Residents were skeptical that Henri would be as damaging as Hurricanes Gloria and Bob, which struck the region in 1985 and 1991.<\/b>
\nWhen it looked like Hurricane Henri would directly hit New England, customers converged on Adler\u2019s Design Center & Hardware in Providence, R.I., where they bought all of the store\u2019s kerosene lamps before moving on to flashlights and candles, said Leanne Dolloff, a cashier. Many longtime residents of the region, however, were skeptical that the storm would be too disruptive. \u201cWe\u2019re New Englanders, we can handle it,\u201d said Ms. Dolloff,40, who remembers waking up to a floating bed in her Lowell, Mass., home when Hurricane Gloria \u2014 the last hurricane to make landfall on Long Island \u2014 swept through in 1985. Officials were preparing in case Henri causes as much damage as Gloria or Hurricane Bob, which tore its way up 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, bringing 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 downed trees, power outages and flooding. Bill Shore, a longtime resident of Newport, R.I., remembers how terrifying it was to experience Bob. He had driven to New Jersey to secure a boat and then frantically drove back to save his house. \u201cLimbs were coming down,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I made it back without getting clobbered.\u201d Mr. Shore, however, said he was not too worried about Henri. He has a generator at home and planned to keep his 30-foot sailboat in the water, although he was thinking about renting a chain saw to tidy up after the storm. In Boston\u2019s Seaport District, which was built upon the mud flats and salt marshes along Boston Harbor in the decades after Bob, bars and restaurants like Harpoon, Legal Sea Foods and Yankee Lobster had not made plans to close for Henri. Farther east, in the Cape Cod community of Buzzards Bay, boats were being removed from the marina but little was being done to secure gas grills or deck chairs. Henri was expected to flood many areas already inundated from Fred. Officials in Boston said they were building barriers around the city\u2019s 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 on Sunday. But passengers waiting to board the ferry from Boston to Provincetown on Friday night were cautiously optimistic that their plans would not be foiled. Gary Livolsi said he had been through a lot of nor\u2019easters and was content simply making sure the umbrellas and cushions were not left on his patio. \u201cI\u2019m hoping they\u2019re overestimating it, as they often do,\u201d said Susan Mahoney, who was off to spend the weekend in Provincetown but was fully prepared to stay longer if necessary. \u201cI brought extra wine.\u201d<\/p>\n