APN Hurricane Sandy Update

  NBC reports now at 4:02 Pm Oct 29, 2012.  The storm has accelerated and is expected to hit land 2 hours from now as it slams into the New Jersey coast line.  Wind gust up to 90 mph,  Mike Seidel is in Point Pleasant, New Jersey says high tide will hit in about 4 hours and will rearrange the entire coast lines.  Waves are already over lapping the lines into the properties and already seeing shingles and gutters ripped off of buildings. By now we are all aware of what is happening on the East Coast.  Heartbreaking, as we all hold our breath and pray for our fellow preppers, friends and family that they are all safe and prepared.  All we can do at this time is try our best to keep people informed of what is happening, people/emergency personnel  they can call and what to do to prepare. As of Monday afternoon more than 116,000 people are now without power in 7 states.  Hundreds of thousands of people have headed the warnings and abandoned their homes. In Ocean City, New Jersey, officials say, early this morning the ocean hit the bay.  Described by Fox news a, "A Hurricane on steroids."  The latest news puts Hurricane Sandy on the land of South Jersey between 4 and 6 pm Monday evening. The National Hurricane Center issued a STRONG warning stating, "Hurricane Sandy is expected to bring life-threatening storm surges and coastal hurricane winds plus heavy Appalachian snow." Governor Christie said during a briefing early Monday morning that the conditions will worsen as Sandy makes landfall and anyone who stayed along the coast is now in harm's way. He also stated, "One man said, he's never run away from one of these storms. Well, he might just end up under it. Now is not the time to be stupid" In regards to power outages he says, " If you do not have power please do not make today the day you decide to tap into your creative juices and Jerry rig a power source. If it looks stupid then it is stupid." Flooding has promoted closure of 63 miles of the Garden State Parkway in both directions from Exit 38 at Atlantic City Express to the toll road's southern end in Cape May County. Mandatory evacuations have been issued and many fleeing residents have taken shelter inland. Two emergency shelters in Atlantic City are currently occupied. Tom Foley, Director of Emergency Management in Atlantic City anticipates more evacuees will make their way to shore. At least 60 people took shelter at Tom's River Shelter along with their pets. "The cops came around and said if we didn't leave we would be arrested," said one woman as she cradled one of her four kittens. "I couldn't leave without them." The National Grid, which provides power to millions of customers says Sandy could affect more than 60 million people. New York Power has stated they have made the decision to shut off the power during the storm. The predicted impact stretches beyond the east coast.  According to the national weather service wave heights at Lake Michigan could reach 28 feet by Monday night and 31 feet by Tuesday.

cnn.com "Two to three feet of snow were expected to accumulate in the mountains of West Virginia and one to two feet in the mountains of southwestern Virginia to the border with Kentucky. One to one-and-a-half feet of snow were expected in the mountains near the North Carolina-Tennessee border. But even with Sandy hundreds of miles offshore, officials were warning of its life-threatening storm surge flooding portions of the Mid-Atlantic, including low-lying areas of New York and New Jersey."

A few last-minute tips:

• Fill your bathtub up with water for flushing toilets or drinking.
• Don't use your flashlights unless you HAVE to. Save your batteries.
• Collect all medications and place them in zip-lock bags in your to go bag along with all important documents. (Insurance papers, photos of home, pass ports etc)
• If you don't already have your bug out bag ready or made, grab a bag and put extra clothes, a few rolls of toilet paper, food that doesn't require refrigeration. Grab some blankets and a tent if you have one.  Just gather these items and have them in your vehicle and ready to go if you need to evacuate.
• If the power hasn't already gone out then go hit the ATM and get your money if you can.

CNN Hurricane Checklist Tips from Hurricane Katrina Survivors A continuously updated Live look at the storm's path Transportation shut down in many areas during Sandy Follow this link: FIVE THINGS TO KNOW DURING HURRICANE SANDY  CNN has links to when and where the storm is going to hit Our Prayers are with you, Jalapeño Gal If you can’t find your local EM site, the following state offices along the east coast all had safety information about Hurricane Sandy as of Sunday 9am PDT 28-Oct-2012. Delaware Emergency Management Agency (302) 659-3362 or Tollfree 1-877-SAY-DEMA Hurricane Sandy Hotline – (800) 464-4357 www.dema.delaware.gov District of Columbia Homeland Security & Emergency Management Agency (DC HSEMA) (202) 727-6161 http://hsema.dc.gov/ FB http://www.facebook.com/HSEMADC Connecticut Department of Emergency Management & Homeland Security (860) 256-0800 or Tollfree 1-800-397-8876 http://www.ct.gov/demhs FB https://www.facebook.com/CTEMHS Hurricane Sandy News & Information http://www.ct.gov/sandy Maine Emergency Management Agency (207) 624-4400 www.state.me.us/mema and www.maineprepares.com Maryland Emergency Management Agency (410) 517-3600 or Tollfree 1-877-MEMA-USA www.mema.state.md.us FB http://facebook.com/mdmema Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (508) 820-2000 http://www.mass.gov/mema FB https://www.facebook.com/MassachusettsEMA New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management (603) 271-2231 www.nh.gov/safety/divisions/hsem/ ReadyNH www.nh.gov/readynh/ New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (609) 963-6900 http://www.ready.nj.gov/ FB https://www.facebook.com/READYNEWJERSEY New York State Emergency Management Office (518) 292-2200 www.dhses.ny.gov New York City OEM http://www.nyc.gov/oem FB https://www.facebook.com/NYCemergencymanagement North Carolina Emergency Management (919) 733-3825 www.ncem.org Ready NC http://www.readync.org/ FB https://www.facebook.com/NCEmergencyManagement Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (717) 651-2001 www.pema.state.pa.us and http://www.readypa.org/ FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/ReadyPAorg/120150131052 Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (401) 946-9996 www.riema.ri.gov Vermont Emergency Management (802) 244-8721 http://vem.vermont.gov/ FB https://www.facebook.com/vermontemergencymanagement Virginia Dept of Emergency Management (804) 897-6500 http://www.readyvirginia.gov/ FB https://www.facebook.com/VAemergency Additional Resources: National Hurricane Center www.hurricanes.gov Ready.gov Hurricanes pg www.ready.gov/hurricanes Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Hurricane pg http://disastersafety.org/hurricane/ FEMA’s mobi page or free app American Red Cross www.redcross.org