via CNN
Drew Wojtkowski is playing the odds with Hurricane Sandy, with a plan to ride out the massive storm on Sunday at his oceanfront home on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
Yes, he’s stocked up with extra supplies. Yes, he’s keeping an eye on the rising water levels, particularly on North Carolina 12 — the state highway that links the Outer Banks with the outside world.
“If that washes out and water rises, then there’s no way to get off,” he told CNN affiliate WRAL on Saturday.
Hours later, Sandy’s storm surge washed out the highway in a number of locations, stranding Wojtkowski and others.
Even as millions of people in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast prepare for the storm’s arrival, with thousands evacuating, Wojtkowski and his wife are believed to be among a number of residents hunkering down along the 200-mile stretch of barrier islands.
“This is just the inconvenience of living by the ocean,” Wojtkowski said.
Hurricane Sandy has proven to be deadly, with officials blaming the storm for at least 60 deaths. That figure includes 44 people in Haiti, with 12 more reported missing. Another 16 were dead in Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
By Sunday morning, the Outer Banks were feeling Sandy’s wrath as a mix of heavy rain and strong winds lashed the islands.
At 11 a.m. E.T., the National Hurricane Center put the storm at about 250 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Sandy was moving at about 14 mph with 75 mph maximum sustained winds.
Local and state officials along the East Coast have joined meteorologists in trumpeting the storm’s potential breadth and impact, especially if it collides with a cold front from the West to create a “superstorm” that stalls over the Eastern Seaboard for days.
“This is nothing to play with, and this is nothing to take lightly. So take it seriously. I know that we are,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday as he announced the planned shutdown of subway, bus and commuter rail service as the storm nears Sunday night.
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Article courtesy cnn.com
