November Nor'easter!

[ASammy1]

Still raining here... Flood levels about the same as Hurricane Isobel... $10s of millions of damage... Waves still 20+ft... Some neighborhoods people are wading through waist deep water to evacuate their homes... 200,000 people without power (I'm not one of them)... I've never seen anything like this and I want to cry...

My wedding is on the 24th and I don't know if I have a ceremony site, reception site, caterer, etc... and I'm a lucky one...

[NoNo]

NY - I think my mom has those shoes, only in like a tan and green. She wears them when she's working at the bakery, so I'm assuming they're pretty comfortable.

Looks like the storm has sort of made it's way up here. Super windy today, and while it hasn't rained yet, the skies certainly look threatening.

[hoffsquared]

3rd Nor'easter since mid Sept. Well 4 if you count the double whammy a couple of weeks ago.

I'm wishing I had packed an overnight bag - not sure I can/want to try to go home tonight. There will be at least a foot of water at my front door. The last storm I had water over top of my first step - and by tomorrow after 3 more high tides, I expect it to be to the 2nd step. The price we pay for living in paradise. I do have my boots in the car though so if I attempt it I can park a few blocks away and walk in for a look see, perhaps to grab a change of clothes and my laptop and and go find a motel on higher ground. Ugh.

Winds here are gusting to 55 mph, waves are 22' high, every 10-12 seconds, and no relief till Saturday.

We stay out on Delaware Bay alot (north of Lewes). Will be giving neighbors a call later today to see how much beach we lost.

[withm]

We stay out on Delaware Bay alot (north of Lewes). Will be giving neighbors a call later today to see how much beach we lost.

I'm about 20 miles south from Lewes, in a neighborhood that floods regularly due to its proximity to the back bays and canal system. I was not able to go home last night because of road closures. Had to buy some toiletries and clothes and stay in a motel. Today I left work early enough to ensure I could walk the last 1/2 mile or so while it was still daylight, so I could see the debris in extremely flooded road to my house. I arrived to find several pieces of fire department equipment on site and I was wondering if there had been a fire, gas leak (we don't have gas, but I had no idea why they were there) or what. Turns out they were evacuating people from the far end of the development, by boat. So when they were done with that, they allowed me to unload my bags from the car into their boat, then I moved the car to higher ground, donned my boots, and walked back to the boat, and they took me the block and a half to my door. Quite a production! I was almost embarassed for using their taxi service.

We passed through water that was easily waist deep before arriving at my house where the water level was about 14 inches deep at my front door, between the 1st and 2nd steps, and rising. (There are 5 steps so it would have a ways to go to enter my house). They thought I was nuts but there are a few of us her who are going to ride it out. The wind has dropped to the 35-40kt range, and should continue to dissipate, albeit over the next couple of days.

The damage here is unreal. There is about a mile stretch of Rt. 1 between the Inlet Bridge and Dewey Beach where the dune was washed out, and the ocean met the bay - for those familiar with the area, this is the location of the "old" inlet. The highway and bridge were closed yesterday around 4pm, and are not expected to reopen until sometime next week, which turns my 12 mile drive to work into over 30 miles, one way.

Beach front houses are experiencing significant damage. Dunes are being broken in many places. Waves as high as 20' or more are crashing onto the beach, houses, or anything else in the way. The county has been declared a disaster area, and residents are saying they have never seen anything like this in 35-40 years. Not quite so bad as the "Storm of 62" but we have much more substantial dunes in place now as they had back then.

Although I am a mile from the ocean, as the crow flies, without the new dune recently rebuilt, the damage would be much, much worse. I would not have even tried to get home had that been the case.

I'm sure my crawl space is full of water and I dread getting that cleaned out before it turns into a mold haven.

Ahhh the joys of living at the beach.

[ASammy1]

withm,

My thoughts are with you