What to Do in a Nor'easter: Need Advice Fast

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, let’s just hypothetically say I’ve been quite clueless and just woke up to discover that apparently my town has all but shut down due to flooding/this “noreaster” business.

What should I do?

-I have a few bottles of water- so I put those in the fridge.
-I’m going to take a shower soon. Not sure why I’d want to fill it up or things like that. Only that I know it’s the cool thing to do.
-I have lights and power, so I should probably try to take advantage of that time and Study for my upcoming exams tomorrow :smack: because that was literally the first thought I had upon finding out school was closed today due to this Noreaster business.
-Thankfully my Car is parked in a city garage on the 3rd floor. So that’s nice.
-I’m also at least 40 feet up myself from the waters, though I am pretty much right NEXT to the waters again- the parking lot has flooded from what i can see up here.
-Who didn’t do the Groceries like a stupid college-age guy? Oh, that’s right. I’ve got macaroni, soups, and frozen microwave pizza. Oh and apparently like 8 cans of slim fast. Arrrr… scurvy shall be prevented at least!
-My Balcony is flooding. Which is weird. at some point I will have to get outside probably push out the water? OR should I just make a mini-levee out of towels?

-So here’s my opinion/question/mundane pointless thing since I Dunno where this really goes:

-What should I as a minimally prepared and clueless person- now that I’ve discovered I pretty much can’t leave my apartment due to inclement weather (Noreaster). I have no idea how long this is going to last- it looks like the rain’s holding off, but not sure.

Anything I should do to be “storm prepared”? or “Safe”?
Those sorts off things would be appreciated as well as general stories and well wishes I suppose.

-KThnxBye
Hmmm… apparently there’s been a State of Emergency Declared. And this is apparently tropical storm Ida. :smack: Jeez, talk about completely being clueless.

Damn you, Idaaaaa!

2

Well, your power is going to go away fairly soon, most likely.

Hm, yes you should do something to block water from coming in under the door to the balcony, nothing smells like damp carpet molding away gently.

Foodwise, you wont starve or anything, tropical storms tend to go away fast and the water drains away reasonably fast. It isnt like snow, that tends to hang around for weeks until it all gets plowed away.

You might consider getting something to have on hand that you can eat without much cooking, granola bars or something.

3

So, I have returned from my shower.

I concur with you- I have granola bars- chocolate chip ones to boot- so no Diabetic Ketoacidosis for me! Though, I’m not diabetic. But it’s still good to be safe, I suppose. Also, found a can opener (so I can actually- you know- *open *the soup) and a flashlight. So there’s that.
Charged my Phone Last night. Took a Shower because I realized that in times of panic and over thinking, I find that I do my best thinking in the Shower. So I’m calmer now, and assessing the situation. The rain is picking up. I will have to make a tiny levee.
Trying to think of other things to do. Gave up on the idea of filling the Tub. That’d require me having to probably clean the tub first, and I’m not sure WHY i should have been doing that one.

Have come up with a WORST case scenario plan: should the “shit get real” as it were, I’m not too far from the local hospital- I can try to make it the couple blocks in this weather and hope that I could survive the storm out from there. But the weather doesn’t look very inviting and the streets probably would be filled with water.

But it’s always good to have a Plan Z.

Speaking of Plan Z’s I’ve realized, I’d be next to useless in a Zombie invasion. No weapons, no real marketable skills, and my vehicle is parked in a parking garage at least 3 blocks away from me. I certainly would NOT be able to fend off invading hordes while dealing with the weather trying to get to that car- and here’s the kicker- the reason it’s parked there? Because the 'Service Engine Soon" light came on and I figured I’d leave it there while I figured out what to do with the truck AFTER my exams.
Needless to say, if this were a horror movie, that’d be the perfect place to have my engine crapping out on me. Where’s a chainsaw for a hand when you need one? I’m rambling…

Anyways, yeah. I think I’m okay for now, other than the fact that I’m pretty much clueless on said matters (gee, you think?).
So any general advice points would be nice- I have no TV, Radio, or such things. Pretty much only the internet and that cell phone to keep updated. But I’m good, I’m going to send my well wishes and thoughts to any Dopers out there stuck in more dire situations than mine in this lil’ Nor’easter business (Is that short for NorthEaster? What a silly name for a tropical weather pattern- not intimidating at all. Then again, this is the South, so what could be more terrifying than one of those liberal North Easterners, eh?)

So good luck to the other Dopers out there, hopefully it’s not too bad for you guys too,
And I’ll try to keep checking in!
Peace out,
-R

4

The big threat is flooding. If you’re in a low area, be ready to bug out on short notice. Otherwise, just ride it out, and be ready for a power failure that may/probably not come.

It’s not a hurricane, nor even a bad tropical storm, so don’t get your panties in a wad over it.

My place is on a sandbar that is also one of the highest points in the county, and is surrounded by swamp. We won’t flood unless there’s a mega-tsunami, too.

5

I have no advice - I’d be in a much worse state than you, we have no granola bars, no soup and no flashlight. I might buy some slimfast, as a just-in-case measure… I mostly just wanted to say good luck; I’d definitely block your balcony doors with towels, though, to keep inside nice and dry. Flooding in your apartment would make the whole experience much more unpleasant.

Oh - and good luck in your exams, whenever they take place (I’d think they’d be delayed in a tropical storm, no?) Think of all the extra time you can spend studying for them, with no electricity, no way of getting out of the house, literally nothing else to do. It’ll be easy! :wink:

6

Survivor of many hurricanes here…

Fill your tub. The reason to do so is to have water for flushing your toilet if the water gets turned off (the water often gets turned off during floods so as to minimize the danger of contamination from overflowing sewage systems).

IF the water gets turned off, you’ll have one flush left and will then have to scoop water out of the tub and into the toilet tank to be able to flush until the water comes back on.

7

So THAT’s what you do with the water. Fair enough!

It’s not too bad- just a constant outpouring of rain.
Someone should totally write/direct a zombie film though where the Zombies are occurring in the midst of a natural disaster. That’s a two-fer right there. Zombocalypse Now!

Anyways, thanks, i just made breakfast- finally got around to trying this trader joe Biriyani rice and Mutter Paneer business. It’s GOOD stuff (“but wait, that’s not breakfood,” you say. I say- this is MADNESS right now. We all have to do what we can to survive! And right now that means Curry. Mmm.).

I really do hope the power doesn’t go out there. I’ll get some studying in hopefully by the sun, but it’s kinda just dank and gray right now outside. Some people are on the roads, but not really- it’s just an occasional roving news van. Really kinda surreal as normally the city’s quite busy. S’all for now.

8

Sounds like we might be neighbors. I reaffirm my belief that Virginia is a hellhole. It’s been raining at least 36 hours straight. It’s not so much the rain, which would be fine if it fell like normal, but the strongass winds that almost knock you over while rain droplets punch you in the face. I went to work this morning, probably one of the only damn fools in the city who did. They sent us home early -because fuck it, basically. I have a lot of camping gear and survival/wilderness stuff, so I’m not too worried that-wise. Do you have candles? They’re useful if the power goes out, sure, but I have a bunch of them basically for the same reason you just took a shower --comfort and peace of mind. This is really one of those things you’re better off staying inside and curling up on the couch.

9

The other thing to do now is take a look at what’s in your fridge, maybe even write it down. When (or before) the power goes out, make a plan for exactly what you’re going to get from the fridge and when. The reason is that the fridge will stay cool for quite a while with the door closed. But every second it’s open, all the cold is escaping. So make a plan that lets you use all the food with the minimum possible amount of open door time.

Also, put the flashlight where you can find it in the dark.

Oh, and take pictures of the empty roads, so you can later use them as part of your photoshop ‘zombie/alien invasion’ series.

10

I learned to fill containers that hold a lot of non potable water so I could flush the toilet and wash myself.