Our radio & TV have been stressing that being OVER prepared is better than UNprepared. It may be too extreme of a warning, but it is far from "vile crap".
Depending on exactly where one lives and one's usual resources, 72 hours is not impossible. As I said, last time WE were hit, (Hurricane Floyd-1999), the winds were not super stong here, and it was over in hours...but many, many power lines were down and one big tree put us out of power for almost 5 days! Even the grocery stores near us were out of commission for several days, and deliveries were slow.

   The experts are saying that this has the **potential** to cause serious problems for up to 20 million people. We here near DC are likely to have more issues than N. Brunswick, but IF this storm gets nasty that far up, I'd rather see 'the elderly' (am I, at 72, in that category?) scared into excessive preparation than caught napping.

(and the US National Hurricane Center --[spelled properly from Maine south]-- says they simply don't know yet...)