BOSTON — When it looked like Hurricane Henri would hit New England directly, customers gathered at Adler’s Design Center & Hardware in Providence, RI, where they bought all of the store’s kerosene lamps before switching to flashlights and candles, said Leanne Dolloff, a cashier. .
However, many longtime residents of the region were skeptical that the storm would be too disruptive.
“We’re New Englanders, we can handle it,” said Ms. Dolloff, 40, who recalls waking up to a floating bed in her home in Lowell, Massachusetts when Hurricane Gloria — the last hurricane to make landfall on Long Island – broke through in 1985.
Officials were preparing in case Henri caused as much damage as Gloria or Hurricane Bob, which swept the East Coast in 1991. More than a dozen people died in each storm.
Gloria was a Category 1 storm when it hit Long Island, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, knocking down thousands of trees and leaving 1.5 million homes without power. Bob made landfall as a Category 2 storm and millions were affected by fallen trees, power outages and flooding.
Bill Shore, a longtime resident of Newport, RI, recalls how terrifying it was to experience Bob. He’d driven to New Jersey to moor a boat, then frantically drove back to save his home.
“Limbs came down,” he said, “but I came back without being beaten.”
However, Mr Shore said he wasn’t too worried about Henri. He has a generator at home and planned to keep his 9-foot sailboat in the water, although he was thinking of renting a chainsaw to clean up after the storm.
In Boston’s Seaport District, which was built on the mudflats and salt marshes along Boston Harbor in the decades after Bob, bars and restaurants like Harpoon, Legal Sea Foods, and Yankee Lobster didn’t make plans to close to Henri. Further east, in the Cape Cod community of Buzzards Bay, boats were removed from the marina, but little was done to secure gas grills or lounge chairs.
Henri was expected to flood many areas already flooded by Fred.
Boston officials said they were building barriers around the city’s most vulnerable subway station and would suspend some transit services on Sunday. Amtrak announced that service between New York and Boston and between New Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., would be canceled Sunday.
But passengers waiting Friday night to board the ferry from Boston to Provincetown were cautiously optimistic that their plans would not be thwarted.
Gary Livolsi said he had seen many nor’easters and was satisfied by making sure the umbrellas and cushions were not left on his patio.
“I hope they overestimate it, as they often do,” said Susan Mahoney, who was due to spend the weekend in Provincetown but was fully willing to stay longer if necessary. “I brought extra wine.”
Catherine McGloin and Beth Treffeisen reporting contributed.
