<p>If anyone is foolish enough to think that Irene is not extremely dangerous, they should take a look at this NASA photo- Irene the same size as Katrina
[All</a> sizes | Full Disk Image of Earth Captured August 26, 2011 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/gsfc/6083128930/sizes/o/in/photostream/]All”>All sizes | Full Disk Image of Earth Captured August 26, 2011 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)</p>
<p>gives you chills just to look at it…</p>
<p>Here’s a link that helps you estimate the wind speed of Hurricane Irene as it comes through the East Coast. Just type in your city and state (i.e. Boston, MA) and you can see a range of time that the wind speeds ramp up and then down again. [How</a> hard Hurricane Irene will hit your area - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/nation/specials/110826_irene_winds/?p1=News_links]How”>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/specials/110826_irene_winds/?p1=News_links)</p>
<p>People need to calm down. The news has some people so worked up over this storm that they can’t even think straight. They’re in panic mode.</p>
<p>Calm down. Have flashlights, nonperishable foods on hand, water, enough prescription meds for a few days to a week, and fully charged cell phones. Make sure you have food and water for your pets too. If you live in low lying areas and they’re recommending you leave, pack up and leave before things get bad. Once prepared, settle down and just use common sense when the storm hits.</p>
<p><a href=“Evacuation of Low-Lying Areas Begins Ahead of Hurricane Irene - The New York Times”>Evacuation of Low-Lying Areas Begins Ahead of Hurricane Irene - The New York Times;
<p>Says here they are going to evacuate all lowlifes from NYC. That could take weeks.</p>
<p>Spoke with D1 earlier today. Roommates parents have dropped off supplies of water and extra flashlights and batteries. She has brought in everything from her deck. The office move actually happened yesterday and she said the IT people are there all weekend trying to get stuff set up so they can come into the new office on Monday morning - well, that was the plan. No telling what will happen if they lose power. But the IT people plan on being there 24/7 (sleeping at the office) with hopes of getting everything set up before they lose power (does that make any sense???). </p>
<p>I would guess the only concern at this point for her and the condo is if the rain predictions are accurate. All of their mechanicals are in the basement, so if it were to flood, that might be a huge inconvenience. One of her friends up in Cambridge is having a hurricane party tonight (like mid 20’s need a reason to party!). </p>
<p>Even if this only comes in as a tropical storm, that’s a lot of wind sustained over a long period of time… not just gusts. It’s the sustained wind that you have to worry about. I know what gusts like that do in our area when it’s just associated with a summer thunderstorm that rolls through and is over in a half hour!</p>
<p>Schmaltz, where are you?</p>
<p>I’m in suburban Detroit, where all the men are strong, all the women are pretty, and all the strip malls are half-vacant.</p>
<p>NYsmile–dn’t know where your are, but I haven’t seen any panicking. A lot of precautions, not all of which may turn out to be necessary, but better to prepare and not have needed to then the reverse, but no panic. Pretty proud of my state, to tell you the truth.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, I know someone from suburban Detroit, and she is pretty.</p>
<p>I was afraid you were one of those lowlifes.</p>
<p>He’s in suburban Detroit, where all the women are strong, all the strip malls are pretty, and all the men are half-vacant. :)</p>
<p>I suspected :)</p>
<p>He didn’t get the food subsidies.</p>
<p>Jym and Schmaltz…hahahahahaah… well needed chuckle…thanks</p>
<p>When D1 picked up her key at 7am this morning at Rutgers they suggested it would be a good idea to unpack, go home and come back Monday. Didn’t see anyone taking them up on that offer! Left her with 2 flashlights and over a gallon of water between the Brita pitcher and water bottles. </p>
<p>The rain bands started before 9am and have been off-on since. Luckily still no wind. We have a red oak that we expect to go over and take out the power lines to the house & block the driveway. I put one car in a neighbor’s driveway as a precaution.</p>
<p>Garland: Eastern Long Island—way out on Eastern L.I.–in the Hamptons. </p>
<p>The gas stations are out of gas. The grocery store is out of gallons of water. Good luck finding D batteries.</p>
<p>I threw two NiMH D-cells in the charger a few hours ago. We have one incandescent flashlight that takes D-cells though we usually only charge it once a year. I’m amazed that most people haven’t gone over to LED flashlights which are far more efficient than incandescent flashlights - the LED flashlights usually take AAA or AA batteries.</p>
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<p>literally laughing out loud…</p>
<p>^^Reminds me why I left in 1980^^ ;)</p>
<p>Best facebook status of the day:
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<p>^^ lololololo!!!</p>
<p>Roflmao!!!</p>