Hurricane Irene

[Crockett]

It's looking like a good portion of the East coast will be impacted one way or another by Irene this weekend, even as far north as the DC, Philly, & NYC areas

Any of us here having to evacuate or change plans this weekend due to the fact?

Everyone stay safe.

 

[acishere]

I live about a 8 minute walk from the ocean so I'm getting evacuated eventually. They just haven't announced when.

I've been checking my town website all day. First it said to move your cars to blah or blah in case of flooding. Now its saying to tune to an AM station the town has for updates firsthand which is kind of hard because it turns out I don't have a radio in my house. I never thought of it until now. So they better update their site or tell the local paper so they can announce it on theirs because I need to be in NYC till 2pm tomorrow and I'd like to be able to get in my house when I get back. Town south of me is supposed to announce mandatory evacuations tomorrow so I'm expecting mine to do the same. The roads in some areas of my town floods at high tide after it rains so if everyone around me is getting told to get out its only a matter of time. No matter what I'm going inland Saturday. I just want to make sure my town doesn't pull a LBI and require people to be out by 8am tomorrow or even a Belmar and tell everyone to get out by nightfall Friday. I need time to move stuff into my attic in case of flooding before I flee to the Poconos with my dog.

 

[SeaCastle]

We live about 20 minutes from the beach (on fairly high ground), so we're staying put. I have friends in Highlands and Monmouth Beach that are evacuating tomorrow, due to mandatory orders. Especially since it will be a New Moon, I'm expecting most of the Bayshore area as well as the areas along the Navesink/Shrewsbury Rivers down along the beach to be underwater. The way that the wind is blowing will mean that all over the water will be pushed through the waterways, with the storm surge on top of that.

The only thing we're worrying about now is trees falling on our house. We don't foresee it becoming too big of a problem (we've had some very near misses in the past), but especially with the soggy ground, you just can't tell.

 

[stargrl33]

I live three hours inland but they are saying 60-80 mph winds and a lot of rivers flooding. Luckily there are no big trees near my apartment and I'm up on a hill. Growing up, all we had to worry about in New England were the snowstorms but this year we have had tornadoes and an earthquake. :shrug: Here we go....

 

[acishere]

And it has happened...

"All residents living in Manasquan East of Potter Avenue, including the entire Beachfront, Deep Creek Drive and Glimmer Glass Circle are advised that a State of Emergency has been implemented at 2:30 p.m. August 26, 2011 with a Mandatory Evacuation Order beginning 6:00 a.m. August 27, 2011."

Guess what street I live on

 

[diddy_mouse]

I'm in VA (not coastal) and I'm bracing for wind and rain. The traffic has been horrible almost all day today and it's getting worse. 95N was at a crawl this afternoon. We are going to brave the grocery store tomorrow...just in case.

 

[The Mom]

I'm in VA (not coastal) and I'm bracing for wind and rain. The traffic has been horrible almost all day today and it's getting worse. 95N was at a crawl this afternoon. We are going to brave the grocery store tomorrow...just in case.

Good luck - the shelves might be empty by then.

You might want to think outside of the box. Places like Office Depot usually have bottled water, flashlights, batteries, hand sanitizer, etc.

I know from experience that once a warning has been issued, people go crazy. If you can possibly get to a grocery store tonight I highly advise it. Or early in the morning (before 8AM) when shelves might have been restocked.

 

[miles1]

Good luck - the shelves might be empty by then.

You might want to think outside of the box. Places like Office Depot usually have bottled water, flashlights, batteries, hand sanitizer, etc.

Outside the box is empty too.:lol: I had to go to the auto parts store this evening. The clerk told me they were cleaned out of flashlights, batteries, and even car batteries (people around here use them to power basement sump pumps during blackouts). Someone even came in and cleaned out their vending machine of bottled water! The level of panic around here is surreal and the New York media is making it worse.

The current projected path goes right over my house in Western Connecticut. Having lived through Gloria in 1985, I kind of think it will be more of an inconvenience than a catastrophe, at least in my area. My house is surrounded by 100-200 year old trees, but my biggest fear is loosing the electricity. Our power company is truly incompetent and it could take them a week or more to restore power from even minor damage. I have stocked up on water bottles (which the kids use for school anyway), a few canned goods, and some batteries, and I've pulled in the outdoor furniture and checked the gutters.

I hope everyone out there stays safe.

 

[BigTxEars]

Good luck to all, that thing looks like it is going to bounce all along the coast

Been thru a few here on the gulf coast of Texas, they are not fun but they are interesting. They have a way of putting smaller problem in your life into perspective. It is also neat to see the community pull together.

Gas up the car, bottled water (fill up the bath tubs and sinks to use for non drinking purposes) and food are the biggies. Batteries and flashlights of course. If you are using canned food make sure you have a manual can opener, if your power goes out you are going to need it. Candles and matches.

Course here in Texas we stock up on ammo as well :ROFLOL:

 

[miles1]

Live Update from Irene

Hello All. The eye of Irene is now 60 mi SE of us and still predicted to come within 5-10 miles of our house. Amazingly we still have electricity, phone, cable, etc. No huge wind gusts yet, but LOTS of water. A new stream has developed down the mountainside about 30 feet from our house. Otherwise no trees down or other damage that I can see from the house.

I hope everyone in the path is safe and as lucky as we are.

 

[acishere]

Currently I'm taking shelter at a relative's house in one of those retirement communities west of Toms River, NJ. Spent the night getting slammed with high winds and heavy rain, but the power stayed on.

My house that I was evacuated from Saturday morning (mandatory evac) is without a doubt surrounded by water and without power. So unless I get a boat I'm not going home yet. Its raised so I'm hoping it passed under. I'm going to try and post a photo below of a picture on the web I found that was taken about a block away. Its below the guardrail which is hope it didn't go in the house.

 

[trr1]

I'm glad that Irene is gone :wave:

 

[prberk]

Ironically, in Virginia, although the eye passed nearest the beach areas (about 100 miles east of us in Richmond), the Richmond/Petersburg areas were the worst hit with power outages and downed trees.

I am at work now, on lunch, and the small area around the Chesterfield Courthouse area near me has power, but my house and most of the area is still without power. Power lines snapped and trees down everywhere. They are saying it will take days to get everyone back up and running.

Most are fortunate, though there was some loss of life. An 11-year-old was killed in Newport News when a tree fell on his house. He was lying on his bed next to has mother when the tree fell on him. She survived but he did not.

Have to be thankful for each day, even with a cold shower taken in the dark.

Paul

 

[tigsmom]

The eye of the hurricane stalled just over us so we got hit badly. Personally we made out ok and since we didn't lose power until late Sunday afternoon (came back on yesterday after 30 hours) our sump pump was working during the height of the storm and we only ended up with a relatively small amount of standing water instead of 3-5 ft that many in town did. Had some minor repairs done to the water system already so now it's just cleanup, getting rid of spoiled food and drying out the basement.

We lost many roads to collapse due to undermining and they are still rescuing people who are stuck by the cresting rivers, collapsed bridges (and those who insist on driving into standing water...there is nothing underneath).

 

[The Mom]

The eye of the hurricane stalled just over us so we got hit badly. Personally we made out ok and since we didn't lose power until late Sunday afternoon (came back on yesterday after 30 hours) our sump pump was working during the height of the storm and we only ended up with a relatively small amount of standing water instead of 3-5 ft that many in town did. Had some minor repairs done to the water system already so now it's just cleanup, getting rid of spoiled food and drying out the basement.

We lost many roads to collapse due to undermining and they are still rescuing people who are stuck by the cresting rivers, collapsed bridges (and those who insist on driving into standing water...there is nothing underneath).

Thank you for posting. I was concerned when I saw how badly your area, along with other inland areas in the NE, was hit.

 

[prberk]

Still out of power at home (have it at work), as are 50% of the Central Virginia area customers. But blessed with only minor damage.

Spent yesterday evening with youth my church helping a senior citizen clean up her yard. They said that they would come back and help some more tonight. So, I will be doing that again tonight.

Power company does not expect to have everyone up before end of the week, at least.

 

[tigsmom]

Thank you for posting. I was concerned when I saw how badly your area, along with other inland areas in the NE, was hit.

Thanks for the concern

Still out of power at home (have it at work), as are 50% of the Central Virginia area customers. But blessed with only minor damage.

Spent yesterday evening with youth my church helping a senior citizen clean up her yard. They said that they would come back and help some more tonight. So, I will be doing that again tonight.

Power company does not expect to have everyone up before end of the week, at least.

Glad you are ok as well.

We have seen a lot of neighbors helping each other out and that makes you feel good. We were told we would not have power till Friday, but they are working very quickly, around the clock. Hopefully you will have power soon.

My niece is in LakeRidge and they did well, but a neighbor had an 80ft tree fall on their house.

 

[mickeysshoes]

Now we have to brace to the possibilty of Katia by this weekend. Right now looks like its moving WNW at 18 mph and headed right to the eastern coast.....

 

[acishere]

The eye of the hurricane stalled just over us so we got hit badly. Personally we made out ok and since we didn't lose power until late Sunday afternoon (came back on yesterday after 30 hours) our sump pump was working during the height of the storm and we only ended up with a relatively small amount of standing water instead of 3-5 ft that many in town did. Had some minor repairs done to the water system already so now it's just cleanup, getting rid of spoiled food and drying out the basement.

We lost many roads to collapse due to undermining and they are still rescuing people who are stuck by the cresting rivers, collapsed bridges (and those who insist on driving into standing water...there is nothing underneath).

My house is raised about 5ft and the water came through at 4ft so one more foot of water it would have been in my house. It swept through my garage and laundry room so now I get to have a song and dance with my insurance about that. For a while my house was basically a part of the lake and canals surrounding me. So much that as I was leaving Sunday night after surveying the damage I kept seeing this shiny thing under my deck with the flashlight. It was a fish. My favorite parking space on the other end of town for the surfing beach is gone, the road was destroyed and went in the water.

And yet people I know are still acting like this was a whole lot of nothing and the evacuations were stupid and blah blah blah. Its frustrating.

 

[tigsmom]

My house is raised about 5ft and the water came through at 4ft so one more foot of water it would have been in my house. It swept through my garage and laundry room so now I get to have a song and dance with my insurance about that. For a while my house was basically a part of the lake and canals surrounding me. So much that as I was leaving Sunday night after surveying the damage I kept seeing this shiny thing under my deck with the flashlight. It was a fish. My favorite parking space on the other end of town for the surfing beach is gone, the road was destroyed and went in the water.

And yet people I know are still acting like this was a whole lot of nothing and the evacuations were stupid and blah blah blah. Its frustrating.

I'm glad you are ok, things can be fixed/replaced.

There are many people in NY who are complaining that everyone over reacted ordering evacuations and such, did they learn nothing from Katrina? Better to be safe than sorry; they should be glad they weren't hard hit.