I'm a very few miles due north of where Irene made landfall on the Carolina coast. Even tho I live in an area where all power lines are below ground, my neighborhood was without electricity for 7 hours today. We are extremely fortunate because most folks in the greater community remain in the dark. Even tho we're told that the worst is over, winds continue to be ferocious (with gusts that defy description), and we continue to be pelted with driving rain. I believed the warnings we received for the several days leading up to Irene's arrival, and worked from sunrise to sundown to prepare for the worst. Thank god I took those warnings seriously rather than blowing them off like many folks apparently did. I saved myself a boatload of grief. All of my pine trees have weathered the storm well -- not so some of the hardwood trees. I've got large branches down all over the place. Sadly, I think my huge specimen 'Natchez' crepe myrtle is history. The roses seem to be okay (time will tell). I took extreme efforts to protect the few climbers I have . . . However, one of my raised beds that's bordered by a stone wall presently looks like an overflowing bathtub. That bed has been in place for over a decade & has weathered other hurricanes -- however, I've never before seen this level of saturation. I've just returned from a short outing with my valiant dogs (they persevered MUCH better than I did). There are mature trees down everywhere I looked. The sound of chain saws is sure to be background noise in our lives for many days to come. I'll assess the damage tomorrow & see if there's anything I can contribute to the community's recovery effort. Remember the Weavers singing group with Pete Seeger? With them, let's all sing a rousing chorus of "Irene, Goodnight"!

Trees were moving at 35 mph in upstate NY, that's all we will get at 100% heavy rain for a few more hours. But white pines easily have a branch broken off hitting power lines probably soon. So far we still have power. All my conifers look OK. I cleaned the gutters and dug a french drain under that Gutter Helmet gutter which had plugged up inspite of Lifetime Warranty, so I am just fine. Bernd

Hey, here I am! Thanks for the concern. Glad everybody is OK. We are battered, bruised, damp, & exhausted...but still here. I also would like to give a shout-out of appreciation to Michigan, Iowa, Lousianna, & Georgia. They had 5 bucket trucks, 2 pick-ups, & 14 linemen working on our street today. A big thanks to these states also for helping Mystic this week. We really needed the assistance. Idaho, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Vancouver B.C. (thanks, Ann T.!), Colorado, & Ohio. We were 97% black for the first 3 days. It's been slow going ever since. SE Connecticut was hardest hit. (See article from "The Day" below) http://www.theday.com/article/20110902/NWS12/309029912/1018 Connecticut had over 620,000 outages (about half the state). Our First Selectman (equivilent of a mayor) declared a state of emergency in Mystic that was just released yesterday. At one point nearly 85% of our roads were empassable due to flooding, down trees, and/or down power lines. I've got lots of pictures but am too exhausted to upload tonight. Will post tomorrow. Here's a video of Mystic. Our house is featured but due to living in such a public place I'd rather not point out exactly our home. Some of you may recognize it. BTW, the videographer is NOT in Mystic Seaport. He's in Historic Mystic. It's a common mistake. Mystic Seaport is a living museum of the sea located in Historic Mystic. There's also a regular "Mystic" and an "Old Mystic". Confusing. Again, glad everybody's OK. More tomorrow. /tricia Here is a link that might be useful: Youtube - Mystic, Hurricane Irene

Nancy, thanks so much for posting for me. When I phoned we were still in shock and I'm sure I wasn't very coherent. It was a rough couple days. Linda, the antique furniture is probably a total loss. If it was on the floor - it's water damaged. I've got a call into our antique broker but haven't yet been able to reach him to discuss possible repairs (?). It's possible he's also flooded. Still, once it's been flooded - never the same and value will be severely reduced, as you know. So, we'll most likely let the insurance deal with them on our claim. :( We were bemoaning the loss of the antique pieces last night before we fell asleep. Every one had a story that meant a lot to us. Truthfully though, we have so much to worry about right now that we haven't focused on their loss - yet. The structure itself held well so we had no interior wind damage to rattle things around. That means the mulberry is okay as are all of the 18th century wine glasses and decanters. We lost a considerable number of reference books though and you know how hard those are to come by. I also lost my Yamaha Clavinova. :( Things like Dad's accordion we took with us as well as all his sheet music. I lost some genealogy. That's heartbreaking. I'm still working on the inventory list. That goodness we kept meticulous records, receipts, and have a thorough professional appraisal as an addendum to our policy. It cost a bit more in premiums but not nearly as much as the losses. Lpink, have you considered coming through CT to New London and taking the ferry over to LI, going to get your aunt/uncle, and bringing them back the same way? We have ample gas available in CT and there's been virtually no looting concerns. It's a mess here but we are up and running again and safe. The ferry is running again. And thanks so much for you thoughts. Every one means so much now. Bumblebeez - thanks so much. Please keep those best wishes coming. It's going to be a long haul, months not weeks. Chase, on behalf of all Sandy's victims thank you for your Red Cross donation. The Red Cross is doing so much for so many across the region. They are always first on the scene and last to leave. Again, thank you. FEMA seems, so far, to be on top of things. It only took 20 minutes to fill out forms, register, get assigned a representative, etc. and we've received several phone calls from FEMA already and it's only been a week today Sandy paid us a visit. We have an appointment Friday at FEMA's temporary office here in Stonington. /tricia