Is that the hurricane that ripped the Oregon coast line back then?

blfenton's loving words are so helpful to hear. I am sending prays for your safety and well-being from the Midwest.

Yes, it slammed into Oregon, and southern Washington. Northern Washington and those of us in B.C. got the outer edges of it.

Thank you! I am very concerned as some models are calling for NYC to get a direct hit of a Cat 3 and I'm 75 miles due West. Moving this weekend, actually...to nine acres in the woods!!! Sunday will be our first "official" day in our new home! :o And I just keep thinking what if all those trees fall down on my house? : o

We're just north of NYC, and my parents and sister's and family are in NC--a little nervous about Irene! Thanks for the well-wishes.

My son just flew in from China to DC tonight. When he checked in to tell us he'd landed and found his residence (one of those not-hotel deals), we warned him that he might want to be sure he has something to eat in the apartment. "Oh," he said, "if it's going to storm, maybe I'll just go up to NY for the weekend." LOL. He's lived in DC before, but I guess he hasn't been there for a whopper hurricane coming through and heading right up the coast for NY and Boston. They were supposed to have a typhoon in Shanghai a couple of weeks ago, but it fizzled out before it got there. I think he's thinking Irene will be like that. Live and learn, kiddo.

For the rest of you with more good sense, batten down the hatches and make sure you have a good supply of reading material.

Thanks. We are closely watching the hurricane trackers.

We live about 80 miles (as the crow flies -- or the hurricane spins) north of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, directly in the path for Hurricane Irene. She is expected to arrive on our doorstep at about 2 a.m. Sunday.

I think this calls for sleeping downstairs in the family room again. Just the idea of sleeping on the second floor (where all the bedrooms are located) with huge trees all around the house freaks me out during a hurricane!

We are used to this -- have plenty of flashlights & batteries (including small headlamps -- so handy!), battery-operated radios, oil lamp, water & water purifiers, tarps, charcoal, & food. Plus a lot more we just always have on hand for storms that I don't even think about. We don't have a generator like many around us do, but we just manage without one (would love one if only to keep fridge & freezer working, but, oh well).

I'm so glad that we installed a gas range (actually dual-fuel) as part of the kitchen renovation. In case of power outage, we just need to use a match to light it. No oven, but we'll do just fine. We won't have to brew coffee on the charcoal grill like we did a few years ago!

Here's hoping Irene will decide to take a sudden turn out to sea -- this does often happen with hurricanes. So I'm keeping fingers -- & toes -- crossed.

I sure hope that everyone is safe. My DB is in Manhattan. He moved there from New Orleans...after Katrina...sigh. So an earthquake and a hurricane in a span of a week. Crazy.

Cat: you be careful with all those trees in your yard !! I hope your family will all be OK. c

Please take care everyone! Coming off the earthquake thread, I'm so glad I live in earthquake vs. hurricane lane. I'll be thinking about y'all. Stay safe.

Thanks, I live in Maryland and they are saying we could get hit hard, especially Ocean City, MD. We are a couple hours inland but could still get hit with lots of rain, wind, flooding, possible power outages, etc.

Stay safe everyone.

Thanks Bfenton & all the rest. I do have to say that my teens are looking forward to Irene b/c they're hoping schools won't open Monday! Definitely looking at the silver lining (at least from a child's point of view!)

MercyMyGift...I also work in Owings Mills...wouldn't it be funny if we were in the same building?

I'm on the coast in Central FL. It's right opposite us now--lots of wind and a fair amount of rain. Luckily we still have power. Good luck to those in the path of this storm.

I'm on the Jersey Shore. We are not that close to the ocean, but are surrounded by many tall, old trees! Hopefully it won't be too bad. Stay safe everyone!

Good thoughts coming from Illinois for everyone on the east coast....

I'm in RI and they say we are getting a direct hit. I'm 5 minutes from the ocean but what worries me is the old trees in my yard, one was hit by lightning a few weeks ago and it split in two. Whatever happens I hope there's no damage to my new kitchen....:)

I'm in CT, but very close to the RI line. I'll be glad when it's all over. Mother Nature can be very powerful. I hope everyone is going to be safe...

Thanks trailrunner!!!

Another west coaster here, wishing you and all your loved ones on that other coast, a safe weekend during this storm and hoping all your kitchens remain intact. Hopefully this storm will fizzle out and it truly is just the weathermen hoping for more screen time!

Bfenton- I had no idea Oregon's ever had a hurricane! Wow- guess if I ever get off this site today, I'll have to look that up.

Mamiam, you folks up there may not realize that there is a wet or "dirty" side of a hurricane and a dry side. The bulk of the rain will fall on the wet or east, NE side. The west side will be the drier side. You will be on the drier side, and 75 miles is a long way in terms of the power of the storm. You won't get the strongest winds -- they are near the eye.

We got the dry side of Rita here -- the eye moved straight up over and the other side of the freeway maybe 4 miles down the road. There was flooding on the other side of the freeway -- we had wind and pine needles covering the road -- a blanket of brown, some downed trees and fences -- and that was right around the eye.

Do stay safe, and here's hoping no new kitchens get hit.

Northern NJ, about 10 miles outside of NYC. I think we will be ok here. Moving what I can off the deck and have stocked up on jugs of water.

I more concerned about my DD and Son-in-law. They live on the southern shore of LI near Babylon. Based on the current track, they are going to get slammed. A lot of large old trees surround their rented house.

First and foremost, I WISH THAT NO ONE IS HURT!!! Having said that, My house is surrounded by huge trees, one of which is directly in line with the two year renovation project for our DR and Kitchen. The project has stalled (actually my husband has stalled) and should the huge maple tree fall on the house just the right way... I am counting the insurance money in my head already. I can dream, can't I. Again~~~I WANT NO ONE HURT HERE OR ANYWHERE. BE CAREFUL ALL~~~

Good luck to all those in or near the hurricane areas. I hope this is a precautionary bluster and Irene will pass peacefully.

Thanks for thinking of us blfenton and thanks for all the well wishes. In RI here they declared a state of emergency this afternoon. Mandatory evacuations have already been issued. I'm very close to the water and the boats are all backed up waiting their turn to be hauled out of the water. No D batteries or bottled water left anywhere. Not a generator in sight. I don't have a generator but I'm all set with the rest. DD went shopping while I was at school yesterday:) What a great kid.

We got kicked out of school early today (students don't start until Wed) so the custodial staff can secure the building.

We are having astronomical high tides Sun, just in time for Irene. Storm surges. Flooding. Rip currents.

For anyone in the path, I prefer the website www.wunderground.com (weather underground) to the other more commercial weather sites. I did turn on the weather channel but those forecasting nitwits (IMO) are all juiced up about this weather event. I swear it's like weather porn for them!

Be safe, be careful, and be prepared! Forget the bread and milk (if your'e from the area you'll know what I mean) opt for the wine and cheese. We're gonna need it.

We just moved 90 miles north from NYC and very glad to be here. Got everything on the checklist this a.m. and bringing things inside. Radio Shack had a special on batteries, can you imagine?

There won't be power and probably no internet or TV -- they were out for 5 days after a snowstorm last year.

Only concern here is our huge, old trees closer to the house than I'd like for something as extreme as this.
So it's definitely fingers crossed for the weekend. We may end up sleeping on the air mattress in the basement.

Good luck to celtinNE and everyone near the coast.

lascatx, that's backward. The west side of Irene is the bulk of the rainfall, the east side has the heavy winds.

Here in the Boston area I think there's a lot of confusion. The NHC track is through the middle of the state, but the best weatherman around puts the track landing in East Hampton, then between Clinton CT and Buzzard's Bay, coming up right across Boston--and the national forecasters keep edging toward his guess.

I'm just west of the city of Boston, and really have no idea how bad this is going to get. I actually found a contractor who will be NICE to me, and board up my front windows if I ask. There are two scraggly Norway maples on the street median that the town doesn't take good care of. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be thinking of boarding up at all, since it will be only a Cat 1 by the time it gets here (supposedly, as of right now).

To those in the path of Irene I send my thoughts and prayers. I'll take the Buffalo snow storms any time over the earthquakes and hurricanes. Be safe.

We are in Central Mass, Worcester County, about an hour west of Boston. Unless Irene's track changes, the Weather Channel has us in the "extreme" under threat level.
We have prepared like we do for a blizzard: generator, groceries, etc.
A few days ago we had an earthquake, a few weeks before we had a tornado now a hurricane. A few years ago a 12 day power outage due to a historic ice storm.
I don't get it, we are only supposed to have snow storms!
Hope all are prepared and can ride this out safely.

I haven't been getting a lot of details on Irene here -- it's all about the heat and drought with a side of Irene. Some storms do go the other way, but the generalization is that the north east/right side will tend to have heavier rain and wind, more chances of tornadoes spawned. That was what happened here with Rita -- to the point that we were a few miles from the eye an got nor appreciable rainfall. Seriously, we got a windy misting.

Rats! We just get a tropical storm now. We were all having too much fun with the apocalypse this week and instant karma got Irene downgraded.

Rococogurl...you found batteries? I looked all over earlier this morning and no one had "D" cells! (Groc stores, gas stations, drug stores, even a party store and dollar store!)

Oh well, at least we have enough for one lantern and plenty of smaller flashlights!

BmorePanic...I'm kind of disappointed too!

Buehl, my brother said he looked everywhere for D batteries (I live in a shoreline CT town). My MIL just passed (peacefully at 90) and when we cleared her apartment we found 30 D batteries. We never did figure out why whe had so many. My sweet daughter just delivered to her Uncle enough D batteries to last him a very long time... and I thought they would never come in handy.

Maybe I should stand in front of Radio Shack and "scalp" them for about $10 each. Based upon the actions of the crazy people in the grocery store I think I could make some money!!!