As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the East Coast, emergency precautions are being played out in city after city. This morning, traffic safety officials in New York announced that the two main tunnels into and out of Manhattan would be closing this afternoon. That means anyone needing to make use of those tunnels should already be on the road.

Heavy flooding is expected throughout the region. Places on the coast, like Atlantic City are already under water and the storm is not expected to make landfall until tonight.

Once the storm does make landfall the problems will only just be beginning as a severe cold front is ready to mix with the heavy rainfall and produce large amounts of snow. Forecasters say people in Virginia and West Virginia might receive as much as two feet of snowfall in the next 24hrs with some areas expecting even more.

All of this means driving conditions are already dangerous and will likely get even worse. Much, much worse.

The best for all drivers in the area is to stay home if at all possible. If your community declares an emergency situation and forbids driving you will likely b cited by police if they catch you out on the roads. If you absolutely, positively, must drive be certain you have a cell phone, flashlight and a full tank of gas. You might think that in event of an emergency someone will simply come in and rescue you, but the fact is emergency crews are already stretched to the limit, they don’t need your burden added to their list because you failed to take precautions and look out for yourself.