Hurricane Irene Barreling Up the East Coast, US

[Rose G]

I am outside of Philadelphia Pa and we are getting slammed with wind and horrible rain and an emergency alert has just come on that we are under a tornado watch for the next hour.  Oh my.  I usually take a sleeping pill at night but not sure I should tonight...what if I need to get up and run!

[Meld256]

Rose,
Hope your evening wasn't too exciting with any weather events!  Stay safe and take care.
Melinda

[Patty]

Just got power back here in eastern NC. The eye came much closer to us than expected. We lost one large tree and have another leaning, various large shrubs tipped over etc but no serious damage so we came through it well. I slept well too, though I kept dreaming that we were being sucked up in little tornadoes and then put down again in a different location. It wasn't a scary dream, just kind of interesting! I guess I must have had it because of all the wind noises.

Neighbors helped us cut up the tree and we hauled 6 pick up truck loads of debris away today.

[Skylar]

Thankfully it wasn't as bad as predicted - hope everyone is safe.

[stephL]

I weathered the storm last night at home alone in my second floor apartment, expecting conditions not  to  get severe till the wee hours of the morning. Exhausted and flaring from storm preparations, I was able to push myself a little further, put ingredients in the bread machine, and turned it on at 9:00 PM, (3 hour cycle).


Our area was under a Tornado Watch, which was later upgraded to a Tornado Warning. The wind speed picked up, and the rain got a little heavier, but nothing horrific. However, by 10:15PM, I had lost power. Then the  wind became still and the rain lightened to a drizzle. Within a few minutes, through my closed  window, I began to hear what I was sure was a tornado. (like a train)  I opened the window and listened, riveted there for 5-7 minutes, wondering if I should run for cover to the downstairs hallway, but it finally faded.


Over my battery powered transistor radio, I listened to the News/Talk Radio station. People from my town were calling to report hearing the same sound. Later, the station announced that according to the National Weather Service, some Tornado 'cells' developed in the town next to mine and moved northward into PA. Residents of the affected town also called and reported property damage. After that scare, I couldn't sleep a wink until all Tornado Watches and Warnings were cancelled at dawn.


In today's news, I don't see any mention of a Tornado occurring in our area so I'm wondering what exactly it was. *scratching head* Luckily there have been no injuries, just many downed trees, flooding in low lying areas, and home owners busied with pumping water out of their basements.


By 6:45 AM, the power was restored. The bread machine automatically came on, and I allowed the ingredients to go through another cycle. The end result was a very heavy dense loaf of bread. It's edible if you're not picky. I'm calling it hurricane bread.   

[Meld256]

Thank goodness many didn't have the horrendous conditions that were feared.  Hopefully we'll hear more hurricane stories soon and my wish is that all of you weathered through it ok.

I finally got in touch with my brother today. He and his wife were driving back to their home near Newport News, Va and they had gone to stay with their daughter in Richmond. He told me power was out in much of the city and many, many trees down.  A huge maple had come down right between his daughter's and the neighbor's house, but missed everthing.
He talked along as he was driving til I heard him saying "Whoa-tree" and told me there were many trees right beside the highway that had been over the road and cut back, but if he wasn't careful he could still hit one. I told him I thought it best that we talk later!

Patty, glad you're safe and your home didn't get hit too hard.
Steph, I'm sure your homemade "Hurricane bread" was still good! 
Kimber, also glad there wasn't much damage. Hope your power is back on!
Take care, all.
Melinda

[Patze]

Oh my folks, I'm so glad that y'all are good and that there wasn't too much damage done (other than frazzled nerves)! 

How did the bread turn out Steph (I adore homemade bread)?


Patze

[Rose G]

As for us, storm not so bad.  No tornado, but lots of sticks, leaves, etc to clean up.  We didn't even lose power, but our daughter did, so she and family spent the day here and their's was restored late yesterday.  We did also get some water in the basement, but when I see how others had flooding, it was not so bad.  Thanks for the well wishes!

[stephL]

How did the bread turn out Steph (I adore homemade bread)?
Patze

The bread was a flop Patze. I will put the rest in the food processor to make some lovely bread crumbs to store in the freezer.   

[Bucky]

Glad to hear that there wasn't any major damage for any of you that were in Hurricane Irene's path. 

If I were you, I'd keep your emergency supplies up-to-date for the upcoming winter - seeing how our weather has been this past year, anything is possible.  As the saying goes, "expect the unexpected".

Bucky

[Patty]

True. We had 12" of snow at Christmas, tornadoes in the spring, wild fires, an earthquake and now a hurricane. Oh, and lets not forget the 100+ degree days this summer. When I moved to NC 2 years ago, everyone said I would "love the mild climate".  Uh - yeah, right.

[shevonne]

Hello everyone!  Im in CT and lost power Sunday morning!  We are being told that it may take days before we get power and it is very frustrating.  But we are thankful that it was a tropical storm by the time it reached us!  We have a lot of power lost in this area and if it had of maintained the hurricane winds; it would have been devastating!  Some people lost their cars from trees falling, home damage, floods, etc.  I was thinking that maybe I should get a room tomorrow because I have the biopsy scheduled and think I might need some real light after that.  I had an ultrasound scheduled this morning and had to go to a different site because of power outage.

[Meld256]

Patty,

Isn't that ironic the way things work? The "mild climate" they say...   You folks have really been through a mess with the weather this year.  Hoping your fall and winter do not bring you any big excitement!

shevonne,
You have my sympathies still being without power. It must be frustrating. I've heard that for many it could be days before the power is restored, but I can't imagine the work these cities are counties have cut out for them.
Good luck with the biopsy; maybe a nice room somewhere would be a help.  Take care and keep us posted, ok?
Blessings to all,
Melinda