Labor Day weekend on the Vineyard usually means bustling harbors, shoppers scouring sale racks and crowded beaches. But Thursday afternoon, Edgartown Harbor was empty, save a few dinghies and commercial boats. A mannequin displaying a raincoat outside of Island Outfitters in Edgartown said it best with its advertisement: “Are you ready for Earl?”
With Hurricane Earl set to hit the Vineyard overnight tonight, Island business owners are busy getting ready for the storm — including those at Island Outfitters, who will be moving their rain jackets inside today. The sign that hangs outside of Stacy Hall’s North Water street store already was taken down in preparation for the expected strong winds.
“I love hurricanes,” Ms. Hall said. “But it’s so hot people can’t fathom trying [raincoats] on.”
The prospect of Islanders underestimating the potential gravity of the hurricane concerns Nancy Gardella, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce. “The things that are extremely serious are the marine conditions and riptides,” Ms. Gardella said. “People are reflecting anecdotally on Hurricane Bob. We want to remind people that was a category one storm and right now [Earl is] at category four.
“We don’t want people to panic but we don’t want them to fluff it as nothing. We want people to be on the alert.”
At Vineyard Scripts, the word for customers who rely on prescription medicines was: “If they’re going to run low, don’t wait until the last-minute [to refill them].”
Vanessa Matthews at Conroy’s Apothecary in Oak Bluffs said, “I was working at the West Tisbury store yesterday, and it was a madhouse. It was pretty steady prescription-wise.”
“No water, no batteries, no candles, no flashlights,” said one Stop and Shop employee in Edgartown, and although they were expecting to get another shipment of water in yesterday afternoon they weren’t expecting it to last very long.
The Edgartown Paper Store had boxes of water lining the back aisle and were fully stocked.
At Cronig’s, Sarah McKay said they were handling the high demand pretty well. “We’re doing fine, we’re selling a lot of water and batteries, and nonperishables We’ve been in pretty great supply and are having more product come in,” she said. “Everyone’s in good spirits.”
People who may have trouble being in good spirits this weekend are the brides to be on the Island; Labor Day weekend is one of the most popular wedding weekends of the year.
Caterer Jamie Hamlin said she had five events scheduled for the next few days, and would be surprised if more than two of them took place. While Tilton Tents and Big Sky Tents reported no cancellations, Ms. Hamlin said a clambake had been moved to Lola’s in Oak Bluffs and a wedding planned for outdoors to the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.
“We just hooked up a generator from Tilton Rentals so the food doesn’t go bad if my power goes out,” she said. “We’ve got everything under control.”
Special occasions planned or not, many Islanders have been preparing since the beginning of the week. “It’s reassuring that people are being prudent here and picking up supplies well in advance of the hurricane,” Hinckley’s Lumber manager Greg Monka said yesterday. “People started getting plywood panels on Monday. We have extra stock of plywood, tarp and batteries. People are definitely taking consideration.” Cottle Lumber said they also saw a steady increase in plywood sales in the past few days.
Contrary to rumor, many hotels will be open for business and have been sent a safety checklist by the Chamber of Commerce to help prepare for the storm. Ms. Gardella said a year-round resident in Aquinnah called her for recommendations of what hotel to stay at because she was afraid to weather the storm by herself. Jack Klumick at the Harborside Inn in Edgartown said he too had a local staying in the night, afraid of the wind and rain that could impact the guest’s beach shack home.
“Edgartown is open for business,” Mr. Klumick said after reassuring a guest of their decision to stay through the storm. “We gave guests the option of refunds and we have plywood ready in strategic places ... but we can’t make any judgments until Friday.”
“We have a full house,” Susie Goldstein said of the Mansion House Inn in Vineyard Haven. “Certainly we’ve had guests calling up and asking questions about what we’re doing. If we have guests in-house, we are committed to making sure they have lights and basic services but also have a good time.”
The Winnetu Resort in Katama is planning to stay open unless the town tells them otherwise, as the building was constructed with hurricanes in mind and is running on a generator. “We’re going to have fun testing it this weekend,” owner Mark Snider said yesterday afternoon. “If people in the neighborhood need a place with power, we’ll be here.”
Luis Arias, general manager at the Seafood Shanty in Edgartown said he and his staff would be securing the deck furniture and taking down the plastic curtains.
“We’re open as long as we have power,” Mr. Arias said. “We’re not closing at all unless we have to.”
Sharky’s Cantina held a discounted “pre-hurricane” party last night with slashed prices on food and drink, just in case they lose power tonight.
Down the street at the Edgartown Library, a sign notified the public that the Chappy Ferry is closed starting at noon today, and had an array of emergency information available in pamphlet form including a town disaster guide, supplies checklist and up to date weather reports.
The Edgartown Yacht Club staff was busy whisking away deck furniture to be stored upstairs in the main building as well as the Junior Yacht Club building near the Shanty. One staff member said they were waiting until today to see if the dining room needed to be boarded up, but were planning on using plywood on the south and east sides if need be.
But it was hard to imagine harrowing winds and rains terrorizing the Vineyard in yesterday’s 80 degree heat and sun, as vacationers Karalesa and Ben Difabio sat on a bench in Edgartown enjoying an ice cream cone. The two are staying at the Hob Knob in Edgartown and commended the innkeepers and staff for keeping them up to date and feeling safe.
“I’ve never been in a hurricane before,” Mrs. Difabio said of her southern roots. “If you said it was a tornado in Tennessee, it’d be no big deal.”
“It’ll be fine,” her husband reassured her.
But balancing vacation and hurricanes is not a first for the couple. “This is our second time in a hurricane. We had to evacuate for Hurricane John in Mexico,” Mrs. Difabio said of their trip four years ago. “We’re hurricane magnets.”
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