always have great family time without the electronic districtions of DV, Internet, etc. We'll play board games and eat canned food. We'll break out the camping equipment and cook meat on the camp stove. We'll hand out with our neighbors outside if we lose heat and it's cold. It's always warmer outside. We own ski clothes and live in them.

Truly the only thing that bothers me about this stuff is going days without a real shower or bath. I do heat up water on the camp stove. It's like camping at home. It makes me proud that we can get by with very little luxuries. You'll never see me runnng to the store to stock up on anything. If we must plan an escape, we'll just empty our pantry and freezer, throw a bunch of clothes and blankets in the car and take off. We've never had to do that though.

I think this storm is overhyped. If I'm wrong, I can manage with whatever we already have at home. It we ever feel unsafe, we'll toss our guns and ammo into the car and head for Gnutella's house!