Three years ago, almost to the month, I was in almost the exact spot many of you on the East Coast are in. Hurricane Ike was, in essence, the first direct hit hurricane that I can remember being through. I'd been through various tropical storms, been grazed by some, and I've had my share of strong thunderstorms, this being Gulf Coast Texas where I live. Don't forget, my city was hit by Tropical Storm Allison, but the main problem there was that it just rained and didn't stop.
Ike didn't drop so much rain, but it sure caused a hell of a lot more havoc. I was used to storms sometimes knocking out power for a few hours, or days at most. Power remained off during Ike for literal weeks. Gigantic trees were uprooted, and just about everywhere there was debris. Here's the thing: where I live, I don't think we got much more than category one, maybe category two winds at that, so while you're right to be scared at a Category three or above, do not assume that a Category one or two will be a walk in the park.
If you're in a low lying area, or an island, and they tell you to evacuate, don't hesitate. Ike kicked the shit out of the Bolivar Peninsula, bulldozed things, and knocked the crap out of Galveston, bringing back shades of the 1900 storm. This is nature at its least considerate to the value of human life, especially where storm surges are concerned. Treat a storm surge as a tsunami that does not end for hours, because in essence that is what it is.
If you're lucky, that Hurricane won't linger over you. I can remember it taking something like twelve hours for that Hurricane to pass over, and during much of that time, the power was out, the skies were dark, and what you could see of what was going on outside were trees just getting blown around like they were headbangers at a rock concert. I can recall there being piles of downed branches stacked high on the side of the streets, which one would have to steer around.
The winds were terrible, everything just howling. There was no sleeping with that racket, no peace of mind at all. There is something fundamentally demonic, fundamentally furious about a Hurricane's wrath. If you didn't fear them before, you're going to fear them afterwards. And good, if you do, because Hurricanes are one force of nature it pays to respect.
As far as the religious aspect of this goes, riding out a stom like this is going to make you feel damn helpless, especially if power goes out, especially if you're riding this out in the nighttime hours. If you pray to a God or whatever, you will pray. If you don't? Make peace with yourself and your family in whatever way you can.
If you're directly hit by a hurricane, don't expect help to show up too soon. Expect power to remain off for quite some time. Expect grocery stores to a) Look like picked snowbirds, b) not to stock anything frozen or refrigerated for a while, including fresh milk, dairy, certain kinds of fruits and vegetables, after transportation has been restored, and to be pretty dark places if your power is out.
Having a grill will be helpful in these times. I remember that being our sole source of a hot meal. Ice will be important, so will water, and don't be surprised if it's difficult to get them, because everybody will want them.
Aside from that, that's it concerning what I remember.
Politically speaking, I hope this is a nice, humbling experience for many of the folks who think climate change is something to play political games with. Though the connection between today's storms and global warming may not be scientifically discernable, one thing will be true: we'll see worse storms when there is more heat to fuel the storms. I would hope that we would see less destructive ways of waking people up, but sometimes it takes something like a Katrina or an Ike to pierce our notions of invulnerability to the effects of climate.
Well, good luck to you folks in the path of this.