Hurricane News & Other Helpful Info

[SmoothButch]

Originally Posted by SmoothButch

We are in VA and woke up safe and haven't spotted any damage as of yet to our home from Irene. We did awake around 2am due to the loud howling wind whipping around the house.

I have been unable to get ahold of my father who lives down in NC not far from Jacksonville. I spoke with him earlier on Saturday and he had already lost power. Going to keep trying to call and see if he's okay.

I finally got ahold of him and he is fine. Thanks everyone!

[Heart]

Friends report things are BAD in the Catskills. But media keeps focusing on the five boroughs and a few downed branches. Bloomburg wants his Giuliani moment. Ugh.

[Kobi]

Was thinking this storm was going to be a bust for us off the coast of Mass but it found us on the backside. Winds started howling a couple of hours ago. Steady at 50 mph with gusts into the 60's. No rain, thankfully but mist is around. They are saying this loveliness will continue for the next 6-8 hours before the winds calm down. This is not a good thing.

Minimal damage in the immediate area at the moment but can hear the transformers exploding and things going boom. Have an air leak in my slider and the flapping window dressings are entertaining the cat at the moment.

Tis a nor'easter without the snow.

Family in Rhode Island didnt fair as well as they were closer to the eye. Been without power since early am, lots of trees down, buckets of rain. Found one bro with a generator who is housing the Momma at the moment. Cant reach the other - phone and cell service is down.

Gonna be a long night.

[LaDivina]

Our power was out for about 3 hours. Not bad at all. I just saw a Facebook comment from someone in Providence, and she says it might be a week before they get theirs!

I'm glad everyone here seems to be okay. My thoughts go out to those who aren't.

[Zimmeh]

When this happened to me during Hurricane Charley, I called AT&T and begged the woman to let me know how long the cell service would be down; since it was the only form of communication I have with my mother. Thank goodness, I had an operator who cared and told me that the towers would be down for a few more hours. I wish you and your family the best and hoping your brother contacts you and lets you all know, that he is alright.

Zimmy

Originally Posted by Kobi

Was thinking this storm was going to be a bust for us off the coast of Mass but it found us on the backside. Winds started howling a couple of hours ago. Steady at 50 mph with gusts into the 60's. No rain, thankfully but mist is around. They are saying this loveliness will continue for the next 6-8 hours before the winds calm down. This is not a good thing.

Minimal damage in the immediate area at the moment but can hear the transformers exploding and things going boom. Have an air leak in my slider and the flapping window dressings are entertaining the cat at the moment.

Tis a nor'easter without the snow.

Family in Rhode Island didnt fair as well as they were closer to the eye. Been without power since early am, lots of trees down, buckets of rain. Found one bro with a generator who is housing the Momma at the moment. Cant reach the other - phone and cell service is down.

Gonna be a long night.

[Reader]

Originally Posted by LaDivina

Our power was out for about 3 hours. Not bad at all. I just saw a Facebook comment from someone in Providence, and she says it might be a week before they get theirs!

I'm glad everyone here seems to be okay. My thoughts go out to those who aren't.

PSE&G told folks in NJ it would be 1 week to get power back, but thankfully some have gotten their power back already. Be well, all.

[Dominique]

The gov. of Pa. was just on the news saying it is too soon to start listing the damages.

There is severe flooding in the Eastern part of the state and lots of wind
and water damages from the heavy storms. The state has been declared
in an emergency and all available west coast personel are asked to help on the east coast. No footage of film was shown. The national guard has also
been deployed.

The east coast is where many oil refineries are at, but no mention.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Wow! The flooding in NJ and VT is horrible! CNN has been showing some of the worst, and in some areas the worst is still to come. Stay safe all.

[Scorp]

Hey Folks,

Finally able to get online here...Seems like things quieted down out in these here parts for us, so all is good so far (thankfully).

Thanks to ALL OF YOU who posted with keeping one another up-to-speed with what was happening and your concern for one another is more than words could express.

Glad everyone is safe and to those of you who are still struggling with getting electricity back, you are in our thoughts and hang in there.

Everyone please continue to keep us updated as to how you are doing and/or those who aren't doing so well and need anything that we can help with.

Be safe!!!

-Scorp-

[J. Mason]

I am glad to see posts from ya'll on the east coast, I pray everyone is safe.

Sending my love and thoughts to everyone.

[Dominique]

WOW! this morning I saw footage. You can not rebuild historic. I live near the three rivers of Pittsburgh and have seen the waters rise and the damage that has happened. BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS. The PEAK will occur tomorrow.

[Heart]

For many, it's not over as waters keep cresting for another day or so. Vermont and the Catskills of NY, among others, have devastating flood damage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/ny...y.html?_r=1&hp

[NJFemmie]

Fortunately, we didn't lose any power. The lights flicked now and then, but otherwise, it held up pretty well.

We have some water in the basement, but thankfully, we were able to contain it and must have dumped out about 100 gallons of water. If we didn't have power, it would have been much worse.

The flooding throughout NJ is awful. The surrounding towns are flooded out due to the Rancocas Creek - and houses in those areas are under a lot of water. Even our town is flooded out, but because we are on higher ground - our streets are clear. (Thank God).

I've been hearing on the news that a lot of people are complaining that too much hype was broadcasted about this storm. I'm infuriated about that. They should take a look at all of the flooded areas. I guess more people should have died or more damage should have been caused for people to not complain. It just shows how ungrateful and unthankful people in general really are.

[NJFemmie]

The news would broadcast morons standing on unstable piers during high winds - "surfers" trying to take advantage of a surge ... people trying to drive through ten feet of water ..... WTF?!?!?!?

One elderly woman in NJ called 911 when her car got stuck in a flooded street. Minutes later, they lost contact with her only to have found that she unfortunately drowned in her car in 16 feet of water.

Some dingbat in Massachusetts decided to walk out on a flimsy dock when the hurricane hit. He's okay, but wtf was he thinking??? People always seem to underestimate the power of Mother Nature.

[Scorp]

Thankfully we made it through this.

Today is absolutely gorgeous here. The sky is as blue as can be and not a cloud in it and the sun is shining bright. You would have never know there was a Hurricane. Then again, we have tons and tons of leaves all around our yard. Last night the winds picked up again and were horrendous. We were bracing ourselves after we thought it was over a little earlier. Luckily there wasn't any damage to our house.

Earlier I picked up a limb that was blown off one of several of our trees amongst many other branches. I moved all the lawn furniture, patio stuff, decorations out of the shed (and from in our house) back to where everything belongs. Dumped the water out of the planters, all that stuff.

Our garden with our tomato plants and other veggies and herbs is lopsided from the winds and rains.

Crazy, crazy weekend and thankful our lives here are going back to normal now. I can only hope that this is the case for everyone else affected and still going through the clean up and getting electricity restored and any other damages that may have occurred.

Thinking of everyone,

-Scorp-

[NJFemmie]

Mare laughed when I told her that one of our tomatoes from our garden was found in the middle of the street. One lonely green tomato that tried to make a run for it ... lol .... but seriously, it unnerved me a bit.

Our front lawn has a lot of leaves and partial tree branches - but thankfully, no trees came down in our immediate area that I know of. We were concerned about that because we are surrounded by huge trees - some of them seemingly old.

It is gorgeous outside though... and the rest of the week is supposed to be nice which will hopefully help in clean up efforts. I've heard that Red Cross volunteers from the west coast will be making their way over here to help - as well as some volunteers from down south.

I'm still stunned that we experienced an earthquake (albeit minor) and a major storm in a matter of a few days. I was tempted to keep my eye out for the four horses, but refused to give it that power.

[Dominique]

Originally Posted by NJFemmie;408059One elderly woman in NJ called 911 when her car got stuck in a flooded street. Minutes later, they lost contact with her only to have found that she unfortunately drowned in her car in [B

16 feet of water.[/B] Last week, 2 days before the earth quake reverberations, we had two horrific storms blow though and dump two inches of rain in 40 minutes (we get about an inch a month) anyhow, our storm drainage system couldn't handle the water. Streets flooded(at rush hour naturally) and one roadway in particular, flooded 9 feet deep. Horrible scene. Somehow, some got away on their own, 11 were rescued on the roofs of their cars. An elderly lady was sucked down the sewer system (yes drowned) and found the next day in the river and a mom and two of her daughters were stuck inside in a mini van. The water pressure so fierce they couldn't open the doors to get out, while a young man hung onto to the top of a tree for dear life while striking the side window of that mini van with a pair of pliers to break that window and get them out. The water wisked him away, he grabbed another tree top and was rescued. They never found the mini van until the water receded. Too late.

Some dingbat in Massachusetts decided to walk out on a flimsy dock when the hurricane hit. He's okay, but wtf was he thinking??? People always seem to underestimate the po wer of Mother Nature.

Yes, we saw this too. Unfortunately it was used as a reminder of what happened here last week. How dangerous fast moving water is, and don't PLAY around.

You wonder, do they think? When I saw that I thought
*Stupid Tourist*.

[NJFemmie]

Originally Posted by Yellow band

Yes, we saw this too. Unfortunately it was used as a reminder of what happened here last week. How dangerous fast moving water is, and don't PLAY around.

You wonder, do they think? When I saw that I thought
*Stupid Tourist*.

I think people gauge response to personal circumstance. In other words, if their home wasn't damaged, or someone in their family didn't die, then it was all hype or overblown coverage. Yet, I find it interesting that these are some of the people who boarded up their homes and businesses and evacuated. The arrogance of people fascinates me ....

The media warned the public all weekend long - the ground is saturated and we can't handle an inch of water, let alone a foot. Water will rise and streets will flood - but that didn't stop the thrill seekers out there looking to have "fun".

You can always count on the stupidity of people.

[LaDivina]

Originally Posted by NJFemmie

I think people gauge response to personal circumstance. In other words, if their home wasn't damaged, or someone in their family didn't die, then it was all hype or overblown coverage. Yet, I find it interesting that these are some of the people who boarded up their homes and businesses and evacuated. The arrogance of people fascinates me ....

To say nothing of how much worse the damage could have been (i.e. lives lost) if people hadn't evacuated!

We saw on the news this morning how one guy had to be rescued by the coast guard because he tried swimming to his boat that had come loose off its moorings. So stupid....

[Heart]

I think shutting down the entire MTA transit system in NYC was an over-reaction that cost millions of dollars for small business owners and made it overly difficult on workers who have to work whether there's a hurricane or not, (first responders, shelter workers, hospice care, etc). Most of the city was NOT in a flood zone, yet people couldn't get to work and businesses had to close because most city-dwellers do not own cars.

I was annoyed by the overfocus on Mayor Bloomberg and his 5 boroughs of NYC, and the lack of attention paid to the flooding and real devastation further upsate. Plus there was almost no reporting about prison populations or provisions for homeless/mentally ill folks. I really hated the media coverage - overblown, un-enlightening, repetative, and politically motivated.
(The New York Times did a pretty good job though).

Heart