Perhaps if I just panicked a bit more?

There were a few facts about the hurricane (Irene) which raised some concern on my part.  For one, living in the NYC Metro area, we don't get many hurricane level storms.  Our city architecture was not designed to be a source of protection from a storm of that magnitude.  This is one of the reasons, I'm assuming, elected officials were telling us we had to evacuate.  As the storm progressed up the Atlantic towards us, I was concerned.
This is a little bit of insight into the type of person I am.  When something is big enough to get me concerned, I do some research on it to raise my own awareness. 

"This looks like it could be big, how will it affect me?"

Of Note:
My house is above sea level. 
I have two young children (5 and 1)
I have 2 medium sized trees in front of my house.
My house is about 4 feet above street level.
My roof is on its third layer of tile (maximum amount), and it's already leaked once this year.
My car is parked next to one of said trees.
I have no basement.
My backyard tends to flood on days when it's anything just above a drizzle.

Taking all of this into account, I decided to check the weather forecasts periodically on Friday and into Saturday.  I forget what channel I was watching, but this blond reporter in a studio smiled a great big pearly smile as she told us about Armageddon.  What the ....?

It was at this point the Facebook messages, the email, the tweets and the phone started screaming for my attention.  "Run!  Run for your lives," an irate message appeared in my inbox.  People who were very concerned for me were giving me advice on how to make it through disaster, should it come to that point.  It was great advice for the most part.  The only problem was that they were interrupting my own research on how bad this hurricane was going to be.  To point something else out about me, I don't go through the normal channels when I'm doing research.  I've already seen enough to know the anti-government / anti-media team will tell me the hurricane is just hype.  I also know the pro-government team will tell me how great it was that we were prepared this time around and that yes, in fact, everyone should go to their nearest shelter.

"Fill up your tub with water now, so if you find yourself without water for a bath, it will be available to you." 

My wife took a trip to the supermarket to stock up on some canned goods, just in case.  The shelves were bare.  Batteries had become a mere rumor, while some folks were seen stocking up on Klondike Bars and beer.  Nice!

"In anticipation of a power outage, set your refrigerators cool setting to maximum to extend food life."

By mid-Saturday, I had my plan.  I would go to my mother's with my son, while my wife would go to her aunt's with her mother and our daughter.  There weren't going to be enough beds for everyone, I thought.  My wife said she wanted us all to stick together, so rather than settle up on what we would do, we just looked outside and used our eyes to see that it wasn't so bad yet.

The Plan:
Watch Doctor Who on BBC America.
If Cable gets knocked out preventing this, we execute our evacuation plan previously stated.
Or, if at the end of Doctor Who, the storm looks like its getting worse, we'll execute our evacuation plan.

The Outcome:
All of the Doctors previous companions make him feel overwhelmed with guilt.
Mel seemed like a plot device.
Alex Kingston became much cooler in my book for her portrayal of River Song.
Oh, and we went straight to bed afterwards.

"Before the storm, take a walk around the block.  Are there any dead leaves or debris covering the sewer grate?"

So, the following morning we woke up and wondered if the hurricane had hit yet.  It became my innocent question I had asked.  "Did Irene hit yet?"  I made on all phone calls to my friends/family yesterday, but after a while it became a sarcastic question I would ask.  "When is Irene going to get here?  I'm fully prepared to panic and cry like a baby, so where is this storm?"

“For those of you in New Jersey, this WILL BE the MOST SEVERE weather you have EVER or most likely WILL ever experience to date.”  This is a 3^rd person quote of the Weather Channel.  I took this person to task, because it’s overly dramatic and doesn’t offer any advice other than to make the viewer tremble with fear.

Also on FB, hours before the storm hit, someone from Staten Island posted a picture of a tree fallen on top of the telephone poll wires.  Declaring this to be a government conspiracy to cripple their neighborhood.  I asked, “What did you do after you put the camera down?”  On the defensive, they told me it wasn’t their job and even if it was, they wouldn’t know how to fix this.  I was only checking to see if they called 411.  "Oh."

So, it’s Saturday evening and I’m walking with my five year old son, in the middle of the “hurricane” just jumping in puddles.  I asked myself, why don’t I panic?  As I watch my son gleefully jumping in the water with his Toy Story rain coat, I already knew why I don’t panic.

If I were to panic, then everyone close to me would see that the guy who doesn’t panic is panicking.  If he’s scared, then no one will be gleefully jumping in puddles.  No one will be in the house taking a nap.  I dare say, no one would think it was a good idea to DJ a party on Saturday night in Queens.  Panic is contagious, I think.  Another thing to note; if the storm was worse and my house was destroyed, it would NOT be because I didn't panic.