A Little Concerned

Irene may be coming for a visit. Being on an island makes us particularly susceptible. We could be cut off from the mainland in many ways. Then the islanders are on our own. On the bright side maybe some of the meaner summer people will leave early if they hear a hurricane is coming. There is a great app that shows all the possible computer projected paths and half of them say Irene will visit. I am only a little concerned because we are prepared and can survive without the luxuries of electricity or contact with the mainland for quite a while.

-We have a pantry in the basement with supplies of water, nonperishable food, preserved food, and paper products.

-Enough chicken feed that if stretched can last us as much as three months maybe more if they forage enough. Enough cat food for the same period. They probably won’t forage. They are spoiled indoor darlings. Also, kitty litter. Lots of kitty litter.

-There is also a barrel of very dry kindling and a box of fire starter logs if needed. 

-Two oil lamps and several candles.

-Fire extinguishers

-Chicken, people, and cat first aid kits.

-Our house is above sea level by quite a bit so storm surge will not effect us. It’s also only one story and sturdy. 

-Gassed up the car and the chainsaw

-Lots of books and knitting projects :)

My only real concern are the oak trees with all the leaves still on them and if the chicken coop and run can stand a stiff wind. I think it can. It’s lived through a few Nor’easters so far. The posts are buried three feet in and the hardware cloth is buried two feet around. The run is also covered. The house windows are hardware cloth right now. We built the new bigger house in the existing run in the spring and I have the windows. I was just waiting until fall to install them. Maybe we will board up the outer ones and leave the one inside the run for ventilation. The backup is a temporary pen in the basement. We can’t do anything about the trees.
Because we are prepared, nothing will happen.