It’s a big deal if you’ve had a flood or fire, or if you’ve been killed or injured by a falling tree. Those are the people for whom I can have sympathy.
I am truly sorry your son lost his car — but with the abundant warnings of storm surge, why did he leave it in a vulnerable spot? Why did he not gas up and park on high ground, away from trees?
When I returned from my Katrina evacuation in Florida, I did not expect to find running water or natural gas awaiting me. I had stockpiled most of what I needed ahead of time, and brought the rest with me. And remember, we had very little advance warning of Katrina. 60 hours before final landfall, it was projected to go to FL. Nor did it inflate to a cat 5 till 30 hours before it hit. I know you Yankees are not old hands at hurricanes, but it isn’t exactly the first in living memory for y’all.
Phones? I had no phone after Katrina, for weeks. Not even cell service. In fact, even in other states 600 miles away, I could not receive calls to my 504 area code cell phone. Fun, huh? I had no power for a month — but I had taken the precaution of packing my freezer with frozen water jugs, so my contents were still frozen over a week after the storm, on 90F+ heat. Given the cool weather, your son’s fridge should be just fine for days, and much longer if he had the foresight to make some ice blocks. I don’t mean to be callous, but I hope the people on LI did something constructive with their week’s warning, other than wring their hands.
Speaking of cool weather, why the panic? If you’re young and healthy, put some clothes on. Build a fire at night. Cuddle with your loved ones, and put some blankets on the bed. For pete’s sake, during the winter I routinely let my house go down to 55 before I think of putting the heat on. Try living post-storm in a sealed-up unpowered house at 95F, with a dewpoint of 75, and then we can talk about oppressive discomfort. That’s what I did after Katrina. That’s what I did two months ago after Isaac, which probably totally escaped the attention of most New Yorkers.
In some neighborhoods up there there IS no place to park your car that isn’t under/near a tree. parking is at a premium. If you’ve never lived there you can’t really comprehend the ‘premium’ nature of parking. And some towns have ‘zoned’ parking. If you don’t have the right sticker they WILL tow you. Mercilessly. Within hours. Ask me how I know this?
Remember, only zone A was to be evacuated. The surge reached far into zone B in many places. It was a full 3 ft higher than forecast. That’s a lot of real estate. In these apartments there isn’t room for storing any significant preps either.
The best plan for those in zone A and B would have been to evac to western PA or upstate NY. However, that’s cost prohibitive to some. Not to mention if the storm’s a bust you’re still expected to be at work the next day. If you’re hourly and low on the totem pole and aren’t there at 7am you’ll likely be fired.
This has been an adventure wrt normalcy bias for a lot of people up there. There WILL be more preppers up there after this. I promise.
However, there is a limited ability to truly prep in that kind of urban density and reliance on public things like water. You are NOT allowed to have a well on your property. And if everyone’s cooking with ‘fire’, the chances of tragedy in that sort of density exponentiate. I suspect the breezy point fire happened when the power first went out. And someone lit a candle. That then got blown over when a window shattered. Mrs. O’Leary is still with us.
And I’m unsure what you’re suggesting people in high rise apartments build a fire with? or in? Fireplaces are VERY premium up there. Very. I can’t remember any apartments or condos up there that HAD fireplaces. IIRC some very very ritzy places on the upper east side had them. And, on the 10ft floor of a building in a 600sq foot apartment where would you store wood even IF you had a fireplace? Most of these apartments/condos don’t even have balconies. And gas grills are verboten due to fire regulations.
So, in the theoretical average 600-700sq ft apartment on say the 4th floor with no fireplace. Where, exactly, is he to build a fire to keep warm?
In much of the NYC area there IS no way to properly prep. Not entirely. You aren’t permitted your own water supply. If the one you use lacks pressure you’re SOL. If it’s ‘boil water’ time you’re SOL if there’s no way to do that. Some townships have water that’s unsafe even WITH boiling. Think about that for a minute. Then there’s the problem of flushing the potties. If they were planning ahead and filled up their tubs that’ll last a week of flushing approximately. Assuming their sewage systems work. In some townships that’s getting tricky even now. Soon they won’t even be able to flush the potties.
Many of them don’t have a car at all. Most on Manhattan do not. Cars are for the wealthy. It cost me $200/m just to PARK my car. ten years ago. In NJ. It’s probably triple that or more in Manhattan. It’s a matter of where to put them. Only the ‘wealthy’ apartment buildings (ie, high rent/cost ones) have parking for their tenants. And they still charge extra for that space.
now, could they have evaced? Probably. But where? That’s costly. How do you do that without a car? Well, you could take public transportation. What if you have a pet? How do you take your preps if you do have them? And where in PA/upstate NY do you PUT 2-3M people on a whim? That’s another logistical nightmare.
This will be Obamas Katrina. Writ large. It’s a slow motion disaster right now. And there’s NO WAY the fedgov can do what it needs to in the time things need to happen. It WILL get ugly before it’s over with...
This isn’t, necessarily, a condition of lack of prepness. It’s a function of urban density. Read some of Matt Bracken’s writings. Even IF you’re 100% prepped to the extent you CAN be in one of these areas, there will STILL be big gaping holes in your preparedness scenario due to forced reliance on either water supplies or inability to site something as simple as a gennie. Picture that 600sq ft apartment on the 4th floor. How do you site a gennie in that? Well, you can. If you like asphyxiation due to products of combustion of hydrocarbons...
The BEST way to prep for this in a dense urban area is to NOT BE THERE AT ALL. Even IF you have a bugout camp somewhere you still have to get there. What if you or a loved one is in the hospital when the disaster strikes? What if you’re divorced, your ex has custody of the kids and refuses to evac or prep? It’s not as simple as ‘those people didn’t do ‘X’, therefore they get what they deserve and they’re stupid’.
Although there ARE some stupid people involved. As everywhere.
He’s pretty hard-headed; comes by it honest. Until fairly recently, a liberal. - We’re practical, and he was raised practical. - In fact, we live rural, have firewood in enough for 3 or 4 years, food and supplies stored in a storm bunker, a well drilled, and other preparations made. - He also likes to be a bit of a daredevil; does stuff like goes on the hurricane planes into the eye of the storm and other stuff I’m sure he doesn’t tell me. - It runs in the family (sort of like diarrhea); his cousin does high bridge inspections regularly at dizzying heights; another cousin is a steel worker at great heights. - I suppose this is an expensive learning experience. - To his credit,he didn’t vote Obama - this time.