A quick update on my niece who lives in Brooklyn and sheltered-in-place during Hurricane Sandy. She is doing great, no work for her today as the transportation methods to Manhattan were impacted from the storm. She did not lose power. They shut down the elevators in her building last night and the police were issuing misdemeanors to anyone caught outside in her evacuation zone.
Posted on October 29, 2012
Even though Hurricane Sandy is far away, emergency management professionals across the country are glued to the internet/televisions following the unfolding events. They are junkies for this kind of stuff . . . me included.
I have a niece that lives in Brooklyn, in one of the Hurricane Sandy evacuation zones. While at home waiting for the storm, she has been sharing photos and on-the-scene feedback of life in the evacuation zone. (Video from NYC earlier today with the sound of ping pong on the kitchen table)
Here are the questions that I asked her.
How many in your building evacuated? Why did you decide to stay?*
I don’t know how may evacuated. We are staying because we don’t need to go. We, like everyone in the building, anticipate the basement could be flooded but that is the parking level, no housing. We went through this last year with Hurricane Irene.
I agree it is best to follow local authorities and people can make decisions based on their specific circumstances.
Our building has a back-up generator so even if we lose power we will get it back quickly. We are keeping everything plugged in all the time.
We have fruit and veggies in the fridge. I keep the pantry stocked with cheerios, canned veggies, and chips. I did fill up some bottles of water and pre-cooked some food that is in the fridge. We are pretty flexible and okay with living on rice (some of which I have precooked and frozen) if this storm lasts and we have lots of ice cream.
How did you receive information about evacuation?
Our building has a website and a mass email system so every 2-3 hours we get emails from building management that the lounge is closed or the front doors will be locked. I also get texts from NYC , which I like. They give you a selection of notifications from parking suspensions to disaster alerts.
I feel like we have gotten a lot of advance notice from TV media, radio and internet. Everyone is doing all they can to prepare. We are as prepared as possible in my opinion. We are waiting for the worst which is scheduled for tonight.
*Although my niece decided to stay, as an emergency management professional (and an Aunt that cares deeply) I would have recommended she follow the advice of local government officials and evacuated prior to Hurricane Sandy.
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