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This is the first part of The Daily Bronxville's Coverage of Hurricane Irene. Check in with us tomorrow to find out how village officials are preparing for the storm.
BRONXVILLE, N.Y. -- If you were looking for batteries and flashlights in Bronxville Thursday afternoon, you might have been one of the lucky ones who got one from the last batch at Value Drugs on Pondfield Road.
The National Weather Service said the tri-state area is in the direct line of Hurricane Irene, which is expected to bring heavy rain, wind, coastal flooding and possible damages to the area by Sunday.
Hurricane Irene was upgraded to a Category three hurricane Wednesday, calling for a storm surge of nine to 12 feet and sustained winds of 111 to 130 mph. Damage in a Category three storm may be extensive on small buildings with low roofs, large trees and branches, and it may also cause power and water outages.
"I believe that if I have the flashlights, then I will not lose power," said Bronxville resident Kristen Harvey, who bought two. "If I did not have them, then I will lose power for sure, so I am good now."
Mike Carugan, manager at Value Drugs, said they had filled their shelves several times on Thursday.
"We had quite a rush of shoppers this morning," Carugen said. "We still have some stock."
Carugen said shoppers also purchased umbrellas and cases of water.
Irving Levine went to the A & P where he found lots of scented candles but no milk.
"I can only go by what the weather people are telling us," Levine said. "It looks pretty serious,"
Workers at the A & P said they were expecting a truck full of milk and other staples late Thursday.
Only five hurricanes have passed within 75 miles of New York City since 1851 Hurricane Gloria was the most recent 26 years ago, according to Weather.com.
Levine, who has lived in the village for more than 30 years, said Gloria really did not do too much damage in Bronxville.
"We really got hit with that heavy rain in April 2007," he said. "No one wants to go through that again."
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