As foreward I have to thank all the crew here at Zombie Squad and ETS, with advice and guides from you guys I have been able to prep our family quite well over the last year. MODS please move this if I have the wron sub-forum


Primary: CONFIRMED our home flood insurance claim and info contact number(s). Spoke with representative confirming they had our current info, policy is good order, etc.

Irene storm tracker indicated this would be one of the worse storms in NYC are for quite some time. We live in a built up urban town across on Hudson river across from NYC.

Family and I assessed, plus with a proposed mandatory evacuation for people with dwelling at ground level-we made the decision to bug out on Friday. Our home is a very solid three story brick structure home in the center of town, they don't make 'em like this any more-however we are in low part of town which is considered a flood zone due to being on Hudson river and proximity to the NY harbor.

Arranged for several nights stay in Hilton's Homewood suites hotel apartment in Dover, NJ. Choice was based on 400 foot elevation in center of NJ. equidistant from the Delaware and Hudson rivers. Big plus was there are Family and friends in immediate vicinity

Prepped our ground floor living space for flooding/winds---took in plants ,put plywood on interior of the large non-storm picture window. We moved critical items to second floor.

I removed window AC from 3rd floor window, was rushing so busted AC frame a bit and got several mild cuts taking it out (ouch).

Assembled and tweaked my daughters', wife's and our bulldog's 72 hour go-bags. Tweaked and filled my 45L Osprey Exos backpack. Primary eqpt was water, water treatment, dry sacks, lighting, aux lighting,first aid, knives, temp shelter (tarp/plastic sheeting/contractors bags), quick prep food snacks and the JetBoil ZIP (very nice!). Pictures to follow in separate thread. Sig Sauer + ammo also came along--FYI NJ gun laws are draconian and complex, be careful when transporting weapons.

Tweaked my vehicles emergency storage bin (60 liter) food, water, shelter, first aid and cooking supplies
Re-assessed and repacked my vehicle's tool box.

Emptied most of our high cost freezer foods and refrigeration into two medium sized coolers

Packed our bags, 2 weeks worth of water and food, tools, and ourselves + dog into our 2010 Honda CRV.

I secure the main electrical service breaker.
In the event of major road cloggage I had my very detailed paper copy of NJ DeLorme available. We bugged out of NYC area at about 11 AM on Saturday Aug 27th.

Arrived our destination 2 hours later. We were expecting more traffic jams but there was little to no traffic and were able to use the major roads.

Checked in to a well appointed room, class A facilities--pool gym, free breakfast buffet. plenty of good stuff/shops in area. Shopped at mall which stayed open till 5 PM on Saturday.
Used our food preps at hotel.
Talked to loved ones, watched TV and the weather reports and slept a well earned good night sleep.

The suburban area we evacuated to had some heavy rains/wind but no power outage and it's mostly business as usual.

MY town it's otherwise. Friends and emergency reports indicate my neighborhood fared decently, no major damage, however several blocks away power lines are down and some 2+ foot floods in streets. Reported risk of electrocution for people/pet walking in the flooded portions of town.

The town is not permitting vehicular traffic as of n 2 PM Sunday, so we will stay at hotel Sunday night. We plan to wake up early Monday and assess if we can drive back in and start up the house.

We both work in Manhattan but NYC mass transit is iffy so not sure about work on Monday. I can manage my local HVAC contractors via phone/blackberry if needed. The HVAC for most of the medical facilities and datacenters I am responsible for are connected via web base/POTS line building management systems. so I can at least monitor and control things somewhat.

We hope everyone here weathered the storm OK. We wish you have a safe and complete recovery from the Irene aftermath.