The lights are flickering, tree branches are falling on the roof ----- the worst is yet to come!

Thank you Canada for sending us the cold front, together with the full moon, Sandy is the storm of the century!

Triple whammy !

dcarch

[ Thanks :-) ]

It's bad. Trees are blowing sideways in strong gusts. Power was out and is now back. I'm sure it will be gone again soon. I'll be sleeping in the guest room which is on the other side of the house from the giant old maple tree. Be glad you are not here.

It was pretty nasty,flooding ,winds,rain theyre saying this is the calm before the storm geeze...Our big pondis over flowing.power keeps going out.My daughter said go get a bath might be your last for awhile so I did.We have a problem with ourroof its an 1700 farmhouse,tin roof.We were talking putting a standing seam roof on but didnt yet..Im married to a builder see?

I am thinking about you all too. I also learned something interesting. According to my dad, most gasoline now has about 10% ethanol, which wreaks havoc on two stroke engines, especially when the fuel is stored for long periods. So this probably explains why I couldn't get my little generator running before I moved to the west coast, and apparently it's causing a lot of people problems with their generators. The fix is just to siphon out the old fuel, discard, and run on new gas. He says there is ethanol-free fuel sold prepackaged, but it's very expensive.

Anyway, I hope everybody is safe and warm. It's just crazy how much bad whether there's been over there this year. Please report in and let us know how you're making out.

We lost power yesterday during the storm. The transformer blew that was located near our driveway. The streets leading to the beach were closed to keep lookers away. Streets/homes always flood down there. Waves wash over the streets throwing up rocks and debris. Trees and limbs down. Lots of rain and gusty winds. 62mph was the highest for our area according to the news. We got off better then folks to the south of us where it hit hardest. We consider ourselves very lucky. NancyLouise

I am so sorry for all of you on the path of the hurricane. I have 2 brothers up north and I have been following the news and worried for everyone's safety.
I just got news from my brother in Delaware and he is fine, he is going to let me know about my other brother in Long Island.
I talked to both of them yesterday and the first thing that I asked was if they were prepared and had emergency food and they said yes.
Hope you are all fine...

Silvia

I'm glad y'all are checking in. And to hear you're mostly ok. Hugs to you!

I hope more of our east coast friends will check in so we know they are okay.

Ann

Here in central Maine it was rainy and windy last night. But it really wasn't too bad. I am worried about friends and family who were in the path of the storm in NJ. The part of NJ where I used to live got hit hard by the last storm and this is supposed to be worse.

Here in Baltimore, we had very heavy rain and wind all day yesterday. There were a couple of storm-related deaths in the area, and many low-lying areas are flooded. No driving is allowed (except for emergency and medical personnel) until noon today, so DH has another day off.

I was more prepared than usual for an outage--made blocks of ice from water-filled juice bottles, turned fridge and freezer to their lowest settings, bought an igniter so I could light the gas burners on the stove. At our house, the lights flickered sporadically, but the power remained on. Until around 2 a.m., the wind was still howling fiercely--sounded like a freight train. I couldn't sleep, worrying about the tree that leans toward our side of the street. But then the howling simmered down, and the bedside clock was still lit up, so I finally fell asleep. This morning, we still have power. It's still raining, but there's no more wind. The worst is over!!

I'm worried, though, about our friends in NYC, NJ, and CT, where the damage was much more severe. Hope others will check in soon.

Sue

The Jersey shore has been devastated, but here in SE PA we had a lot of wind, some rain and thankfully no flooding. Lots of twigs and sticks all over, a large branch from the maple came down but again, thankfully, no damage to the house or cars.

My heart is going out to my friends in NJ/NY - it is REALLY bad!

Alexa

I just had a call from Tricia. I posted on her thread in conversations.

Last night, I was busy helping friends on how to get their generator hooked up or started.

There are huge trees in my area, so I slept in the basement just in case. Then I couldn't sleep well because the air bed that I set up in the basement had a small leak and kept on deflating.

This early morning I had to clear out branches everywhere around my house , then helped a neighbor to remove a big tree blocking their house, using my 3,000 lb electric hoist/winch. I chain sawed the tree into logs for my fireplace. Also I have two pumps to help pump water out from a neighbor's house.

I am amazed that many highly educated people have no clue on so many things. They are so hapless and helpless.

dcarch

DC, I'm sure they were so relieved that you could assist them.

I am amazed that many highly educated people have no clue on so many things. They are so hapless and helpless. That's why I want you as a friend!

A tree came down on a house on my street. The owners were not home. It's a good thing because the tree (a tulip poplar) went right through the roof. Big limbs broke off and went into the soffits on front of the house. What a mess. Another neighbor had a branch land on his car. It dented the hood and broke the sunroof. There are trees and big limbs down everywhere. Roads closed, too. My power stayed on and I have no damage, just a ton of sticks and branches to pick up.

My son still does not have power and is going to stay here tonight. Every storm has its silver lining. I enjoy his company.

You guys are all in my thoughts. My in-laws live in North Jersey/NYC and have kept us updated. But, I know there are plenty of situations out there that go unreported.

"According to my dad, most gasoline now has about 10% ethanol, which wreaks havoc on two stroke engines, especially when the fuel is stored for long periods. So this probably explains why I couldn't get my little generator running before I moved to the west coast, and apparently it's causing a lot of people problems with their generators. "

Yes, most gas has ethanol, but the myth about it destroying engines just has not been true. One of the worst things you can do to a small engine is leave gas in the tank and worse yet, the fuel line for years. Actually 100% gas is worse in this case because of the shellac buildup. The bigger problem in 2s strokes is the oil left in there. The alcohol can actually help clean it out a bit. It's been a long time since I've seen a generator with a 2 stroke engine anyway. They're not common anymore in snowblowers or mowers either. They're still common though for gas trimmers, chain saws mowers and the like.

When you're going to have any engine sitting a long time you should *always* run the engine dry if you can. Either siphon out the gas or shut off the fuel shutoff when so equipped. Some put fuel stabilizers in there but I'm not a believer in them. Most reputable mechanics say the simplest, cheapest and most effective is the basic run it out of gas. And the fuel should *never* be stored for long periods (100% gas or blended) when used for small engines - you should always try to use reasonably fresh gas in a small engine. If your gas has been sitting a year or so, put it in your car and fill the can with fresh gas.

We've had blended gas in this state for, what, 30-35 years at least and I've never lost an engine to ethanol, and I don't know anyone who has either. I heard the claims at the time and was concerned but the fact is the ethanol scare was a big hoax. There's people running 80% alcohol in cars with no trouble, and not even ones "designed" for flex-fuel.

I saw on the news yesterday where a generator manufacturer started running as many shifts as possible and converted all manufacturing to generators in anticipation of the storm. If there's a "good" part to this event, it's happening in moderate weather, rather than the super hot time of year or super cold time of year.

Hope people heeded the warnings and were prepared so no more lives will be lost. Last I heard about noon or so there were 10-12 so far. Sympathies and condolences to their families and friends Best of luck to everyone impacted.

My understanding also, cynic.

Gasoline, just like cooking oil, can go rancid.

I alway enjoy going to the Home Depot to watch people grabing every generator they can the day before the storm. What are they going to do with an 80,000 watt generator is beyond me. Seeing them struggle to get those generators into their little Toyotas is hillarious.

Of course, once you have run the engine, it is no-return.

dcarch

It's still raining here in north central Maryland. Lots of flooded roads.

We escaped damage, though a tree decided to throw most of it's limbs on to the driveway. We were out cleaning that up today.

We did not lose power this time, though we did in the last two storms. A lot of our neighbors did, though, it's dark and cold

We are ready, generator, glow sticks, water for the toilets, food, stuff for the kids. We'll be ready next time, too.

Didn't get serious rain... do water in basement. Power out in NJ from about 5 last tight till a little after 6 tonight. No school Monday & Tuesday... or tomorrow. KNow I didn't sleep well last night and looking forward to just sleeping in tomorrow!

Mine was two stroke. I always ran it dry and the gas was well under a year old, but it was premixed. Dad blamed the death of his old chainsaw on it too. Guess it remains a mystery.