In a word, a nightmare here in the WDC metro area.

It hit us around 10:30---husband, dogs, and I came downstairs into the living room since our house is surrounded by huge old oaks. Sounded worse than Hurricane Isobel, but thank God, it didn't last long.

We were one of the lucky ones---didn't lose power. We didn't have internet until 1pm Saturday, verizon & att wireless service is (was) out, and our landline is now down.

Many in the area are without power. There are tree branches down in my neighborhood, but we got off easy, comparatively speaking.

The pool opened on time and several of my friends there were without power in their homes. After a half hour, they closed the pool due to the lack of communications (i.e., no phone service, so they couldn't call 911 in case one of us geezers had a heart attack and needed an ambulance). I was only able to do about a quarter of my normal Saturday endurance swim, do I came home, walked the dogs before it got hot, and rowed 5,000 meters!

Possibly more storms expected today.... Praying it's not as bad as last night.

Hope all are well.