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Slashdot Asks: Are You Preparing For Hurricane Sandy?
Forecasters are tossing around words like "unprecedented" and "bizarre" (see this Washington Post blog entry) for the intensity and timing of Hurricane Sandy, which is threatening to hit the east coast of the U.S. early next week. Several people I know in the mid-Atlantic region have been ordering generators and stocking up on flashlight batteries and easy-to-prepare foods. Are you in the projected path of the storm? If so, have you taken any steps to prepare for it? (Are you doing off-site backup? Taking yourself off-site?)
(on the bright side, I finally get to side with all the europeans and aussies gripe and moan in the US-centric articles)
Is this a joke?
Have you somehow missed seeing all the worthless Aussie non-stories that flood Slashdot these days?
Christ, I know Australians who now moan about the lack of non-Aussie stories on Slashdot.
I think my flippancy has caused some misinterpretation.
No it hasn't. All the replies were pretty gentle, but I think you have rethought your position.
the absolute worst that will happen is my house will fall down
That's nice. Good, you're evidently confident that you aren't one of those people who hang around until it's too late, thinking "nah, it'll never happen to me". You're also apparently not house bound, physically disabled or living with people who are physically disabled, mentally disabled or living with people who are mentally disabled, suffering from a debilitating illness, suffering from a weakened immune system, reliant on drugs (to treat high blood pressure or asthma or some other serious and dangerous condition) which you need to take with you if you have to leave home in a hurry because it is about to fall down, or living in a row house, and you don't have elderly parents or young children living with you. Elderly parents can slow down your exit. Young children (even older children) can panic. So can adults.
Lucky for you, you won't be one of those people who hangs around, and nobody in your household will have a broken leg or twist their ankle or break their arm or have any kind of other accident. And if the worst does happen, it won't be in the middle of the night when people are groggy and it's pitch black and you are trying desperately to find your way out without tripping over something and cracking your head open.
The media warnings are for all those people who aren't quite as clever/lucky as you.
If we lose power, we lose power. The world won't end
That's nice. No, the world won't end. You're evidently not reliant on an electrical device to keep you healthy, like a breathing machine.
The media warnings are for all those people who aren't in so fortunate a position.
I have plenty of dry food and enough water packed in my freezer that it'll be a couple-few days before it's a problem
That's nice. You make enough money that you have no problems buying extra food beyond your daily or weekly requirements, unlike many inner city inhabitants for whom such preparedness is financially impossible.
The media warnings are for all those people who aren't as well off as you, or who buy lots of tins to prepare for loss of power and don't consider how they're going to cook that tinned food.
In situations where power is out for several days, people panic. High winds cause windows to break and people get seriously cut up. Then they can't get treatment because the roads are impassable.
Or people find themselves in some kind of emergency, take their life in their hands and go out in their car, and get swept away by incredibly swollen streams.
It's nice you're so prepared, well off, and aware of all the things one needs to take into account. There is a lot to think about when you're facing this kind of potential damage. Lots of people just don't know all the things they have to do - they're not accustomed to it if they don't live in a hurricane-prone area, or if they've just moved to such an area and never had to consider it before.
The other side is that time and time again people just don't realize how dangerous high winds and swollen rivers can be. They have a massive Excursion or Yukon SUV and think they're invincible. Then they get swept away. It always happens. Always. Regardless of the warnings on tv, regardless of the newscasters telling people to, seriously, stay inside and don't try to ford a stream because you freaking well can't make it. People still do it. The news channels are trying to capture viewers, sure - that's their job - but they're also well aware that people panic or don't take it seriously, and are trying to save lives.
So stop being so superior.