Most have stocked up on emergency supplies



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Most have stocked up on emergency supplies

Residents leave in droves, markets are closed and travel is disrupted as Hurricane Sandy nears

 

Published on Oct 30, 2012



NEW YORK - In the city that never sleeps, Singaporean Loo Ke Ying went to bed on Sunday to an unfamiliar, unsettling serenity.



Gone were the periodic police and ambulance sirens. Restaurants and stores were shuttered. One of the worst hurricanes in recorded history was coming. And nothing helps kick in the Singaporean "kiasu" side quite like a looming natural disaster.

Ms Loo, whose New York apartment is located in an area next in line for evacuation, did everything the authorities recommended to prepare for the hurricane.

The 28-year-old housewife fought with supermarket crowds to stock up on food for her family and dog, and emergency supplies, enough "to last us a week or so".

Ms Loo also filled coolers with water, ensured her portable gas cooker would help her tide over any power outages and kept a disaster supply kit handy.

But what worried her the most were the floor-to-ceiling windows in her apartment. "If our windows do break, we will hide at the hallway instead," she said.

Most Singaporeans in New York who spoke to The Straits Times are similarly prepared.

But some remain unperturbed, especially since tropical storm Irene threw New York into a panic last year but ended up barely scratching the city.

"When Irene came, I scrubbed out my bathtub to save water but nothing actually happened, so I'm not bothering with that for this year," said consumer strategies analyst Yang Yang, 23. Still, she has enough food for a couple of days.

In San Francisco, some 240 Singaporean students had flown in from around the US for a Public Service Commission seminar and some were stranded. Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate student Daryl Poon, 24, does not know when he can return to Boston. Classes were cancelled on Monday.

Others, like University of Pennsylvania student Matthias Chia, 19, got home with some difficulty. "Besides lots of gate changes and delays, there were plenty of shouting matches, some jostling and a tense atmosphere in general," he said. "The situation here was so ridiculous, it's hard to imagine if you're not there."

Typhoon Son Tinh kills 7 in Vietnam, death toll rises to 31



 

Published on Oct 30, 2012






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