<p>Sitting at home waiting for a snow plow or public service to clear your roads and sidewalks is NOT what it’s like in rural areas, or areas that don’t usually get that much snow. Rural roads sometimes aren’t cleared for days or weeks. Drifts are as high as your barn. You may NOT get out for days on end. And there may be no power for the entire time. It’s VERY common in outlying areas, especially if there is ice. Many many many people do not live the luxury of having things cleared in a day. </p>
<p>And, even in metro areas…I myself WAS stuck for well over a week in the “Blizzard of '78”. Of course we had no prediction either, no CLUE it was coming. And it was an inordinate amount of snow for our area, we weren’t prepared. Hardly anyone had 4 wheel drive trucks. The emergency services were calling on any individuals with snow mobiles to help deliver medicine to people who couldn’t leave their homes. I was young, and had no money, so I had almost no food in my house. Young kids don’t have the “basics” of flour, sugar, etc. I had almost nothing edible. After 4 days someone was able to get to me with one grocery bag (gotta love friends!). My car didn’t move for over 7 days. It was completely covered to the top (though it was a low car, a camaro). They just plowed it in. I lived in an apartment and didn’t even own a shovel, and no way to go get one. (When you’re in your first home, and 18 years old, and it’s an apartment…who thinks you need a shovel? OR…it’s a lot of snow and you want a 2nd shovel for your kid to help you.) By the time friends came to help me get it out it was solid hard packed. Took two guys plus me half a day to get it out! I had a 7-11 store within walking distance of my house - but you couldn’t even walk it in - it was more than waist high. AND…the store wasn’t open. NOTHING was open. Literally for days.</p>
<p>Just like people who survived the depression are very thrifty today… I’m thinking - if you lived through one of these - you might actually be thinking about grabbing some bread and milk so your 2 year old is happy at home. These days, with the great job done in clearing streets…it’s BETTER. </p>
<p>So…just because what YOU have experienced, may not be what everyone has experienced. Other people probably just want to grab something yummy and premade and veg out in front of the couch and not have to get up and shop Saturday. What’s wrong with that? If you have kids at home, and don’t live in a major metro area…you might think it’s a good idea to make sure you have milk. Taking care of YOURSELF is easy, but if you have someone who needs medicine, oxygen, power, etc…it’s a different story. I’m just not sure you can intelligently talk about it unless you’ve been in the midst. Someone mentioned reporters…there was a (locally) famous interview with a reporter who was actually in the parking lot of a hotel. She got picked up by a truck, and driven to the door (same blizzard of ‘78…I’m talking in circles here). She was in shock, she said she thought she was going to die, didn’t think she’d make it into the building. So…again…just sayin’ you might not have been through this but - it can be challenging. Having food at home is the easiest thing you can take care of.</p>
<p>They were camped out about a mile from our house earlier this winter for 2 days. I felt sorry for them - they just sat there all day long except for the cutaways from the Weather Channel. And then they have to stand outside and report in the nastiest weather!</p>
<p>For our first major storm this year, I refused to run to the store and act all crazy stocking up on food, as we had enough to get by for a day (the predicted length of the storm). We ended up trapped at home for 3 days and with 2 teens and I was regretting not having lots of food to keep them entertained! A hungry teen is a crabby teen! :eek:</p>
<p>I know why we stock up: when a good storm comes barreling into town, it’s cozy to have tons of food. Good excuse to over-buy…</p>
<p>I live in CT and heard the storm is going to miss us. Ah well, I’m going grocery shopping now anyway, as “support” to my family and friends who are getting stuck in PA. Why should they be the only ones who stock up?</p>
<p>R124687 - were you in Mass. during the Blizzard of '78? I was in NH and remember it well. It was the biggest storm (inches) I had ever been through until '96. It was worse than '96 since it was much colder and much wind Your recollections brought back many memories. I remember snowplows driving women in labor to the hospital. Folks on snowmobiles rescuing people who were stranded. That storm also came when there were many inches of snow already on the ground.</p>
<p>“Partly cloudy, high 50’s, daffodils showing flower heads, narcissus near flower head break, Plum trees are well into bud swell. Slugs are very active. PNW”</p>
<p>Tee hee! But hard to find enough dry days to spray fruit tree’s, and my weekends are spent at soccer games, under something “ups”, in the pouring rain.</p>
If you have a teenage boy earning money by shoveling out the neighbors, he will probably leave the shovel at their house. Or in the driveway to be run over. Or in the street. Or he will let his best friend borrow the shovel to make money - it never comes back.</p>
<p>FWIW, we did the French Toast run last night after arriving home from a cross-country flight. Any kind of salad green or green vegetable was gone. The chip aisle was also empty. I’m not sure what people are eating, but it could be very interesting.</p>
<p>Many of the gates at the airport were empty - no planes. They had moved most of the planes (except last night’s departures) out of the area in anticipation of the storm.</p>
<p>We’re in SoCal (no, this isn’t a gloat post.) All this snow activity in the east reminded me to check on the EARTHQUAKE food supply of canned goods, and I discovered it’s time to replace them. Here, it’s recommended you stock up on necessities to be prepared for 48 hours or more on non-movement. This includes potable water, pet supplies, medicines, plenty of batteries, bills in small denominations, etc. Any and all utilites can go down or be put to the test in an earthquake. </p>
<p>We are also advised to carry a small supply of items in our cars, in case we get stranded, included an old pair of sturdy shoes in case hoofing it is required.</p>
<p>Yes I was living in Boston and I’ve never seen snow like that…even 1996 didn’t seem as catastrophic. I remember Gov. Mike Dukakais in his blue sweater urging people not to go out of the house. </p>
<p>We were supposed to head to DC this weekend to visit S. Its less than a 3 hours drive for us We figured we could probably make the drive before the worst of the snow hit. However, we realized that we’d be snowbound in our hotel in a city that will most likely be shut down. There’s only so much of H I could take under those conditions, so we decided to stay home.</p>
<p>Here in rural Virginia, about 2 hours outside of Washington, it’s calling for 28" of snow, with 25mph wind gusts and some ice. I went to Wal-Mart last night (not smart) and found NOTHING. No sugar, no bread, no milk, no bananas, no apples, no lettuce… nothing. Lines were stretching around the store. There must have been hundreds of people there. It was insane.</p>
<p>We’ve got S in Baltimore and D in DC–while we sit up here in New England finding it pretty amusing that the last storm that hit the Mid-Atlantic left us with just an inch of snow, and this one is supposed to leave no more than a couple of inches. S reports that his fellow Baltimoreans are totally freaking out over the weather report. D and her fellow castmates are crestfallen that the play they were scheduled to be in over the weekend had to be cancelled when the college shut everything down–and the facility is booked for the rest of the year.</p>
<p>I can really relate to what R124687 is saying. I am out of college, working my first job, living in a tiny studio apartment. I have very little ‘extra’ food and staples (I wouldn’t have a place to store it if I wanted to).</p>
<p>I’ve got to say, this storm is making me anxious as …</p>
<p>My son is doing interviews for grad school today in NJ, and suppose to fly out tonight to be in Berkeley for interviews. Are flights leaving? Will UCB make other arrangements? How will S deal with his first snow storm?</p>
<p>I do have vivid memories of the '78 storm. I skiied to the hospital where I was an intern, and spent rest of storm working and living in the hospital. Even tho it was hard work, it was better than staying in my tiny apt alone, and I did feel useful.</p>
<p>^^ if son is leaving out of Newark he should be ok, because the storm isn’t supposed to be as intense North of Trenton. (of course the track can change)
Flights are canceled in and out of Philly.</p>
<p>I lived in Cambridge, MA at the time. The weirdest thing was walking down the middle of the street and having no traffic. The car was totally buried but I had stocked up with food because of the forecast. As soon as the storm was over it was quite warm and sunny so I walked (again down the middle of the road) to the Star Market and bought some more food just “because.” We weren’t allowed to drive for 2 weeks. I don’t think Harvard shut down for even one day. The paper had a contest about the date the snow would finally melt in Harvard Square and it was some time in April.</p>
<p>Suburban DC here. The grocery store in my office building was NUTS yesterday; went to the local Giant this am and it was hectic, but I was able to grab a couple of items and be out in 15 minutes. They still had fresh bread. We are hearing 24-30" here. This area is not equipped for that level of snow removal, and it doesn’t happen often enough to spend $$$ on being prepared. Better that folks hunker down, stay warm and have fun. ;)</p>
<p>We worry more about power outages; a few years ago we had four days in January with no electricity/heat; when Hurricane Isabel came through that fall, we were without power even longer. Camping gear and propane grill came in REALLY handy for those times!</p>
<p>When my sons were all teens and living at home a normal trip to the grocery store included 3 gallons of milk, 6 dozen eggs and 8 loaves of bread. If a storm was approaching I’d feel the need to explain that this wasn’t panic buying. Everyone in line at the checkout had to hear stories of how much teenage boys eat!</p>
<p>Oh my gosh, collegekidsmom, I hadn’t thought about it for a long time, but when my kids were younger I used to be 6 gallons of milk a week. Every week someone would comment on how much milk I bought! It was just normal for us, but now that I think about it, that is a ton of milk!</p>
<p>Also, where I grew up we had a blizzard in the early 70’s and our city didn’t have much in the way of snowplows. I remember pulling our sled to the grocery store down the middle of the street to get groceries. It was such an adventure!</p>