“Goodnight, Irene, goodnight, Irene. I’ll see you in my dreams . . .” ~ American Folk Song (1932)
Sunday afternoon, post Irene. Sunny and hot.
We were very, very fortunate. Irene blew through here and left downed trees and power lines, crushed cars, upended swimming pools, downed fences and sheds, street flooding, and loss of power for over 800,000 homes.
Even though we live mere feet from an inlet, we did not have any flooding. We lost power for about six hours, with intermediate flickers for a minute or two. We have power, water, and minimal tree damage. Our biggest loss was a picnic table that my former father-in-law built for us in 1988. I count us very, very lucky. No one in the family suffered any major damage, and as far as I know, none of our family friends or acquaintances suffered losses.
Here are some images of the area and the devastation in the wake of the storm (pulled from the wavy.com site) :
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Regular post later. Peace.
Lola's Curmudgeonly Musings 
Glad you came through okay. Sorry about Sarah’s house. We have trees down, but the house is okay. I hope that’s it for 2011….
Leah,
I, too, hope that’s it for 2011, especially since we haven’t gotten that flood insurance yet . . .
Lita- I wasn’t so lucky. Again, I have over $4o,ooo damage to my house. Lost lots of personal stuff, all applicances, furniture, etc. Back to being semi homeless. We have insurance so we’re getting all replaced. BUT nothing can pay for the stress of this, we’ve been thru it 3 times! We had the house up for sale but had to take it off the market For me, there isn’t anything interesting about a hurricane or nor’easter. My neighbor said the water blew off both her doors and the bay came rushing in. She didn’t evacuate and escaped by the Grace of God only. She wanted to “experience it” and that! she did!
Sarah
Sarah,
I was wondering how you fared. I’m so sorry that you are going through this again. At least no one was hurt and you do have insurance coverage. I’ll be keeping you in my thoughts.
Glad it was a non-event for you! I’ve been watching from here… Funny how friends and family in NYC are almost complaining that it was a non-event. Strange – it’s not that anyone wants a disaster – but there is something about preparing for one that makes it ‘not happening’ almost a disappoint.
Still, I am sure there will be enough clean up to keep all busy for a good long while…
I would much rather prepare and then not have the event. We went through Isabel in 2002(?), and we had no power for a week. It was brutal. The people who are disappointed have never really experienced an intense hurricane. If nothing else, your respect for mother nature’s brute force becomes heightened.
As for cleanup, I can already hear the trucks and drop-off bins in the park next to our house. It was a staging point last time, which was convenient but also a pain in the butt.
I’m still waiting for Irene to come. Since I just moved to the east coast, I was all excited to stand outside in my first hurricane. Up here though it would seem she is nothing but a paltry shadow of her younger self.
If you’ve never been through an intense hurricane, you are in for quite an experience. Luckily, Irene has diminished considerably.