Sometimes called "preppers", this particular kind of safety-conscious homeowner is becoming more and more prevalent in today's anxious and storm-tossed world.
NEW YORK - Hurricane Sandy is charging up the East Coast as a cold front is tearing across the U.S. from the west and an arctic blast is barreling down from the north. The resulting "Frankenstorm" could cause gale-force winds, heavy rains and flooding - along with billions in damages along the Eastern Seaboard.
Valerie Dziengiel isn't worried one bit.
That's because Dziengiel, for the last 11 years, has lived in "survivalist luxury" in the Connecticut woods with her husband, Walter, a homebuilder. They have a flood-proof basement, backup power systems and freezers full of food. The worst thing that might happen as Sandy rampages: They'd lose their cable television.
"We're not concerned about this storm at all," says Dziengiel. "We are totally self-sufficient."
Dziengiel, 63, isn't an AK-47-clutching survivalist kook in some militia camp. She's just a particular kind of safety-conscious homeowner - and in today's anxious and storm-tossed world, there seem to be more of them than ever.
"Interest in having a safe retreat with survival resources and features has grown in recent years," says Walt Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.
