Preparing For Irene

I'm ferociously trying to to everything I normally do that requires electricity before Hurricane Irene hits New Jersey on Sunday. I'm astonished at the precautions being taken. All of Cape May County on the state's southern tip between the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay is being evacuated, and the entire New York City rapid transit system shuts down Saturday until further notice. I'm impressed that people are preparing for Irene and doing everything possible in advance to minimize the damage. But all of the storage of supplies, all of the battening down of various hatches, and all of the tree limb cutting probably won't keep the experience of Irene from being a possibly catastrophic experience that we will remember - and clean up from - for a long time.

Some good news: Irene may be weaker than expected when it hits the New York area, and it may make landfall on Long Island farther east from the city then previously expected. In West Caldwell, New Jersey, where I live, about four inches of rain are expected with winds at 55 miles an hour. Thank goodness my mother and I live on higher ground.