To-Do List After Hurricane Irene

We did it! We got through Hurricane Irene! I hope my checklists for preparation came in handy. Jay didn’t have to work after all (most sporting events were canceled because of Irene) so we got to wait out the storm together! Some trees were down in our Lower East Side neighborhood but nothing major. Our car survived in our garage even though it was in a flood zone. The subway system will be coming back to life slowly Monday morning so getting to work will be a task but hopefully not impossible.

Living in an apartment proved to be pretty painless during a hurricane. I had my flashlight and my Pinot Grigio — what more does a city girl need? But if you live in the outer boroughs or in a house – I’m sorry because your headaches aren’t caused by too much wine.

Angie Hicks, founder of the consumer-rating site Angie’s List, gave me these tips to assess the damage and how to hire a contractor to fix down fences, ripped shingles and other repairs your home might need:

1. Get to Safety – First things first, get yourself and your family to safety. You can assess the damage later — if your roof starts to give way, get out of the house.

2. Call Your Insurance Company – Store the agent’s number in your cell phone so if you can’t get to your documents, you can at least get to the agent.

3. Take Photos – If it is safe to do so, take some photos of the damage to show your insurance provider.

4. Begin the Search – When you can get to a safe place, start your contractor research. This is a big job and you’ve suffered enough so you want it done right the first.

Remember to:

*Get three written estimates

*Check the company’s license

*Read customer reviews of the business

Thankfully I won’t have to do any of these things as an apartment dweller. But I have my own set of to-dos:

1. Figure out what subways and buses are running in the morning

2. Learn to meditate so I can survive another cold shower

3. Find out about the E.T.A. of our hot water situation from Con Edison!

4. Go grocery shopping again — we ate all our “hurricane goodies”

5. Check in on my parents and in-laws on Long Island – they lost power in the storm

6. Be thankful nothing really bad happened and New York City is returning back to normal