Were we the only ones more than a little scared by yesterday's apocalyptic headlines predicting that, in the event of a major hurricane in the Northeast, the northern coast of Staten Island could be completely devastated and "without power for weeks?" So now we know how NY1 feels about it, but the The Advance couldn't decide whether to be optimistic or pessimistic. Instead, the paper released the same information twice under different headlines:
5/15/06: [ Glass Half-Empty Version -- Ed ]
City strategy for a killer storm relies on lessons of Katrina
"If a huge hurricane were to target New York City, about 2.3 million residents -- more than 100,000 of them on Staten Island -- could be ordered to evacuate their homes ... Staten Islanders living in flood zones would have up to four days to make plans to leave their homes and find somewhere to ride out a major hurricane or make their way to a shelter, according to city officials who have been refining emergency plans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina ... Most of Staten Island's coastline would be under water and thousands of waterfront residents from St. George to Tottenville would be forced to flee their homes for one of five evacuation centers throughout the Island."
5/16/06: [ Glass Half-Full Version -- Ed ]
Island should be spared brunt of any big storm, meteorologist predicts
"Though forecasters predict an active hurricane season, Staten Island should be spared the brunt of any major storm that might batter the Northeast. This region is most likely to suffer a direct hit from a hurricane between mid-August and early October, but the Island would likely be on the less-powerful western side of any storm that comes up the coast, said Henry Margusiti, a meteorologist with AccuWeather ... More than 2.3 million city residents -- including about 100,000 on Staten Island -- live in evacuation zones identified by the city Office of Emergency Management, requiring them to leave their homes should a major hurricane strike this area."
At any rate, you have until June 1st, the official start of "hurricane season" to get yourselves ready, and we at the Prodigal Borough strongly recommend assembling an emergency supply kit. We haven't done this yet, but it's on our to-do list as of yesterday. Here's some very useful information copied from a New York Times blurb from 9/10/05; we clipped the original and promptly lost it:
Emergency Kit Shopping List
Experts recommend keeping a three-day supply of food and water in a container like a duffle bag or waterproof box that is easy to grab during an evacuation. Here is a shopping list for one person; multiply the food and water by the number of people in your family. (Don't forget dry food for the pets.)
Water: 3 1-gallon jugs ($4)
Nutrition bars: 12 (36)
Vegetable juice: 3 46-oz cans or bottles (9)
High-protein diet shakes: Dozen 4-oz cans (25)
Dried fruit: 3 7-oz bags (8)
Unscented bleach: 1 96-oz bottle (2)
Batteries: 3 packs of 4 (42)
First-aid kit: 1 (40)
Duct tape: 60 yards (5)
Compact multitool: 1 (20)
L.E.D. flashlight: 1 (20)
Crank/solar-powered AM-FM radio: 1 (25)
Total: $212
And of course, if you have as many animals as we do (14 and counting), you'll definitely need a Pet Emergency Kit as well.
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