Usually a MetaTalk post is made after a big disaster, like the earthquake or wildfires. But the media has whipped up such a frenzy (like they always do) that people are scared, and posting even before a single rain drop has hit. It's an evil conspiracy, I tell you.

Just in case, #bunnies is open and functioning as a MetaChat response hub during Irene. Between it and twitter, we should be able to stay as up to date as possible.

NYC bunnies, watch for MTA closings.

If you need any help getting into IRC, please contact me.

Considering that I've never been in the real path of a hurricane before, I am pretty scared. I also have missed the major snowstorms for the last two winters by >this much< so I didn't get to experience how freaked out people can get during a natural disaster.

I hear the 'hysteria' concern and there is certainly a lot of eyeball-greedy-media that drives that. But on the other hand, I also like to think that this is our culture in general getting a lot more together about preparing for shit to hit the fan. Since 9/11 a lot of us have wised up in ways we never gave a moment's thought before. Experiences like last winter's East Coast blizzard are also pretty strong messages that you really, really should have a good supply of food, water, medicine, and flashlights and the like. We couldn't get out for three days and when we finally did, nothing was for sale anyway. It makes a difference as to whether you've thought ahead about this or not - and often, it's people who haven't who end up straining what emergency systems are still up and running, and getting rescue personnel in danger because they need to be moved or pulled out of a bad space.

So some of it's hysteria, some of it's just the excitement of anything out of the ordinary that we all experience together, but if by talking about we can encourage a little more preparedness thinking, then it's an overall good, I do believe.

I've been through a few hurricanes in Texas and here.* They're funny because if they just brush you, you're all "COME ON what's the big freaking deal," but if they hit near you, they kill people and ruin things. I don't take them lightly even though the nature of them as storms is that if they hit land, they punish a small area severely while not doing much to the surrounding areas. That doesn't mean people in the surrounding areas should say "HA HURRICANES ARE WEAK" but that they were just not the unlucky ones at that time.

*In fact, though I wasn't there at the time thankfully, a place I had spent much of my childhood summers with my family was completely wiped out in Hurricane Ike. There was a little beach resort village where my grandfather had a maintenance contract and we would go stay there for weeks every summer having the time of our lives in a neat beach house on stilts. That beach house is gone. The street it was on is gone. The actual entire village is gone, and everything in the town is gone except for a cinderblock-built convenience store. An entire community and its history, disappeared. It makes me sad to know I can definitely not go home again to that place. I wouldn't even recognize it if I were standing right on top of that old house. The people who stupidly stayed there during the hurricane had a terrible experience - floodwaters over 10 feet deep, totally stranded on a barrier island. A large number of people died.

NYC bunnies, watch for MTA closings.

It's official- NYC transit shuts down beginning on Saturday at noon.

The people dying stuff is pretty much contained to those in the coastal storm surge areas who don't evacuate, right?

I think the size of Irene is what's freaking me out. Even if a lot of people don't get a direct hit they're still going to get hit. What I didn't figure out until Yasi is that the science still isn't there to figure out where a hurricane/cyclone is going to land until it lands. Right now I'm paying attention to Jeff Masters who's being a small comfort, of sorts.

Amro, sure, as a broad general rule that's how people drown. But other ways you can die include: auto accidents where flooding or standing water is a factor; live electrical wires down and/or underwater; having a medical emergency and not being able to get help in time; running out of necessary meds; exposure; injury from falling, flying, or breaking limbs and building parts; and infection following injury.

Ugh. So scary.

I don't mean to scare you - sorry! Just everybody be safe.

I wanna go home now so I can stock up and hunker down and actually buy my fucking furniture...

Everyone here is using the hurricane as an excuse to leave early. I think I'm the only person left on the floor.

I'm not really seeing anything about Long Island. I have a brother and sis-in-law who live on the island, a couple blocks off the ocean. I hope they're prepared.

Projections looking a little better after my nap. If I wasn't a homeowner supposed to start a new job Monday, I'd feel ok about here.

I agree with Miko about the media frenzy - it's doing some good getting more people to pay attention.

Thing of it is, it isn't fun to be out of power and transportation for a long time. Get what you need in your home, don't think you'll be able to just run out and get whatever.

(congrats on the new job, rainbaby!)

deb, coastal Long Island is under a mandatory evacuation. Not to scare you, but the eye of the storm is now projected to hit Nassau County on Long Island sometime Saturday night. They're going to get the worst of it. There could be up to a fourteen foot storm surge. You may want to check in with your brother and his wife about their plans. Even a couple miles inland makes a huge difference. Maybe they have friends or relatives they could stay with? There are also now about twenty shelters planned for Long Island, some open tonight and some tomorrow, and some that allow pets, if that's an issue. If they are under a mandatory evacuation, they should definitely leave. That close to the shore, the ocean could be in your lap. Seriously.

Stay safe, everybody. It's the real deal, & don't let anyone tell you that a Cat 1 or 2 storm is child's play. It's not. If they tell you to evacuate, do it.

Best thing you can do is tank up your car, make sure you have several days of any presciption meds, & get some cash. When power is out over a widespread area, it means no card swipey action & cash is the only way to go.

& Don't forget that other living things get flushed from their homes during hurricanes, too (bees, snakes, rats). Not that they are aggressive - just disoriented like we are.

We got the first rain band around 5:30pm. Waiting on the mega dump in a bit. FOrtunately we're well inland, but I fear our outer banks are in for a damn good wallop. NC's coast is scalloped for good reason.

Scary global view showing the size of Irene....

I'm in the no evacuation zone....as long as the electricity holds out, I'll be straightening up.

Miko, it amazes me at how angry people get when they are able to get back in food stores, and we're still out of things. They just don't seem to realize that deliveries take place from trucks, and if people can't get out, how do they assume trucks can? (insert shaking head and facepalm here)

Chewatadistance, thanks for the cash reminder. I am just so used to swiping my card for everything, that it never occurred to me to get money.

Some people I know are downplaying the storm, claiming it's all hype. I'd much rather have too much food, water, and batteries than get caught short.

They just don't seem to realize that deliveries take place from trucks, and if people can't get out, how do they assume trucks can?

Yeah, I bet you're right. We take our seamlessly-operating world so much for granted, without giving a moment's thought to how all these goods get in our stores, who has to do what work to get them there, how long it takes to do that work, etc. We expect it all to be so easy, and we're actually petulantly angry when the system breaks down. It's almost like spoiled children.

Got an email from my brother. He boarded up their windows this evening and they're evacuating first thing tomorrow morning. They have friends in northern NJ that they're going to stay with.

Their house is at about 5 feet above sea level and they're expecting storm surge at about 10-12 feet. Yikes. I'm sooooo glad they're getting out of there.

deb, so glad to hear your brother and his family are safe.

Excellent, deb... sounds like your brother and his wife had things under control. Glad they're safe.

I brought in my patio furniture on Thursday before I went out of town and also had a long chat with my co-workers and boss about the little bit of preparation that we could do for our office.

So far it doesn't seem like things are that bad where I am right now, but Capital Weather Gang says that it's going to get worse later. My Wicca class was canceled tonight and I'm hoping I can finish laundry and run the dishwasher before we lose power.

Luckily, I don't live in a particularly low-lying area, but I'm worried about my friend in New York (although she always jokes that her area is impervious to natural disasters because there's a sign on the highway about it being a 'FEMA designated disaster relief area').

For me, my nervousness comes from the fact that natural disasters aren't something I can predict. I've done a small bit of preparation here, but I know that I'm nowhere near the level of preparedness that would make me comfortable. If there even is such a thing.

Bro checked in on FB and said they made it to NJ without any problems, yay!