irene

Wow..The past two days have been pretty crazy. Hurricane Irene is set to hit within the next 12 hours as a Category 1 or 2 storm, and the entire East Coast is at wit's end. Starting from yesterday, people have been taking multiple precautions- storing food and water, filling up cars with gas, even evacuating from their homes. As per usual, social networks are being flooded with (mostly) sarcastic and very descriptive remarks about Irene, mostly from young folks my age. The new channels have been blaring out nothing except for news of the hurricane, which is currently making its way through North Carolina. Up until now, I took the news lightheartedly, joking about finding shelter at church and potentially studying when the electricity was shut off, but I think going out with my parents just now made me realize the severity of the situation. The city looks like a zombie apocalypse is approaching; gas stations and supermarkets are crowded with last minute shoppers, most stores are closed, and windows everywhere are boarded up with wood and tape. The highways are near empty, and I saw a line forming at a nearby Redbox as people stocked up on movies to watch for the next night, day, whatever. It was quite a sight. Oh yeah, not to mention, the MTA shut down all subway and bus service as of 12 noon today. How crazy is that? The MTA never shuts down service. So yeah, basically, all of New York City (and the rest of the EC) is at home right now, announcing through facebook statuses that they're ready to brace Irene. I hope things turn out for the best!!