Hurricane Sandy passed by us last night. We didn't expect much more than rain and high winds, and that's exactly what we got. Power flickered throughout the neighbourhood but we didn't loose it for more than a few minutes at a time. It was little more more than a bad fall storm but we did learn a few things.

We were pretty confident with our supplies, bug-in and bug-out plans but, in a perfectly timed turn of events, our 9 year old came down with the stomach flu yesterday. He had a few bouts of vomiting overnight and this morning. Cleaning up puke sucks at the best of times but all I could think was how much worse it would have been had the power been out.

Lesson one - he normally has a flashlight in his room (we all have one bedside) but had taken it to the basement to play. Ditto the one he borrowed from our bedroom and his sister's room. There was only one working flashlight upstairs instead of four. That's being rectified today. (Lesson one A - get a big bucket for anyone with nausea so they can stay stationary rather than try to navigate through a dark house.)

Lesson two - we have lots of extra AAs and AAAs stored but forgot about the 6v lights. Those spotlights would have really helped in the clean-up had the power been out but they were all dead. We've go a bunch of oil lamps and candles but you just can't beat the convenience of a good LED. (Even the photon I edc around my neck let me down.) Batteries in emerg lights all get checked when we change the clocks every six months, along withe fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. We're still a week away from that so clearly we need to either buy better batteries or check them more frequently.

Lesson three - we had kid's gravol in the medicine cabinet but it was expired. Had to break into the family bob for more. Complete meds check happening today.

Lesson four - we've been slack on re-stocking the pantry with ready to eat meals and snacks. We've got lots of staples (dried, frozen and canned rice/pasta/beans/veggies/meat/etc.) and could probably survive a month or more with what we have on hand. I stock up with more every week, but most require cooking. We only had a few days of ready to eat food in the cupboards. We were out of the line of fire for this storm but might not be so lucky next time. Putting canned soups/stews/pastas/fruit/etc. and ready to eat snacks like granola bars back onto my weekly stock-up list to extend our non-cooking a little while longer. Especially with a sick kid to deal with, grab and go stuff will be so much more convenient.

Lesson five - there's not much propane left in the BBQ tank and the two extra ones are empty. If we needed to cook, we would have been stuck using our camp stoves. They're great but I'd prefer to keep them as back-ups for home cooking.

Lesson six - there was a potential for snow and ice. We have lots of road salt in the garage but it hasn't migrated out of it's summer hibernation spot yet. Time to rotate it back to the front of the garage for easy access, and move the summer gear to the back.

Lesson seven - we've done a good job around the neighbourhood of trimming the trees, but not so on clearing the leaves. The street sewers got covered a couple of times and we would have had the beginning of a flood had we got more rain. It's happened before so everyone on the street kept an eye out.

Lesson eight - some poor smucks (including my hubby) went out every few hours to clear those leaves from the gutters and they risked being hit by flying halloween decorations, hanging pots and recycling when we did. Some of my neighbours need to be reminded the those turns turn into projectiles in high wind and need to be moved into the garage.

Lesson nine - we still don't have a good solution for heating the house if the power goes out, other than extra clothes/blankets, food, warm drinks, pocket warmers, etc. We live in a townhouse and I'm leary about using the Coleman propane heater in the house. Researching installing a woodstove has been moved up the priority list.

I'm uptown and on "high ground" so didn't lose power or water - only cable internet. Cell phone signal, including high-speed 4G internet, was up the entire time.

An interesting observation: Everyone with their urban assault vehicles (big Jeeps, Hummers, etc.) were completely stuck while those with smaller vehicles could get under this obstacle. lolz

Great picture of a Mercedes under a cord of firewood -- and people wonder how they'll heat their homes.

The DC area fared better than expected. Some isolated tragedies, involving trees, cars and carbon monoxide.

Storm peaked wind-wise between 6p-midnight. I went out on the sidewalk a few times to survey the situation and the higher gusts were scary. Fortunately, my block's only damage was a "Detour Ahead" sign whose wood post was sheared. Thought a mid-size tree near my house was going to go but it didn't.

This tree a block away gave up the ghost. The Volvo owner was pretty sanguine about it:

The Callcentric - one of the most popular IP telephony providers is completely down. Even though the Internet network was OK. What means they can not be trusted in a survival situation. I know a lot of people here in the SF Bay Area, who has replaced their landline with Callcentric service. Perhaps Calcentric is saving money by serving clients from a single data center without any redundancy.

Exactly. It's a lull in the storm. Good time to take advantage of to fix up a few holes in the preps. And sleep. A nap or two is definitely in order for all of us. It was a long night.

Our thinking exactly. It's calm today but we're still getting strong gusts and the sky is overcast but bright, but in the distance it's dark and ominous. Just about everyone I've interacted with has appeared to think it's over but the fat lady hasn't sung yet.

I had a craving for nachoes and salsa, so I ventured out to the grocery store. (hubby was working on cleaning up the garage and checking our trees for damage) It was very quiet, except for the store alarm system that was going off every 10 minutes. (The cashier said that if it wasn't for the alarm and the odd customer, she'd be bored. She was hoping to be sent home since they were over-staffed.) After stopping at the pharmacy for children's gravol, I took advantage of some sales and grabbed a dozen and a half canned and tetra soups and stews, a bulk box 64 of granola bars, 32 fruit cups and big jar of salsa and some nacho chips. Then I snagged some (3 X AAA) LED flashlights (one for every room), new batteries for all the fire alarms and carbon monoxide dectors in the house, and a couple of new batteries for our 6v lights. I used my debit card, preferring to keep the cash in case things do get worse.

Our area has faired very well so far. There very some tiny branches (a little more than twigs) on the driveway, but both vehicles looked to have not a scratch. We lost one tree in the neighbourhood, but thankfully it only hit a fence. There are about a gazillion leaves on the streets, and people are out cleaning them up. On my drive to and from the store, I saw some downed tree limbs and small branches, and some ripped up fences, but it's'basically life as usual. The schools, library and stores are open.

Now it sounds like you're ready for anything, bacpacjac!

It's close calls like these that can serve as reminders to assess one's preps. It never amazes me how many times I overlook an expired or used-up item, even with seasonal checks. Comfort items (like nacho chips) always seem to come up short, as I sometimes don't replenish them as they're not "vital". Yet when a snowstorm drifts us in, what do I rue not having the most? Comfort items.

Good observation. The spinach I bought pre-storm remains untouched. The ice cream and Tostitos are another story.


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Spinach? Sounds familiar ... isn't that a cutting agent used for bacon, artichoke hearts, garlic, cheese, sour cream and mayo?

You're going to have to venture back out to the store for more tortilla chips; they're the delivery system.

Glad you're relatively unscathed Dagny.

Great report Bacpac. At least you are much more prepared then many who resorted to downloading flashlight apps for their iPhones...

Speaking of apps, even though we are more 3000+ miles away on the west coast, I still have an interest in the hurricane news the past few days. One web and multi-platform mobile app I found to be invaluable is Tunein Radio. This all in one app is available for Android, Apple, Blackberry, Windows phone and allows one to listen to 1000's of different news radio broadcasts, police / fire department dispatchers etc over wifi or cell networks. I have had this app running quite a bit while at my work desk and it has earned a permanent install on my phone.

No affiliation etc..