Thanks everyone! And NJchixs, I'm in NJ too, near AC. I'm only two blocks from the ocean, so I'm REALLY hoping it isn't that bad!
I don't know the terrain where you are, but that close I'd be real worried about storm surge and high tides. Two blocks is just too darn close. Go online and look at the damage done to homes on the Gulf Coast, say in Biloxi or Gulf Shores, to see what can happen. If they tell you to evacuate, get out.
Get ready now. Collect all your valuable papers like insurance, passports, and birth certificates and have them where you can grab them. Medications too. Pack two or three days worth of clothing. Get your gas tank filled. Decide where you are going to go and what route you will take. You are probably going to spend a lot of hours traveling what normally takes you an hour. Gas stations will be out of gas. Water and snacks can be very valuable.
Where you are, you are probably going to have power outages. A trick to maybe keep the stuff in your freezer or refrigerator from going bad is to fill it with ice. It's kind of late, but I froze old plastic milk cartons filled with water to fill up the freezer. That extends how long stuff stays frozen by days.
Most of the time when you evacuate, you're back within a couple of days. You might get some inconveniences like power outages or blocked streets from trees coming down but those are not life threatening. You may need to boil water so it is safe to drink. Filling your bathtub with water may give you some water to fluch a toilet. But occasionally lots of people die in hurricanes, usually due to storm surge. Unless you are on top of a high hill, you are just too close to take a chance if Sandy comes your way.
