the calm before the storm (lyn)

On September 16, 1999, a Monday, New York City schools were closed in anticipation of Hurricane Floyd.  Alexander was in first grade.

Floyd came with a lot of rain, and not much more.  Alexander and I were disappointed.

Today, the news is much like it was in 1999.  Sandy is on her way, and threatens to be one of the most devastating storms ever.

in the past few hours:

Governor Cuomo has declared New York a state of emergency.

Mayor Bloomberg has issued mandatory evacuations for low-lying areas of New York City.

Subways will be suspended at 7pm tonight.

Buses will stop running at 9pm.

All public schools will be closed tomorrow.

All major networks are covering the impending storm and nothing else.  

Because I live in Manhattan, in a high rise, I am not scared.  I am assuming we will not lose power, and that no one will be threatened.  I get an email from Con Edison telling me what to do in case of an outage, and I get a similar message from Time Warner Cable (OMG, let's hope that doesn't happen, I'm still recovering from my last problem with them).

But the news is alarming, and for people who don’t live where I do, there is reason to be.

My mom left New York early to make it back to the Cape before the storm hits.  I go to Agata to get a few things, and the store is mobbed.  Huge lines for everything.  

While Floyd brought  the same kind of media coverage for a storm that never came, I suspect the same won’t be true of Sandy.