Hurricane Irene

So we are now waiting out Hurricane Irene. This is the first Hurricane I have ever been in. We have been preparing the last couple of days. I have gotten gallons of water, lots of food, and updated 72 hour kits. Thankfully I had been stocking up on water and food storage for a while. This has been a really crazy experience. It started a little while ago when there was a hurricane/disaster preparedness class during church. Then earlier this week there was an earthquake but I didn't feel it, thankfully and neither did Scott (he was golfing), then we got word that the Hurricane Irene was coming our way. Our ward sent out slides of emergency preparedness slide show which was helpful. Then as a visiting teacher, we had to check on the people we teach and make sure they were prepared and whether or not they were staying. Then there was an evacuation of lower Manhattan. There has been multiple emails sent to our stake about cancelation of church and where we can go if we need a place to go. As far as our situation, we are up on a hill in Midtown so we did not have to evacuate but we do have large windows that are very whimsy and we are very concerned about. We have taped our windows and moved our valuables out of our living room incase our windows blow. We have been glued to the TV to watch this storm. The worst things that could happen would be that our windows blow out and that our power and water will be out. I filled up our tub and pots and pans with water so that if we don't get water, it will be ok for a little bit. We do have renter's insurance so we are covered if our stuff is ruined. I feel prepared for the storm but I don't know what to expect so for that reason I am nervous. I just really hope our windows don't blow out. It was crazy today, we went out for a bit and the city was a ghost town. There was a car driving through Central Park with loud speakers saying that Central Park was closed and that people (if any) needed to leave it. The MTA shut down completely at noon today and while I was running this am there were literally 5 or 6 cafes open, which is crazy for the city that never sleeps!! This is CRAZY! Here is hoping this Hurricane Irene is not too bad.