I feel for all affected by this storm. I've lived in Florida all my life so I know first hand what you are going through.

Be safe, even after the storm. Still lots of dangerous situations linger afterwards.

Kat, you'd be surprised what the insurance company will say about your car. I wouldn't be surprised if they total it. My DH was hit by a falling tree branch while driving down the road during a severe thunderstorm. He was in a Toyota Tecoma, a little one, several years old. The windshield was smashed, and there were small dents in several parts of the frame, but it didn't look bad to us at all. The insurance company totaled it, even though it was still very drivable. You just never know.

I've been watching the news and reading your posts. I hope everyone stays safe. I'm glad it's not quite as bad as predicted, butit looks like it's still causing quite enough trouble.

Sally

I have power and haven't seen any major damage. A little water came in at the hole made by the earthquake, but that's the only problem so far. I also picked up the quick start fluid and I am trying to motivate myself to fire up the generator later today.

I know many, many people lost power. Hoping to hear from everyone else.

At the Maui airport last night, we were told that the NYC and Boston airports were closed, due to flooding. I had not even heard about the hurricane. A lot of flights got cancelled, according the the people at OGG.

Lars

It is 10:30. So Irene hit our town direct about an hour ago (Westchester, NY waterfront). She is leaving us now.

Trees swayed some, but not a branch felt. No power outages. No flooding. Nothing.

Not that I am disappointed, but a huge anticlimax for 24 hour non-stop coverage the past many days by all midia to the exclusion of all other important news.

You guys north of us will be OK. :-)

dcarch

lots of trees down in my yard. One big one being held in place by some other big trees. If they give, I'll have firewood in my kitchen. Holding tight, praying, and hoping that it stays where it is in spite of the big wind gusts. I just want it to be over.

Safe and dry here... had friends over yesterday for our Fantasy Fotball draft, several left early before it got bad. Everyone else stayed and we had a grand old time until the wee hours. Again, we are very fortunate that everyone made it home safely. The creek has flooded and is over the road in several spots and it will probably delay school opening tomorrow, but other than that, nothing!

Thanks for all the emails checking in on me - it is so awesome to know that so many people care!

Alexa

No power since 8pm last night. We started the portable generator this morning and got the frigs (2) and freezer running again around 7am. Over 454,000 w/out power - the same local company jessica is on I believe. No surge - alot of heavy wind and tree damage and clean up. I don't expect power back for days - hope I am wrong. we lose it often - for alot less reasons. I am not rural-but on a different grid than the neighbors 3 doors away. We need to find more gas - Usually we don't run the generator all night, but we still will need to find some.
I have internet! I have to plug the Verizon Fios box & the modem into the generator - and I get a signal - yay!
I have jumped on the internet a few times just to see what's going on with the weather.
For dinner tonight, we are going to have crabs caught off our pier - steamed outside, as usual - I made a pasta salad and bought corn and this was the plan, since I knew we would not have power.
Glad NYC was spared.
All in all--not so bad....but for us, not a cakewalk either on the water.

Could have been much worse of course. Power was out for sixteen hours or so. Long enough for me to put some ice packs around the milk to make sure I don't have any problems with it since we don't always drink it fast. Christy was worried she wouldn't be able to sleep last night without her cpap machine. Took a while but she sounded pretty good.. and she woke up this morning so that's good. Lots of medium branches and lost a peach tree. The wind was kicking pretty good at times, with some impressive gusts. It was quite windy all day and just recently calmed down quite a bit. Lots of flooding all around us but our town being on a hill is very good. Christy might have an interesting time getting to work tomorrow trying to find a safe route. We made it, we're here. Hope everyone else fares well.

"------Christy might have an interesting time getting to work tomorrow trying to find a safe route. --------"

It will be a big mess.
No power = no traffic lights.
I know. Been thru it before a few times.

dcarch

Having lived my life on both coasts of Florida, I know what you all are going through--emotionally and physically.

I kept a close eye on the progress of Irene and I'm glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been although there were too many lost lives.

I hope this week brings some normalcy to our friends on the East Coast.

Cathy

Hope you get power back soon, Magothyrivergirl.

Just checking in. We had some wind and rain but nothing crazy. All is safe & sound here. The two counties east of us had flooding and had to evacuate some people.

The Tanglewood concert was cancelled. Thank goodness. So my sister and brother-in-law were in Boston, at their house, for the hurricane. I'm still waiting to hear from her.

I'm so glad it wasn't as bad as it could have been, even though it was plenty bad for lots of folks. My heart goes out to those who lost their property and especially, their loved ones.

It's got to be sad, too, to lose all those trees. I've only visited the northeast a couple of times, but the trees made a huge impression on me. They are soooo big!

Sally

Sally - those huge trees are making a huge impression on me right now ~lol as I walked my dog and had to get around them!!!
still no power - but DH found a 7-11 about 15 miles away w/ power & gas-so we are good for another few days :)
He said huge trees are down everywhere. Complete areas are without power - post office dark - shopping centers dark.

Checking in - power finally back on at 7:30 tonight. I was grilling the chicken and shrimp (which had partially defrosted) along with the garden veggies I picked before the storm. The gardens took a beating but no branches fell and the trees are intact. A tree came down on the house across the street - but just grazed it. Neighbors are fine. The gazebo at the green was smashed by a huge oak tree. The little cottages on the shore took a beating and some just broke up. There was so much debris on Main Street that the State plow trucks were dispatched - and actually plowing the debris away! I was sleeping and thought I was dreaming in January! All safe here and ready to just get back to normal thanks to United Illuminating! -maria

Has anyone heard from Tricia? If you can, Tricia, please let us know how you are doing.

Sally

As I predicted, we lost power at 1 am on Sunday morning right at the worst part of the storm. DD and I stayed up all night and bailed the sump pump by flashlight. Water started coming through the walls at 2 am, broke two mops and then used every towel and tablecloth in the house to hold back what I could! I'm very proud of my 11 year old! She hung in there and is stronger than I imagined. We did well compared to our neighbors. We still have no power. I managed to make it to work today.....have been in a news vacuum and am finally catching up. Hope everyone else is doing well.....

Here is a link that might be useful: Cranford, NJ flooding

I am glad to hear you did not have more damage. You showed your daughter what a strong woman you are and she followed your lead in an emergency. She will always remember this and admire you (even when she is a nasty teenager slamming her bedroom door because she is mad at you!:-) You were a great role model - and you should be proud of both of you!
We still are without power as well - but grateful.
I wondered how you were doing alone with your daughter.
You both deserve a huge treat!

Another CT resident here, got power and cable back last night. Lots of road damage as well as bridges. Many homes are completely flooded but personal damage was just branches and our driveway is washing away as the water continues to runs down the hill and down the driveway. We were stranded a couple days unable to go up or down our rd but we have a fantastic road crew that patch the road above pretty quickly so we could get out.

Thankful that those who posted so far came out of this relatively unharmed. Vermont is devastated by the flooding, the pictures are terrible!

It seemed that Irene would just serve up a glancing blow and then boom, all that flooding. My hearts goes out to all those Irene has hurt.

I wondered about Robin Kate in Vermont. Checked her blog and found her house is okay.

My daughter in Connecticut got power back on Monday but a lot of her town is still out. My two-year-old granddaughter learned the word "generator."

Seriously, who would have thought Vermont, a mountainous state known for their great winter skiing, would be one of the worst hit from a hurricane? The flooding there is just devastating. Has anybody heard from Robin up there?

Still over 100,000 homes without power in RI. Honestly, though, I'm not sure I believe the reports. On Monday they said there were 350,000 homes without power. It's RI, there are only a million people in the entire state...not sure there are even 350,000 HOMES. Still, though, lots of people without it, some not expected to get it back before the weekend.

Lots of downed trees, but very little flooding here. Our kids' schools were pushed back at least one day; some don't start until Tuesday.

Still a few other people to hear from. I think much of the Cape is still without power. Seagrass? And I just always worry about Tricia where she is....Who else is still MIA?

You beat me to it, CC....I was multi-tasking and was slow to hit submit. Thanks for the report! :)

I imagine when they talk about the number of people without power, they're really talking about the number of customers without power, which would include businesses. That just a guess, though.

You're right about Vermont. It's just too strange that Vermont has been hit so hard by a hurricane. I guess in reality, it was a tropical storm, but that's just as weird. My heart breaks for all those affected.

Sally

Saraemmasmom, you set a great example for your daughter!

Maria (mer), when you said that the eye of the storm was passing between Bridgeport and New Haven, that sounds like Milford, my old hometown. I hope the damage wasn't too severe.

Here, in Baltimore, our home lost power on Saturday evening, and we didn't get it back till yesterday morning. The other side of our street is on a different grid, however, and the crews are working there now, as we speak, so I hope my neighbors will have electricity by this evening.

We didn't have any damage, other than yard debris, but there's a tree branch down on the roof of one of my neighbors, and the traffic lights have been out, all over town, even on main roads. Apparently, in Baltimore city, the traffic lights are on the same grids as nearby homes; I heard that, in neighboring counties, they are separate, and that sounds like a good thing.

We got along well, with plenty of candles and flashlights. During the days, I read a lot, thoroughly cleaned my computer keyboard, and reorganized my desk. Yay!!! In the evening, we sat around and listened to The Story on NPR on an old transistor radio. And then, early to bed.

Fortunately, we had hot water and could take showers and wash dishes. Last week, somebody mentioned rotisserie chicken, and that gave me the idea to buy one and serve it for dinner on the first day. I reconstituted some instant mashed potatoes with very hot water from the tap--really, it wasn't bad at all. The second day, we had canned tuna, a fresh tomato, a jar of 3-bean salad, and couscous (again, reconstituted with hot water--not quite as successful, but palatable). Also had peanut butter for breakfast and cheese on bread for lunch, and we had plenty of granola bars, nuts, salad, and fresh fruit.

For next time (G-d forbid), I'll get more of the same and maybe some other canned/jarred vegetables (normally, I don't use them much). And I think I'll purchase a lantern, so we'll have more light for reading at night.

Sue

Finally got tv, internet and phone back today. I flipped on the tv. It was still on the Weather Channel and the first thing I heard was "We need to keep an eye on Hurricane Katia, which could affect the NE coast." Nooooo!

I'm buying a generator although they are very noisy.

I found candles did a better job than flashlights, but I want to buy a lantern too.

In many ways, I enjoyed being cut off from the world. Did lots of reading and listening to NPR. Thank heavens the weather was cool and dry or I would have been moaning about the lack of AC.

FOAS is OK, he just hasn't checked in yet.

I checked RobinKate's blog yesterday and she hadn't updated yet, so I'm happy to hear she's OK. I was going to check it when I got home from work later tonight, and I still might, but I'm glad to hear she's fine.

I've got to check on Woodie too...

Annie

Annie, actually I followed the link from her blog to Facebook. The blog itself isn't updated.

By the way, it's good to hear from you, Lori! Don't be a stranger.

Me too! It's great to see you posting again, even if it's for a weather emergency! :)

Did anyone hear from Woodie or San? I hope both fared okay!

San is fine, lost power for 56 hours, but escaped unharmed and with property intact. Carol/dishesdone was under a mandatory evacuation but is back home, never even lost power. I just sent an email to Woodie to check on she and Ken, but if her power is out, she won't get it.

Hurricanes in New England, what a weird weather year!

Anyone hear from Seagrass at all? I can't send her an email through Gardenweb....

Annie

No power yet. Going in to day 5. The novelty has worn off. They told us all day that we would have power by 1030 tonight. HA. Thank goodness my kids live in town. At least I can shower. I have a well. No power = no water. Threw out all the food. Discouraging. I'm writing this on my iPhone!

This will be the last time I go through this without a generator.

Yes, I'm here. Obviously. Woke up Sunday to no power, fired up the generator and got working on the water in the basement. The 5KW generator was a freebee I got a few days prior from someone whom I have yet to meet and thank. Still extensive power outage in my area, but in my very immediate neighborhood I'm an isolated case because my neighbor's tree took out my lines, between the house and the pole. Another neighbor came by with an extension cord, offered me power from his house and told me to shut down my generator. I've been running off of that ever since. Fridge, phone, modem, TV, computer, a light... Not all at the same time of course, and so far I've managed not to blow a circuit or start a fire. The canned message from the power company says they're hopeful we'll have power end of the week. But everyone's getting that message, even those who never lost power. I'm very thankful for what I've got and what I didn't lose, but still it's getting old.

Glad to see reports of everyone who's ok. Missing of course is Tricia, and I've been thinking of her a lot. Hope she can check in soon.

DCArch, we don't exactly have traffic lights out here in the sticks to worry about. All the little creeks and streams, up to and including the rivers managed to keep her from getting too far from the house for a couple days. Today she was able to make it into Trenton. Lots going on there but she managed a route to work.

Hmmm,, yes, Woodie might be out of power. Hopefully that's the worst of it for them. Some of my friends a few miles away are still without power. Just glad I didn't lose the stuff in the big freezer. Sorry Momj that you're still without power. We have wells too and while I did put by a lot of water, I'd be about out by now.

We all filled the tubs, etc and most of that is gone. Now we are filling pots, trash cans, and big garbage cans from the creek in our neighborhood. Gotta keep the toilets flushing.

Thanks, Dedtired and Compumom. Isn't it funny...this is the first place I turn in times of crises. I'm smart like that ;) I actually check in quite often, mostly to the discussion side, grab the recipe I need and run, without posting. I totally use you guys ;) You know I love you all (yes, Annie, let me know when you want to go underwear shopping...HAHAHAHA!!!) I'm just usually insanely busy and can't "chat" much. Plus, I feel bad doing the "I" "I" "I" thing all the time. (like now, hijacking this thread)

Anywho...Yes, Momj, time for a generator here too. We have three freezers in my house, each semi-full, but before the storm, I bought tons of bottles of water and stuffed them into all the open spaces in the freezers. The extra ice kept things cold so much longer. It was funny how we strategically all gathered around, opened the door, grabbed what we needed, and closed it in less than 5 seconds.

Saraemmasmom, I hope you have given yourself a big pat on the back. Great story, great example for your daughter. A lifetime memory.

Momj, "the novelty has worn off"...OMG, that is so, so true. At first it was kind of fun to all sit together and play games by candlelight/flashlight. I loved the quietness of the house. We had "campouts" in the living room. After even 24 hours, though, enough was enough. Four/five days is just insane (esp. with 5 kids in the house, lol) I don't know how our forefathers did it!

Still lots here without power, but flooding isn't nearly as big an issue, thankfully (unless of course electricity is needed for medical reasons). Losing food and being without our toys/gadgets is one thing and very frustrating, but water damage is so not good. I hope for those who aren't posting, it's "just" because of lack of electricity, not because they've lost their homes and valuables. Trust me, I'm not making light of those still without power.

I've heard from Woodie, she's fine and her power is back on, thankfully. I saw seagrass posted on one of the cooking threads, so she's OK too.

Momj47, I sure home your power comes back on soon, you too FOAS. A generator is a thing of beauty in times like these!

Coconut, I'm glad Christy made it to work safely, I'm sure there is work going on all over.

Lori, I'll call you next time I go shopping. I promise. (grin)

Annie

We have light. Power came on tonight - 5 days without power, and more importantly, without water, is a bit much.

We had some trucks and teams from Pike Electric working in our area this week, from North Carolina, I believe. I don't know if they understand how grateful we are.

I hope others are getting their lives back.

My power came back tonight also - just took a nice hot shower and washed my hair, running the dishwasher, and am doing the second load of wash. ahhhhhhhhhh
I agree - very grateful for their very hard work.
More grateful not to be flooded or have a damaged home like so many others, and my family is safe.

Wooohooo, for Magothyrivergirl and Momj! This whole event has convinced me I need to study Dcarch's tutorial about generators and such.

We still need to hear from Tricia. Tricia, where are you?

Sally

Been thinking about Triciae because of the news about Venus Williams and Sjogren's Syndrome. Suddenly learning more about that condition. Tricia, where are you?

Woohoo a crew is here (from Michigan!) stringing a new line to the house. Just a few more minutes of this!

Tricia...???

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

Tricia, so glad to hear you're okay. I was seriously sitting at my desk today wondering if I could figure out which house was yours if I drove down. I was even considering calling AnnT for your address....probably would have freaked you out ;)

Rest up and come back for a full report when you can. Miss you!

Tricia, glad all is well.

We had about four Con Ed trucks on our street, and I am near Philadelphia, not in NYC. Guess they had to pull crews in from all over to deal with all the outages. I feel sorry for anyone who is still without power!

Tricia, I'm so glad and relieved you checked in, and are okay.

Sally

Tricia, that looks absolutely horrific. I am so sorry, and I'm glad you're okay.

Tricia, glad you checked in. Ack!