Frankenstorm: Is it time to panic yet?

For those who don't know, Helper Monkey works at a grocery store. He gets to witness storm panic first hand. When he got home this morning, he said the lines were out the door, and they were selling bottled water faster than they could restock the shelves. O.o

Also for those who don't know, I grew up in Miami. I survived Hurricane Andrew. We didn't have power for nine days after the storm. We didn't kill each other. There was no zombie uprising. Life went on.


A few years ago, we had Hurricane Irene hit the DC area, and watched appalled as folks prepared for the storm like they do for a blizzard. They lined up to buy bread, milk, and toilet paper. Sure, these things are all dandy, but when the power goes out, you're going to want a whole different list of things on hand. I think they've learned their lesson now.

My family and I go camping frequently, so we have a lot of the things that people might need in a power outage. Lanterns, batteries, a radio that works with a hand crank instead of batteries. We have ways to stay warm if the heat fails (since we have an electric heat pump). We have a fireplace and plenty of wood. We don't mind living off the grid for a few days, should our power go down. It's not fun to think about losing access to the internet, and not being able to write after my laptop battery and the backup battery both conk out, but I would live through it.

I volunteered to go to the grocery store today, but Helper Monkey vetoed that idea. He'll pick things up before he leaves work at 6 am. There shouldn't be horrible lines then. So far, my list of emergency supplies we need consists of:

Bread

Yes. One item. We went shopping a few days ago. I don't want to fill the freezer or fridge with things that would spoil. We always have a supply of canned goods and other foods that are shelf stable. I'm sure I'll add to the list throughout the day, but after Andrew, I can't really get worked up over a storm with merely 70-mph-winds. And we live so far inland, and up in the mountains (yes, technically they are mountains), I'm not particularly worried about my own house weathering the storm.

I am worried about all the low-lying, coastal dwelling folks not too far from here. If any of you want to camp out at my house, we're all ready. Bring marshmallows. We'll make s'mores and tell ghost stories.

So, the thing I'm worried about most at the moment are the ice cream I bought last week and had been saving for a rainy day. I guess I'll be devouring the Sea Salt Caramel Gelato in the next two days. That's right. Remember, everyone! Frankenstorm isn't even due to hit for ANOTHER TWO DAYS! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PANIC YET! GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS! You have time to run all the errands, to fill your tank with gas, to make sure your zombie-slaying kit is in full working order!

And with that, I'm off to assemble my zombie-slaying kit. If I get cut off from the digital world, send flamethrowers. Good luck to you all.