Goodnight! Irene!

I've been in only one hurricane, Hurricane Betsy, back in mid 1960s, in New Orleans. Once was enough.

In 2005, those in my family not in Katrina's path were terrified we had lost our sister, Sandra, who was in the path. We couldn't reach her for three days. That's how long it took her to get out of her neighborhood to an area where she could get phone coverage. We thought we would never see her again, but, thankfully, she survived.

There have been brushes with the edges of a couple of hurricanes here in my current home over the last twenty years, mostly high winds, heavy rains, downed trees and power lines, flooded basements - all minor compared to the areas hit full-force, but scary enough for me to be concerned about Irene. Looks like she might hit the Northeast pretty hard, with serious damage to the Mid-Atlantic region. That's the forecast as of this afternoon, anyway.

I am hopeful that Irene will downgrade before she hits land, lose steam and speed, but I think I'm being overly optimistic about that. My greatest concern is for the flooding issues and the high winds. I am preparing for the possibility that more trees in my yard will be knocked down and that my basement will flood, deep flooding. There is a dangerously old sassafras tree right next to my house. The last hurricane that blew through our area broke off the highest branches and tossed them down the street, fortunately (amazingly!) missing all the homes in their path. This old tree is half dead and one I wanted to have removed earlier this spring when I had others done. The funds I had set aside for the tree work had to be used for other things, so the sassy still looms over the house, like Snoopy doing his vulture imitation.

I remember Betsy and the preparations my mother made before it hit. I do NOT anticipate that Irene will do anything to my area anywhere close to what Betsy or Katrina did to Louisiana, but I'm taking those same precautions my mother did all those years ago. Luckily, we have a couple of days to prepare.

I'm putting things in the basement up off the floor, as high as I safely can. Before the storm hits, I'll unplug the washer and dryer and put them up on bricks. I will clean out the well of the sump pump, so that it will work as long as we have electricity. In case our water supply becomes undrinkable (a remote possibility) I will have bottled water on hand. Canned goods and food that doesn't require refrigeration and can be cooked on the grill are on my grocery list for this afternoon. Batteries, too, for all the flashlights I own, maybe even get a couple more lights for spares.

If it looks like we will be hit harder than I anticipate, I'll go stay with my Daughter and Grandson, who live in a very secure building just a few blocks from me, less than a mile away. I guess I must sound like a nervous nelly, but I’d rather be prepared than sorry, you know?

I just wish I could get rid of these Betsy/Katrina memory jitters. But, being prepared and having a plan will help, I know: maybe even put the jinx on Irene hitting the coast in the first place.

Now to find my insurance policy, to see if I'm covered against hurricanes.

I bet not. I mean, we aren't even covered against earthquakes, because they never happen here. Yeah, right!