You were very lucky not to suffer any major damage.

It is unfortunate that you lost a few appliances but at least you didn't lose your computer or oven.

Ann

Lou, Your cake looks yummy! Can you send me a piece? It's too bad about the appliances but glad it wasn't somthing worse.

Have you heard from Jimster??? I wonder if he had any damage.

Karen

Cake looks great--yummm!

Knowing first hand how devastating these can be, I'm glad to hear that, while inconvenient, you were relatively unscathed. Hope the same for all our CF friends.

We lost power today, right in the middle of a lengthy very statistical report I was writing and had not yet saved! Of course it was unrelated to Irene, just typical for our area--the lightning capital of the US.

You should always flip your master switch/breaker on your electric panel off and disconnect your house from the grid when there is a power outage. Flip it back on after the power is back.

� There are basically three types of electrical load connected to the power grid, i.e. capacitive (electronic equipment), inductive (electric motors) and resistive (regular light bulbs). Each type of load presents a different counteraction to the power supply system. Some draw power down, some send back with a high instantaneous spike/surge. Most people do not disconnect their houses when power is out. Therefore when power is back on, all kind of strange power surge/dip can happen, depending on where you are on the grid.

� From your list of equipment that got fried, it does not appear that the above caused it. More likely they were fried by thunder/lightning. Damages from lightning are very difficult to prevent. The typical surge protectors are not useful. As a matter of fact, the so-called lightning protectors are very questionable of their usefulness. (How do they test them for effectiveness?). Without going into the complex occurrence of a lightning strike ( which BTW, does not have to be a direct hit), it is best to have all electronic equipment unplugged, not just turned off. Or have a properly designed and installed lightning protection/grounding system.

Now back to cooking:

The cheese cake looks good. I will top it with vanilla ice cream. :-)

For me, I just cooked normal stuff the past few days. Didn't do any long sous vide cooking because of not very sure of the power situation.

dcarch

Heart breaking! Looking at the news, there are some pretty divested areas. I'm a wimp, I don't think I could bounce back from such destruction of property and God forbid there was loss of family.

There's a thread about the hurricane over on the conversations side, if anyone want's to check in and see how several of our members faired through Irene.

Lou, that cake does indeed look delicious!

Sally

We lost power for 2 days. I have a gas stove, so I could cook but it was hot and dark. :) We had a cooking marathon last night upon cleaning out the freezer....chicken, salmon, ribs and sausages...all frozen in Foodsaver bags now.

Sorry you lost your appliances & tvs, that happened here a few years ago. Insurance apparently doesn't cover surges either, or at least ours didn't. I am glad your power wasn't out too long, & you have that wonderful looking cheesecake, yum.

Having "been there, done that" several times,
I'd say you are basically lucky!

It's sad you lost appliances,
But it could have been so much worse!

The worst damage we've ever suffered
was to lose a few trees,
a TV or two,
and once, a freezer full of food.

I don't think I could handle losing everything
as so many have all over this USA this year.
And losing loved ones would definitely be the worse!

For some reason I like to make fudge and popcorn
While waiting for a hurricane.
But that cheese cake sure looks good!

Rusty

Thanks for the responses.

Hope I did not sound like I was complaining, because I was really grateful to be on the outside edge of Irene.

I was watching the Weather Channel all week to track the Hurricane,

because of friends and relatives in different areas,.

Feel sorry for all the folks that lost everything.

Can not do it anymore but have done many, many hours of Volunteer work with the Fire Company,
in situations like this.

One time was the flood in Wilkes Barre , Pa.
That was 130 miles from my home.

Hope everyone fared well.

Karen:
I have not heard from Jim. I am going to send him an email.

LOU

Lou, I'm probably one of about three people in the world who does not like cheesecake, but that looks *really* good! I'd probably even take a taste of that one!

Glad your losses were relatively minor. You never really know what to expect.