Hurricane Irene: Yikes!!!

[ny biker]

The forecast is getting worse for Irene.

http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/54158/hurricane-irenes-impacts-on-ea.asp#.TlZuqrw9ju8.twitter

I think it will not be too bad in the immediate DC area, though it looks like flooding is likely down by the Potomac. However I hope folks in coastal areas are already preparing, and possibly evacuating. It looks like NYC is going to get nailed, among other places up and down the east coast.

I'm really glad I live on top of a hill. And I'm even more glad that my grandfather decided to build his house on a hill when he moved to a small village on the Long Island Sound back in 1947, because my parents still live in that house. (Grandpa worked as a bartender and waiter on a trans-Atlantic cruise line before he moved to the U.S., and I wouldn't be surprised if he learned a thing or two about the power of water from that experience.) I suspect the houses near the beach will be flooded this weekend, and my parents will probably be stuck in their house for a few days since the main roads in town are down at that level.

I hope everyone makes it through okay.

[bluebug32]

I was supposed to do Gran Fondo NJ on Sunday and it was cancelled. :(

[Blueberry]

Yep. My mom is right at where it is supposed to make the first landfall. ACK!

[jlnc]

NY Biker, where are your folks in LI? I used to live in Greenport a looong time ago. I hope everyone is safe this weekend.

[PamNY]

Yikes is right. Long Island could be hit pretty hard. Glad to hear about those hills.

We are in an evacuation zone, but I doubt if we will have to leave. We're on a high floor, so our residence won't flood, but I power could be out I suppose.

If it weren't for the dog I wouldn't be worried at all. I can walk or bike wherever I need to go, but transporting the dog without a car could be challenging if we have to evacuate. Worst case is mass transit shutting down, which means cabs will be hard to find.

Best wishes to everyone in the storm's path.

[FunSize]

I drove from sc to western mass just before irene caught up... looks like the fanily reunion pig roast is just going to be very wet on Saturday. Also looks like bringing the bikes and climbing gear may have been pointless. I guess my vaca has to be relaxing and not exciting/adventurous.

[Crankin]

You might get to ride and climb on Monday...
It looks like winds around 75 and rain for us, maybe a little worse.Similar to Hurricane Bob in 91, where we lost power for 6 hours, but not much else.

[ny biker]

Pam, I just read that they are shutting down mass transit in NYC. If I were you I'd prepare to stay in that apartment for several days.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/25/2011-08-25_before_hurricane_irene_hits_new_york_to_shut_down_entire_transportation_system_p.html#ixzz1W5pzcMPI

[PamNY]

Pam, I just read that they are shutting down mass transit in NYC. If I were you I'd prepare to stay in that apartment for several days.

Sheesh, they are serious about this, aren't they?

If we have to leave, I am seriously considering taking Lloyd in his Radio Flyer. If the subways flood, it could be a while before they start running again. I can't imagine what traffic would be like with mass transit shut down.

[tytbody]

when is it suppose to start? it's 1:07 and I thought it was today. So is it Friday? I'm report in from MA.

[PamNY]

when is it suppose to start? it's 1:07 and I thought it was today. So is it Friday? I'm report in from MA.

Forecast here:

http://www.weather.com/

[tytbody]

nice little site.

[ny biker]

Sheesh, they are serious about this, aren't they?

If we have to leave, I am seriously considering taking Lloyd in his Radio Flyer. If the subways flood, it could be a while before the start running again. I can't imagine what traffic would be like with mass transit shut down.

They're talking about 5-15" of rain, and storm surge.

[Crankin]

Ah, Tybody, watch the news. Channel 4 is giving very good, but not "overblown" reports.
Going out to the grocery store now, at 7 AM, hoping there are a few extra jugs of water left. I will fill the bathtubs, but not taping my windows as we did in Florida.

[Caddy]

Good luck, guys. Most of my family and friends in NYC live inland and nowhere near shoreline. Just make sure you stock up and don't go outside this weekend. Friend said batteries were out of stock at his local store already.

[limewave]

I don't know how this totally slipped my mind, but we have good friends visiting NYC for the first time right now! They are there for the World Police and Fire Games (they have a mountain bike race :)).

[tytbody]

I've only had to tape windows once. I can't even remember what year it was. didn't leave much damage as I recall, We've have more trees down in a winter storm then the hurricane watches.

Fill the tub up?Do you really think you'll be stuck in the house that long?
Every single time they try to predict for New England, it seems it blows over. I just don't trust them. Sure we will get something, bad shower, lights may go out, but we never have to go to *the mats* as they say.

[Jolt]

I feel pretty well prepared...likely the biggest issue here is the potential to lose power and have trees etc. down, as well as possible flooding although from what I have heard the river that runs through town tends to flood further downstream if it's going to flood. I have flashlights, batteries, some bottled water and a reasonable amount of food that doesn't require cooking, and will bring everything (potted plants, things on the porch etc.) in from outside tomorrow so it doesn't blow around. Also plenty of books to read while I am stuck inside during the crummy weather. Honestly I will probably take the opportunity to take an extra nap to catch up on sleep from my busy week on call at work. It may be that this turns out to be no big deal (as so often happens with storms here, often the winter variety), or it could cause some problems, so it's better to be prepared.

[Jolt]

Pam, I just read that they are shutting down mass transit in NYC. If I were you I'd prepare to stay in that apartment for several days.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/25/2011-08-25_before_hurricane_irene_hits_new_york_to_shut_down_entire_transportation_system_p.html#ixzz1W5pzcMPI

Reason #1001 why I don't envy people who live in NYC...the traffic is going to be absolutely horrendous if people have to leave since there are only so many ways out, and the city really is in a vulnerable spot. That article also mentions that hospitals and nursing homes are having to be evacuated...yikes. Better now than in the middle of a hurricane/flood/etc., but still sounds like a tough process.

[Crankin]

I bought a 24 pack of bottled water and will bring in some outdoor stuff. We have an old Coleman stove we can use, but since I have a gas stove, I'll be fine. Got to go to Starbucks to get some single coffee things... can't go without coffee if the power is out and I can't use my coffee maker.
From what I see, the eye is passing very close to where I live... between somewhere west of Worcester and 495. Thinking I am glad I moved 9 miles east a few years ago!
My biggest concern is that trees in the woods that surround my house might come down... we are on the windy side of the eye.

[ny biker]

I didn't buy any bottled water. I have so many water bottles for cycling and working out, I'm just going to fill up a bunch of them, along with two pitchers that I have.

[rubysoho]

I am thinking the biggest threat is loss of power. So we'll turn the fridge and freezer to lower settings now and maybe fill the bathtub tonight. Other than that, I think the terminology being used is a bit over the top. I hope I'm not wrong. :eek:

[skhill]

It might turn out to be not so bad, but... if you have pets, be sure to have plenty of food for them on hand. When we had a bad ice storm about 10 years ago, much of the city was without power for a week or more. Between power outages and missed deliveries in the immediate aftermath, store shelves were pretty thin for a while, and they had to set priorities for restocking. Pet food was pretty far down the list, and I remember driving from store to store trying to find cat food, 4 days after the storm.

Hang in there, y'all!

[ny biker]

For the DC area, I think the media is being over the top because their audience goes all the way from a few inches of rain in the western suburbs of DC to a 15-foot storm surge in Ocean City. And local governments have a responsibility to prepare for the worst. Think back to the superdome in New Orleans.

With Isabel, I lost electricity for 4 days. My neighbors across the street never lost power at all. I was renting a condo at the time, and my landlord, who lived a few miles away, was still in the dark for several days after my power came back on. A co-worker who lived a few miles in another direction had no water for several days. It's so unpredictable and variable.

I just spoke to my mother. Back in the early '90s there was a nor'easter that caused 4-5 feet of water to cover the main roads in and out of my hometown; both my parents wound up abandoning their cars on their way home from work and wading through it. It was the worst flooding in my lifetime there, and I think the worst they've seen, too. Anyway, I told her I thought they should expect the same with this storm, and she totally agreed. They're assuming they will be staying in their house for several days, and that they will lose electricity. The main concern is all the tall, old trees surrounding their house. They've survived a lot of wind up till now, but the last time they had hurricane-force winds there was 30 years ago.

Another thing I'm glad about -- the people who live next door to my parents always keep an eye on them in bad weather.

Something I'm wondering about -- a couple of my cousins work in construction and they're working on the World Trade Center site. One of them is a crane operator. They must be so busy right now trying to secure everything in advance of the storm. Crazy.

[ny biker]

Mayor Bloomberg has ordered evacuations of some areas in NYC by 5 pm Saturday.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08/26/new-york-city-prepares-for-wrath-of-hurricane-irene-by-beginning-evacuations/

"Bloomberg also announced a mandatory evacuation of all residents in the coastal areas dubbed Zone A and also extended the mandatory evacuation zone to include all of the Rockaways. Zone A includes Battery Park City and parts of Lower Manhattan, the Rockaways and Coney Island. Roughly 270,000 residents are affected."

There is a link in this article that you can use to see if your address is part of the evacuation zone.

Also, to get news in NYC on twitter, follow @nycmayorsoffice, @notifynyc, @CBSnewyork.

[PamNY]

Another thing I'm glad about -- the people who live next door to my parents always keep an eye on them in bad weather.

Something I'm wondering about -- a couple of my cousins work in construction and they're working on the World Trade Center site. One of them is a crane operator. They must be so busy right now trying to secure everything in advance of the storm. Crazy.

I'm so glad your parents have someone nearby to check on them. And yes, I'll bet they are busy at the WTC site.

I have seen lots of worried-looking people in hard hats today.

And I have decided that I need a nice long bike ride this afternoon.

[Trek420]

People, log off of TE and make sure you are either safe, or evacuated to a safe spot, or prepared or best of all all 3.

I imagine if phone service goes down and you need folks on the board to call others to let you know you are ok or where you are we can work something out when the storm passes.


But for now for gosh sakes log off and be safe. Our thoughts are with you. :o

[tytbody]

But it's gorgeous today Trek420. It's hot, those darn insects that make that buzzing sound are about and darn it all, a young man just passed my back door riding his bike. It's the quite before the storm... There goes someone else sitting out here in the parking lot of her VW with the roof down in her convertible.

[ny biker]

I'm just about set. I went shopping on Wednesday night, before everyone went into panic shopping mode. I also filled the gas tank in the car and got some cash from the ATM, just in case we have wide-spread power outages.

Last night I got the flashlights together and made sure I had plenty of batteries. BTW the brightest light I have is my new Bontrager Ion 2 headlight -- it's a lot of light for $40. I think it burns through batteries in 6 hours at the brightest setting, but the less-bright setting will be fine for reading in the dark.

I've made a list of radio stations and websites I can use for news if the cable TV and/or electricity goes out.

Tonight or tomorrow I will fill up lots of water bottles and put them in the fridge. I might cook up some pasta and put it in the fridge so I can have pasta salad even if the power is out. I also need to figure out where I put my old-fashioned deck of cards so I can play solitaire in the dark. I haven't used those cards since Isabel hit...

The worst is expected to hit here late tomorrow afternoon. If I get lucky, I will be able to squeeze in a bike ride in the morning before the rain starts. After that, well, I've been needing to do some cleaning and decluttering around the house, so this seems like the weekend to do it.

[tytbody]

Now if it doesn't do damage to your area are you still going to declutter ny biker? lol

sometimes I think people are afraid to stay in the house on the regular. We need to connect more by doing it and not have foul weather treat to get it done.

[ny biker]

Now if it doesn't do damage to your area are you still going to declutter ny biker? lol

sometimes I think people are afraid to stay in the house on the regular. We need to connect more by doing it and not have foul weather treat to get it done.

Well I have no plans to go anywhere except maybe (hopefully) a bike ride before or after the storm hits, so I will have to do something to pass the time. Of course I might just sit and read, since I have a book I need to finish so I can pass it along to my father and brother. But I will try to get at least some cleaning done. Also I need to pack for my upcoming vacation, so that's another project to work on. But I don't want to come home from vacation to the mess that is currently my living room, which is more incentive to clean.

It gets like this for me every year in late summer and early fall -- I spend my time riding my bike instead of doing things around the house, and after a while the house looks quite neglected.

[tytbody]

lol. I hear ya. Will it be a Biking vacation or will you have to leave her home. Are you near where that MLK dedication is going to be next week?

[ny biker]

I'm about 5-6 miles from the National Mall, though there is a river in between me and it. I heard the MLK Memorial dedication was postponed due to the weather, but hadn't heard yet what the new date would be for it.

I won't be doing any riding on my vacation, but I'm doing a metric a few days after I get back, so I need to log some miles before I leave in order to keep my legs from completely turning to mush. I want to enjoy the metric, not suffer through it. ;)

[Possegal]

The news said 'postponed indefinitely' for the MLK dedication. Then another said something about in a month or two. So who knows.

My big worry is that I'm in the process of replacing my deck. Right now I have the old deck and no railing, and stuff on the deck. If it is very window, they won't just blow around the second story deck, they will blow OFF the deck. I have some cords to use to tie things down, but with no railings, kind of not much to tie them to. I have to figure that out before tomorrow afternoon. :)

My nephew works for a power company back home and his company has had 6 guys down here for the last 2 days, courtesy of Pepco. Not sure why they've been paying them and putting them up here since Wednesday. I also got my first ever Pepco robocall telling me how there may be power outages and they are ready for them. Which, since they recently made a list as the most hated company, I'm not buying.

I was planning on doing some organizing in my house and then a storage unit I have. I got an email from the storage unit place saying they are shutting down from tomorrow until Monday. I wonder if that means I can't even get in the gate, or just that there won't be anyone there in the office. I guess I'll find out.

[Crankin]

I got a "Code Red" robo call from the town of Concord, stating to hang on for a message.
There was none!
Going out to dinner tonight, bike ride early tomorrow, then will take care of the outside things, as much as possible. The furniture on my patio stays out all winter, so that's staying. The table on my deck which is high up, will be folded and laid down. The gas grill on the other deck; well, if that blows, it goes.
Will take the canoe off of its holder and lay it on the ground. That's blown off in a snowstorm. I might cook up some rice and other stuff to eat with the beans and tuna I have in cans.
Hope I don't have to cancel clients on Monday... the only thing that would cause that is trees all over the road and maybe no power. We shall see.

[ny biker]

Most of what's on my balcony will stay there. It's made it through some pretty strong nor'easters in the past few years. I will move a few small things inside if they don't fit in the storage benches that are out there.

I just printed out some work documents to bring home, just in case the power is out here on Monday.

I'm really glad I don't have to rely on Pepco. Dominion is certainly not immune to problems, but we have far fewer problems here than you guys do in DC and MD.

BTW last night people in Laurel, MD received robocalls telling them to evacuate, and they were fake. So I would try to verify any calls like that on a local government or news website, if you get any.

[redrhodie]

I had a lot of empty space in my freezer, so I filled every container I had with water and put it in there. A full freezer keeps the food cold longer in the event of a power outage, and now I have even more water to drink. A good tip I heard on the local news.

I tried to buy an oil lamp, but the woman ahead of me got the last one. The store had more somewhere. Seriously, 2 guys looking, and they couldn't find them. I ended up with ugly candles instead.

[ny biker]

I had a lot of empty space in my freezer, so I filled every container I had with water and put it in there. A full freezer keeps the food cold longer in the event of a power outage, and now I have even more water to drink. A good tip I heard on the local news.

I tried to buy an oil lamp, but the woman ahead of me got the last one. The store had more somewhere. Seriously, 2 guys looking, and they couldn't find them. I ended up with ugly candles instead.

Be careful with those candles.

Great idea about the freezer -- I'll put some of the water bottles in there.

[PamNY]

I went for a nice long bike ride which I highly recommend for anyone facing a hurricane. I feel all better. Ran into a cyclist friend and he cheerily pointed out that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday look like great biking days.:D

Quite a few people in my building are staying (unless the evacuation order changes, which I don't think will happen). The wine store was jammed, and I heard two optimistic people making a tennis date for Monday.

I think we will be okay.

[tulip]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

[bluebug32]

I'm about an 1.5 hours north of the city. They have already shut our county fair down two days early and cancelled everything else for Sat/Sun. Should be interesting to see what actually transpires. I'll charge up our mtb lights and fill our cooler with water. If worse comes to worse, we've got several gallons of homebrew to get us through!

[ny biker]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

From what I'm hearing, Irene should be less bad than Isabel in the DC area, and I think also for Richmond, because we're on the west side of the storm.

As for NY, I would hope for the best but plan for the worst. But then that's how I was raised.

I was going to get up early to try to get in a bike ride tomorrow morning, but I'm too tired to think about that right now. I should be able to get some kind of a ride in on Sunday afternoon, even if it's just an hour of hill repeats in the wind.

[PamNY]

PamNY, you had me calmed down for a while. But I just read that Isabel's sustained winds were 40-60 mph, less than the expected 75mph for Irene, and Isabel left much of Richmond in bad shape and without electricity for a week. So now I'm not so sure.

If NYC floods, you might have a problem with critters that normally live in the underground infrastructure. That was a problem in DC during floods. Ick.

Tulip, there is absolutely no point in worrying about what you can't control. The only thing I can control is me and my dog being near a window, and that won't happen.

One of the neighbors I ran into tonight calmed little children on 9/11 by telling them we were practicing for Halloween when we put painter's rags over our faces to breathe.

We will be fine.

[bluebug32]

It's looking cloudier and cloudier and getting humid as the day passes in NY. Time to get some exercise in now before some big-time sitting around tomorrow. Good luck, everyone! I'm keeping my eye on this: http://www.nytimes.com/projects/hurricanes/?ref=us#!/2011/Irene/?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=US-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-HIT-082511-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

[Blueberry]

The worst is past my mom, and the water is receding. Yay!!!

Safe thoughts for all who are still in her path.

[Crankin]

Went for a 20 mile ride, now going to fill my car with gas, do some errands. Going out for dinner, with friends who left their second home on the Cape to ride out the storm further away from the ocean at their house here. Turned the fridge down, did laundry, and outdoor stuff is folded and down or brought in.
It looks like we will have 30-40 mph winds with gusts up to 50-70. That's enough to send the power bye bye. I am glass we have a local utility just for our town, so we don't have to deal with a mega company.

[PamNY]

I went to the pet store to snag a few more wee wee pads this morning. The guy ahead of me in line was buying a complete
aquarium system and wanted it delivered.

Blueberry, good news about your mother. I'm going out for a Xootr ride before it starts raining harder. Maybe I can get Jim Cantore's autograph.

[ny biker]

Advice from an expert in Miami...

http://www.davebarry.com/misccol/hurricane.htm

Somehow I got a small splinter in my finger last night. I'm soaking it to soften the skin, then will need to break the skin with a needle so I can remove it. Nothing a little self-inflicted pain on a rainy day...

BTW I've heard that my cousin is expected to be at work at the WTC site today and tomorrow. He's already secured his crane for the storm. They have water pumps in place but there's nowhere to pump the water to.

[ny biker]

And here is some real advice, about communicating during emergencies. Good stuff.

http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/emergency-information/hurricane-irene-news-release-01.pdf

I'm hearing of power outages in Richmond. One friend there lost power 3 hours ago.

[Trek420]

You can listen to Irene here:

http://youarelistening.to/irene

[ny biker]

My poor cousin was going crazy on Tuesday after the earthquake. She was on Long Island, her husband and brother at work in lower Manhattan, her son and in-laws in Virginia near the epicenter. And she couldn't reach anyone by phone. I texted her, she tried to call me and was able to leave a voice mail even though my phone never rang and the call never showed up in my call history.

I just emailed her and asked for her son's cell phone number, and told her she could give my phone number to him and her in-laws. Hopefully it will never happen, but in an emergency if they can't reach her maybe they could reach me and I could get a message up to family members on Long Island.

[tulip]

Power went out in my part of RVA about 3-4 hours ago (I'm reporting by iphone). It was a series of dramatic transformer explosions. Lots of big branches down in my yard; they are loud when they hit and roll off the roof. Lots of rain and wind and gusts.

I am glad I still have a landline and regular (corded) phone. Cordless phones don't work with no power and cell phones need to be charged. It's nice to know I can call out if needed. I also found a 1980s-era Walkman with radio in my shed out back. It even has a weather radio!

I heard that I-85 at Petersburg is completely blocked by trees. The Fan also apparently has lots of trees down, but I'm not in that part of town so I dint know the extent. VCU area bars are doing a great business, apparently.

If your power goes out and you have an automatic icemaker in your freezer, it's a good idea to fill up water bottles/pitchers/jars with that ice and turn off the ice making switch. Otherwise your freezer will be a wet soggy mess.

[ny biker]

I'm hearing that 70% of Dominion customers in Richmond have no power.

There is a tornado watch for the NY metro area until 5 am. Tornado safety info:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/safety.html

[Trek420]

My poor cousin was going crazy on Tuesday after the earthquake. She was on Long Island, her husband and brother at work in lower Manhattan, her son and in-laws in Virginia near the epicenter. And she couldn't reach anyone by phone.

When there's an emergency we instinctively reach for the phone. Phone service whether traditional dial tone or cell is really not designed to handle every mothers son of the users in the area all at once. Plain ol' telephone service shuts down to protect the network for 1st responders if enough people dial all at once :eek:

Which is why we all (yes, self included, I need to revisit this) need an emergency phone plan. One person you call or contact outside of your area, that person calls everyone else to let them know you're ok ... or not.

Also in an emergency stay off the line unless you have an actual emergency. If you must call and you have no dial tone don't hang up and try again ... you just make matters worse. Wait, it may come on in a few seconds or a minute or two, make that one call and hang up.

http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=1325

[jessmarimba]

I haven't heard from my mom yet - I hope her house is ok. She had to work today and her new store is pretty far from home. I have no idea if she had to work late b/c of all of the people at the grocery store, or if she can't get home b/c of fallen trees, or if she's just home already but not answering. Argh. I'm not desperate enough yet to send my BF to check on her but I'm getting a little worried.

[Aggie_Ama]

I'm about an 1.5 hours north of the city. They have already shut our county fair down two days early and cancelled everything else for Sat/Sun. Should be interesting to see what actually transpires. I'll charge up our mtb lights and fill our cooler with water. If worse comes to worse, we've got several gallons of homebrew to get us through!

Well at least you will lose cares with the homebrew! Power out? Oh well, let's drink another. Hope it doesn't come to that.

[ny biker]

I haven't heard from my mom yet - I hope her house is ok. She had to work today and her new store is pretty far from home. I have no idea if she had to work late b/c of all of the people at the grocery store, or if she can't get home b/c of fallen trees, or if she's just home already but not answering. Argh. I'm not desperate enough yet to send my BF to check on her but I'm getting a little worried.

Where is she?

[jessmarimba]

Richmond, Va.

[Crankin]

Raining like crazy here. Just got home from dinner. People out and about still, but the winds won't start until around 5 AM.
Public transit will be shut down in Boston tomorrow. Dreading the power loss that most likely will happen.

[Jolt]

Just started raining here less than an hour ago, not raining that hard yet. Got a phone call this afternoon saying church is cancelled due to the storm (not that I was planning to go anyway--too much chance of getting stranded along the way because of downed trees/power lines in the road) so am planning to sleep in and recover from my busy week. Hoping we don't lose power but it's pretty likely that it will happen. My kitchen is pretty cluttered right now--I brought all my plants (container vegetable garden) inside in anticipation of the high winds.

[tulip]

Jess, it's still really bad here. Does your mom have a corded landline? If not, she can't use a cordless phone because there is no power. Cell phones work unless she turned it off to save battery. Still really blowing and raining hard, trees down everywhere. I'm sending you PM with my phone number; maybe I can help track down your mom tomorrow.

I'm a bit frightened and alot exhausted. This has been going on for many hours, and there are many hours still to go. We are not expected to have power for several days.

Folks north of me: this is no joke. Dont take any chances. Hunker down.

[ny biker]

Neighborhoods in the DC metro area are losing power now. Wind gusts at National Airport are around 45 mph.

There was a tornado near Lewes, DE. 15 structures damaged.

I can't believe the storm is still so far south. I wish it would move faster.

[tulip]

I can't believe the storm is still so far south. I wish it would move faster.

It's moving at about 13 mph last I heard. That's about as fast as I ride a bike when I'm looking at the scenery.

About 1.5 hours ago it was 20 miles south of where the Rappahannock enters the Bay (white stone, va), having left Norfolk. Slow and very strong. I wonder if Tangier Island was evacuated; I think Eastern Shore was.

More stuff falling on my roof!

[ny biker]

It's moving at about 13 mph last I heard. That's about as fast as I ride a bike when I'm looking at the scenery.

About 1.5 hours ago it was 20 miles south of where the Rappahannock enters the Bay (white stone, va), having left Norfolk. Slow and very strong. I wonder if Tangier Island was evacuated; I think Eastern Shore was.

More stuff falling on my roof!

I hate storm sounds. Especially wind. I guess it's better to be inside listening than outside having a more up-close-and-personal experience. But still.

How's the dog handling the storm?

p.s. fwiw, Dominion says more power outages than expected, but still 1 million fewer than they had with Irene.

[jessmarimba]

Jess, it's still really bad here. Does your mom have a corded landline? If not, she can't use a cordless phone because there is no power. Cell phones work unless she turned it off to save battery. Still really blowing and raining hard, trees down everywhere. I'm sending you PM with my phone number; maybe I can help track down your mom tomorrow.

I'm a bit frightened and alot exhausted. This has been going on for many hours, and there are many hours still to go. We are not expected to have power for several days.

Folks north of me: this is no joke. Dont take any chances. Hunker down.

Thanks. She's always had an extra phone around but I don't know if the phone lines are still up there, either. She doesn't have a cell phone and now I'm wishing she did. And a bike, for that matter. I'm glad she finally did everything I told her to do with securing things in the yard and getting extra food.

It has actually so inundated my world just from the internet exposure that I was surprised to look outside and see the sun here earlier. I had a train of thought in the back of my head that I needed to prepare for being stuck and it has been hard to remember that I don't live back east anymore.

[ny biker]

Jeezy peezy. Someone from the Virginia Office of Emergency Management just told ABC7 news that people should expect it to take 1-2 weeks for power to be restored.

I really really hope she was utterly misinformed.

[PamNY]

Thanks. She's always had an extra phone around but I don't know if the phone lines are still up there, either. She doesn't have a cell phone and now I'm wishing she did. And a bike, for that matter. I'm glad she finally did everything I told her to do with securing things in the yard and getting extra food.

It's probably just some phone difficulty if you haven't heard from her -- more than likely she's fine. I hope you've talked to her by now.

Not much happening here just yet. When/if the storm surge happens, power might be turned off to protect equipment from salt water.

We have building staff on hand to help if windows get broken.

[PamNY]

Thanks. She's always had an extra phone around but I don't know if the phone lines are still up there, either. She doesn't have a cell phone and now I'm wishing she did. And a bike, for that matter. I'm glad she finally did everything I told her to do with securing things in the yard and getting extra food.

It's probably just some phone difficulty if you haven't heard from her -- more than likely she's fine. I hope you've talked to her by now.

Not much happening here just yet. When/if the storm surge happens, power might be turned off to protect equipment from salt water.

[Trek420]

It's probably just some phone difficulty if you haven't heard from her

You can say that again :p I'm sure she's fine. You'll have quite a story of Hurricane Irene.

[bluebug32]

My usually intelligent DH decided to drive down to visit his parents in NJ today. After me texting him to tell him it's been pouring rain ALL day here, he's finally headed home and crawling on the Thruway to get through all the water :rolleyes:

[owlice]

It's a little windy out there. :eek: Heard a transformer blow a bit ago; the grid rerouted power so it only blipped out here. It's been out at least three times so far. I'd fallen asleep early -- spent a good part of Saturday taking my kid to college -- and the wind awoke me about two hours ago. It should start to subside within the next hour.

With Isabel, I lost power for a week. I meant to stock up on ice cream in case the power went out during this storm, but forgot, darn it!





(Because in the case of a power outlet, I'd have to eat all the ice cream so it wouldn't go to waste.)

[hebe]

I've just been looking at this on the BBC website, I hope that everyone in the path of Irene or with loved ones there is safe and well-provisionned. Thinking of you all.

[Crankin]

Wind is steady and blowing, but nothing over 25 mph yet. Rain bands on and off. DH just reminded me that the wind from the storm is coming from the south, the side of the house where all of our trees are. I just heard about 500 people in Middlesex County are without power; the wind isn't even that bad yet!
I am praying our little Concord Electric Company will keep things together.

[Sardine]

I've just been looking at this on the BBC website, I hope that everyone in the path of Irene or with loved ones there is safe and well-provisionned. Thinking of you all.

+1. Very worrying. Hope that you all keep safe.

[Koronin]

Hope those of you still in the path stay safe. We're in TN for the NASCAR races, headed on in a bit. Called home after the race last night and the phone rang and the answering machine picked up, so our house has power. Also talked to one of hubby's co-workers yesterday afternoon. He was without power, but otherwise everything was good. He lives about a mile from us.

[Owlie]

I've just been looking at this on the BBC website, I hope that everyone in the path of Irene or with loved ones there is safe and well-provisionned. Thinking of you all.

This. Stay safe, everyone.

[jessmarimba]

Whew. Mom finally called at 5:45 this morning. I wasn't too coherent, but I figured out that she has forgotten I'm on a different time zone, she had to work an extra 4 hours yesterday, and she forgot to find the corded phone before the power went out & she didn't have the lights to find it. Sounds like the two old trees in her yard made it.

Hope everyone else is safe. There are some scary photos out there.

[Crankin]

We lost power for about an hour and 15 minutes... right when I was starting to read Susan's PBP report! I had already showered and had breakfast. I was about to make a second cup of coffee in the espresso maker when boom! We used a match to light the gas stove and boiled water for the Starbuck's singles I bought yesterday. Read the paper and was starting to get restless when the power went back on. From what I am seeing on TV, it looks pretty bad on the south side of the Cape and the south coast, especially Buzzards Bay, Falmouth, and Westport.

[Jolt]

Raining pretty hard here now...winds starting to pick up. Not that bad yet but we'll see what happens. There will probably be some trees down and power outages by the end of this.

[DebW]

The rain is tapering off here, and the worst of the storm should be over for the Boston area. I went kayaking in Boston Harbor yesterday morning. It was calm and there were very few boats in the harbor.

[ny biker]

Well I still have power, yay!! Lots of trees down around here, but in my immediate vicinity things look okay.

My family in NY and CT are okay but without power.

Since it's still windy I will probably do a short ride in my neighborhood this afternoon but nothing more ambitious than that.

[tulip]

Trees down all over. Crown of very large oak is suspended precariously 20 feet above my house. I heard the crack but it didn't fall. Yet. On waiting list for tree company. Maybe Wednesday. 70 foot oak fell across the street crushing my neighbor's garden shed but missing her house by 1 foot. Terribe sound a tree makes when it cracks and crashes. Power out for estimated 1-2 weeks; hopefully sooner than that.

Thankfully nothing worse. It was a harrowing night. I hope all in NE are okay.

[Crankin]

Had another hour or so of no power. The worst of the storm has just passed us. Just when the weatherman on TV said a burst was passing through Concord, we had a huge wind gust, maybe 50 mph. I heard a banging noise upstairs, but haven't gone to look. No trees down, just lots of little branches and leaves. DH had to go out and fix one of the drains he had made after a flood a few years ago.
The wind has just shifted to the west/southwest instead of straight south, so that would mean less tree damage possibility for my house.

[Jolt]

Well, it looks like here in Sanford (or at least my part of town) we were pretty lucky. Power stayed on, trees stayed up and the river hasn't overflowed. All in all really not a big deal at my place, just some rain and wind. However, I've heard other parts of York County as well as some other areas have power outages and there is concern for flooding along the Saco River and other places. It sounds like Vermont is in bad shape with flooding as they got the worst of the rain. Hopefully any TE members there have gotten to high ground.

[Irulan]

:eek:

They won't come and remove fast to prevent further damage? Jeeze. Talk about harrowing.

Imagine how many calls the poor tree guys are getting right now.They are surely working overtime and then some.

[Crankin]

So, it turns out the second power failure and the loud noise was a birch tree falling at the end of my driveway. We never knew... until my neighbor, who we share the driveway with called and told me. DH had gone out and he saw the tree was all down and cut up, but not the hole in the ground. I guess Concord Power and Light came and did their thing quite quickly.
There's a lot of trees down in Sudbury and Wayland, not as much around here. Western MA is a mess, as is Vermont, as Jolt said. They had to close Rt. 91 on the MA/Vt. border, because of flooding. I just got an email from my friend in AZ, who is originally from Montreal. Her relatives said the storm is wreaking havoc up there now.
Not looking forward to driving to my client's homes tomorrow, but I suppose there aren't too many trees in the city!

[tulip]

With hundreds, maybe thousands of trees down, I'm pretty happy to be considered sometime this week. I've roped off the area with caution tape to alert passers-by, although it is notin danger of falling on the street; I just want folks to be aware. there's no breeze at all tonight. Still no power, although the other end of my street has power. I'm enjoying the quiet, actually.

[Koronin]

We're home and all is good here. Did a survey of the house. We have a few tree limbs down, but they didn't land on anything. Talked with a neighbor and we were without power for about 6 hours on Saturday.

[ny biker]

I'm hearing on the twitter that Vermont is getting hammered with floods. When will it end?

[NbyNW]

Tulip, I hope they get to that tree before there is any damage to your house!

Hope all are staying safe!

[jessmarimba]

This tree fell in my sister's neighbor's yard. Somehow missed every house, thank goodness. That's her sitting on the tree. I hope they take care of yours soon, Tulip!

13647

[redrhodie]

We have power! Yay! We went without for 27 hours. It was fun until we ran out of hot water, then it became way less fun. We listened to my old boom box, and cooked and ate everything we had that might spoil.

I went for a bike ride this morning, and was surprised by the lack of damage. It was better than some Nor'easters we've had. The new seawall seemed to hold up great. There was just sand and small rocks on the road, and lots of small branches down.

This morning we went to our little cheese shop because we noticed she was opening. Turns out she was giving away all the cheese. She gave my bf at least $100 worth. He's a regular customer, but I still feel bad that she couldn't take any money. But I have to admit, he's very excited about it.

Our local Stop and Shop was also open this morning, but not selling any cold things. I was dreading the long line, but then noticed a register open with no one at it. Then I realized the long line was for coffee, not groceries. I always use a French press, so we weren't affected by the low caffeine.

I'm very glad power is back on, especially to the traffic lights. People were driving like maniacs, and the intersections were scary. Probably not having coffee made them more aggressive.

Hope everyone is okay.

[Fredwina]

From looking at the news, Upstate got hit pretty good. since I was supposed to report for new job this am, I was driving through the worst of it yesterday from Srycause to Albany. They had closed the Turnpike (Thruway?) at my exit, but I had to take a detour to get to the hotel.

[FunSize]

The storm wasn't too bad where i was in western mass. There was a lot of flooding near the rivers though. My bf and I wanted to visit Vermont for mountain biking or road biking... but that doesn't look like a possibility. The flooding in Vermont is really bad. Got a good bike ride in today. 46 miles. I felt like dying as we rode up 66.

[Crankin]

Fun Size, that's a nice road...
I am glad I took my trip to the Berkshires in July and to NY earlier in the month.
The town is going to cart away the remains of the birch trees that fell on either side of the driveway, since they are in the easement. DH and neighbor will fill the hole in.
The power is still off in DH's office in Natick (just in his building). He cleaned up the yard today. I had no issues on my drive up to Lowell and then Lawrence; once I got out of Concord/Acton, there wasn't even any debris on the road. My clients thought the whole storm was a ruse, since there was no evidence of it around them! Yet 6 miles south of my house there's still no power and huge trees down. Several schools that were supposed to open today didn't.

[tulip]

Still no power, tree still hanging over my house. I need to find a place with power and Internet to in order to work. I have some projects that can't wait anymore. Insurance company has been difficult about the tree. Working on that, though.

[Irulan]

Jeez you think your work would give you a break....

[tulip]

Jeez you think your work would give you a break....

I am a consultant and I get paid when when the work gets done--milestones, not hours. I could take the entire week off, but that would delay the next stage of these projects, which would delay getting paid and put whole projects behind schedule, which could jeopardize them since there are lots of steps riding on each other. It's a tradeoff--I work a very flexible schedule and can work from home or wherever I happen to be, but it's not like there are idle people who can take over for me. We are a very small team of three people, and when you lose one person, it's a big deal.

Besides, what would I do at home, sit around and watch my tree sway in the breeze? I've already cleaned my fridge and it's cleaner than the day I bought it. I can't vacuum or do laundry. I've picked up the branches in the yard already...I can't work on my sewing project--my sewing machine dates from 1954 but it's still electric.

I've been working in a cafe all morning and early afternoon and I've gotten alot done. There are many of us power/internet refugees here and everyone is very nice to each other about sharing tables and such.

Still fighting about the insurance, but I have to do that from somewhere with power since I cannot recharge my cell phone at home. Mostly, I just want the tree people to come to take the tree down.

[SheFly]

Well, we were without power at our house (and on our street) for a total of 73 hours. Heard the transformer blow at noon on Sunday, and it FINALLY came back on yesterday at 1 pm. That was the good news.

The bad news was that in addition to losing some food from the fridge/freezer, we lost the entire refrigerator! We went out today and had to buy new. Trying to see if insurance will cover it for us. They will cover the food loss, but the fridge is in question.

We didn't have it as bad as many though - still had running water, hot water, and could cook on the gas stove. We also have a house in Maine, where we were able to take all of the meat from our freezer! Thankfully, we are on vacation this week, so headed north with two coolers full of meat on Monday. When we got there, our road at the bottom was impassable - the Androscoggin had literally risen 18 feet and cut off the town!

We also did a big ride on Tuesday over Jefferson Notch (highest maintained state road in NH - it's dirt and is a b*tch to climb). Going up was no problem, but on the downside (towards 302), the road was literally gone in several sections. It was amazing to see.

For all the naysayers out there, this was a brutal storm.

SheFly

[redrhodie]

Both my and my bf's workplaces are still without power. We both worked today. My job is a lot easier with power tools, and there's only so much I can do without them. I'm not going in again until it's back on. It just takes too long to do anything, and it wears me out physically using just hand tools. Hoping it will be on soon, but the line is just hanging there, with no crews working on it. It looks like it will be a while.

Not sure how my bf's restaurant will function. He's there now prepping for a private party tomorrow night. I don't know what the plan is if power doesn't come back on by then. There's a generator, but I'm not sure if it can handle more than the fridges. This may all be for naught.

[tulip]

The tree issue has been resolved. They had to bring in a huge crane; it was too high and far for a bucket truck. Let's just say that the insurance company came around to my way of thinking.

Red, I hope you get power soon at work.

SheFly, it was brutal indeed.

[bluebug32]

I was in Upstate NY for the past few days, Schoharie County actually, helping my mom clear a 90-foot tree from her yard that had fallen during the storm and dropping clothes and supplies off at her local shelter. Many towns in the county were just destroyed, houses floating down the street and the National Guard is everywhere. Many buildings have already been condemned and sad to think that many could not afford flood insurance or were advised against getting it based on their locations. Now they have nothing. Closer to home, Windham and Hunter were hit hard too. They got 16 inches of rain. I was talking to someone who had a 3 ton bulldozer get washed out of his yard, never to be seen again.

[Fredwina]

Schoharie County did get pretty hard. My boss jokingly told me "Since you came here with Irene, you can do the programming changes for it". I'm working for OTDA(Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance) and there are some rumors that there may be some special benefits coming.

[bluebug32]

Good to hear! You just moved to the area? Welcome...I grew up in Cobleskill, but am living in the Hudson Valley now.

I'm going to volunteer in the Catskills tomorrow to help some of those who were hit hard by the hurricane. Wish I could be in Schoharie County though.

[Koronin]

Glad the tree is taken care. Hope you all start seeing some improvements soon. We were hit too badly here. Some wind damage is all, but the Outer Banks (esp Hatteras Island) got hit hard. There are 3 new inlets. They are filling in two of them within the next month and redoing the road, and the 3rd is getting a temporary bridge until that one can be refilled in. That road is the only way on or off the island other than by ferry and the ferry only runs to another island that is only accessible by ferry. Also without the road they can't even start to fix the electric coming onto the island. Both Hatteras Island and Ocrakoke Island are being fully powered by generators. Tomorrow (Sunday) they will be starting to allow residents back onto Hatteras Island, but only to the southern most towns of Hatteras Village, Buxton, and Frisco. The northern towns (Avon, Waves, Salvo, and Rodanthe) still remain under a mandatory evacuation. Ocrakoke Island started allowing residents back earlier in the week.

[Fredwina]

Yes, I'm sitting in an empty apt. need to go shopping, if only the window variety