Man on the street: How will you prepare for the storm?

Heavy rain has soaked North Carolina for the last two weeks — 10 inches beyond the Raleigh-Durham area's average of 38 inches.

“It is not unusual,” said Anantha Aiyyer, an N.C. State University professor in the department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric sciences. “(Forecasters) were expecting it to be more rainy and a little cooler winter this year, and the main reason for that is that we have a pretty strong el Niño condition.”

According to the 2015 U.S. Winter Outlook, a weather forecast issued by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this year’s strong El Niño is likely to cause above-average precipitaiton in the Southeast and the upper Midwest.

The Daily Tar Heel asked students how they prepared for the storms. 

Lee Mook, first-year, business administration major, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 19

“I considered getting rain boots, but I couldn’t find any and I didn’t want to pay the money, so I bundled up. I tried to avoid the rivers that were flooding the quad. Literally, if you walk up on the right side of the quad, it’s actually a river. You have to jump from dry spot to dry spot. I learned to walk around in wet shoes with wet socks and commiserate with everyone else about the weather.”

Yuri Cho, junior, psychology major, Alpharetta, Georgia, 20

“Well, I don’t have any rain boots or anything, so it was kind of hard. With my sneakers, they get all wet and it’s really upsetting. So it was sad. I guess I coped with it by just wearing rain jackets all the time and hoping that it would be sunny again at some point — which is today — so that’s nice.”

Elizabeth Han, junior, business administration and psychology major, South Korea, 21

“I do not wear white shoes because I might step on worms, because they usually come out on rainy days and I don’t like worms. I usually eat hot soups because it makes me warm and comfortable and because that’s what we do in Korea when it’s raining.”

Alex Park, senior, communication studies, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 24

“It’s just been crazy. I usually wear flip-flops in sunny weather but I wore walkers instead and carried umbrellas. It just made me not want to go to classes. I got my rainproof windbreakers. I stayed at the library longer than I normally do, didn’t go to Franklin Street and took the bus, because I didn’t want to walk in that crappy weather. I just boiled some water and made myself a cup of honey chamomile.”

Hannah Whelan, Peace, War and Defense major, exchange student, London, 20

“I stayed inside. I tried to keep busy indoors. Homework, that was all pretty much. I quite like rain. I’m from England and I’m used to it, I guess. It’s a lot colder and a lot of rain in England in this time of the year.”

state@dailytarheel.com