Was a rough two days here. We got all the rain and NJ got the storm surge.

Hi
Lucked out in my area just a bit of torn foliage .
Did pull in a cold front and looks like may set some record lows!! Wish all the people up there the best of luck have been through several VERY destructive hurricanes
but i've always lucked out on the flooding. gary

Around Va Bch it was pretty much typical for a strong noreaster. Areas prone to flooding flooded. Winds maxed around 40 with a gust of 63 at Cape Henry, which is usually where the highest winds are recorded. Parts of the highway on the Outer Banks were washed out again. Yeah nothing new. It was a particularly rainy event especially here near the coast where we had close to 11 inches. At least it got me a half day off work yesterday.

Nothing to write home about here,we may come under the cloud shield until this thing books off to the northeast....finally!

The hurricane is currently right overtop of Michigan. It has been raining, but nothing torrential. The wind has been the biggest issue here. The Great Lakes are cooling off, so I couldn't imagine the storm is sucking much moisture up from the Lakes. Looks like the path is starting to go north and then continue out to sea again. We're supposed to feel the effects for the next couple of days.

Lots of damage here. The winds destroyed a majority of the plants I left outside, fortunately I brought many in. I had some minor roof damage and and some damage to the yard. I was lucky, lots of storm surge damage. Manhattan can't function, pretty much everyone has no power (90% of Lon island is without power!). A restuarant right by my house fell into the ocean and some boats were blocking roads! I even saw furniture and other personal items in the street. Rumors are that it will be 10 days before I get power. I have to drive 3 miles just to get cell phone service to check my mail. When I get power back I'll post some pics! I hope everyone made it through the storm okay. This is the worst damage I have ever seen here, but we'll recover. The jersey shore is especially damaged.
-Alex

Thanks for checking in Alex-

GLAD YOU ARE O.K.

I still had out 90% of the plants on Friday, so I spent most of Sat and Sun moving things into garages. I left a few big tubs of Washingtonia, Canary Date and Med outside bungeed to boulders. They were fine but lost some deck fencing and some big tree damage in the back. Looks like a plane crashed into the woods as there is a tangled mess to clean up but we consider us to have been very lucky. In some respects, Irene was worse for us because that one flooded the basement, water started to rise outside the house and we lost power for several days. Having the wind WITH the water must be a real nightmare!

Tzone7 you live oceanfront jersey shore? sounds like you had a really nerve racking couple of days.

Hi Guys!!

Glad everyone is doing well after this hurricane.

I am also in Virginia Beach and only had flood damage along with a few downed Pines, but not as much damage as the northeast. Glad to hear (LagoMar) all is ok in your area. Tidal flooding was a nightmare here..

V.. glad all is well. Thanks for keeping me posted!!

Alex.. The Plumeria forum was asking about you.. I will let them know you checked in. Hope you stay safe and we all have been worried about you and our friends in NY, NJ, MA etc..

Njoasis.. SOunds like you had a rought time too. Glad you are alright.

Take care everyone!!

Laura

Alex is without power, internet or cell phone coverage. He posted early yesterday to another website after driving to an area that had phone coverage. Apparently ok.

Good to hear Alex is Ok, we had gusts of about 50 and I saw a number of tree limbs down. I think about 60 thousand people lost power.

Lagomar, I'm a block away from the water, but I'm slightly uphill so I had no damage from the ocean water. I was really lucky, apparently there are a lot of deaths here (up to 30) that have not been confirmed yet. It's really sad to hear about. I have never seen a building collapse here, but there are several that have, so that is also hard to see. My house is mostly fine though, just a few things to fix. My plants will all come back better then ever by next spring so I'm not too worried about them. It's rough to still be without power, but people have it so much worse.

Laura, tell everyone that I'm good! I was going to post some pics there f my plumerias this year, but I'll do that as soon as the power goes back on. My plumeria divine was completely stopped of all it's leaves (I had to do that anyways), but surprisingly my biggest plumeria had no damage at all! Some plants faired much better than others, and the plumerias managed really well! I know someone who lives in a canal on Long Island and they have 5 feet of water in their first floor!
Andy, the effects of this storm were definitely wide reaching! NJ and NYC got hit the hardest, but we weren't the only ones affected. Hopefully things get back to normal for all of us soon!

Glad to hear you are all okay!
-Alex

Zone7 glad to hear you're ok. It does look pretty rough up there. Loveplants, it was not so bad here. I took a drive around sandbridge and there were some flooded streets but nothing a jeep can't handle. Took about 3 hours for wife and i to clean up today. Very blessed.

So sad to hear about the devastation and deaths. Great that everyone here is ok though.

There's a 60 foot tree down in my neighbor's yard, came within 6 inches of his house. Huge waves, 15-20 feet on Lake Huron, up to 24 feet at times. Luckily we didn't lose power like a lot of other people around here did.

Alex.. So glad to hear you are alright..

I flew into Newark today and have been seeing what is going on in those areas and where you are.. I still can't believe this. Saw convoys from our area heading up the eastern shore with generators for people in Staten Island..

Help is on the way...

I came home from a trip during the hurricane because i was stranded in Charlotte NC. No flights. My crew had to rent a car and drive home. My car was left at the airport and i found out a few days ago that i had flooding issues with my car. I was bummed, but when i think about what others have lost, it is nothing to worry about..

Life is so inportant.

Praying all is well with our friends in the Northeast.

We are expecting another northeaster on Tuesday .. :(

Take care..

Alex.. Im so glad you are alright..

Laura

We were right in the crosshairs of this thing and I can tell you that after 52 yrs. of living in the same area, I've never seen such destruction. The beachfront I grew up on and spend as much time as possible at to this day has been utterly ravaged...and we didn't get it as bad as others, especially the barrier islands south of here. The ocean came up with a vengeance and took a big bite out of a massive area. The town where the infamous Jersey Shore show is filmed was all but wiped out. Amusement rides and pier now in the Atlantic, and if you lived there...well, you're in for a rough several months of cleanup and repair. We are about a mile from the beach, so our damage was minimal. Some branches down, my bananas shredded, my windmill unscathed by it all. But walking down on Tue. morning and seeing the hit my beach barely endured was shocking. Boardwalk gone out into the sea or down several blocks of streets. Flooding from Ocean Ave. to Main St.. a distance of roughly half a mile. It seemed as if anywhere from 3 to 6 feet of sand was sliced off the beach and deposited on the streeets. And this is the scene along the entire 120 miles of coastline. and, as I said, in some areas, it's a lot worse. At least in my town, the beachfront homes survived for the most part, especially the newer, multi-million dollar ones. Town just south lost their boardwalk last year in Irene. Guess that wasn't enough after the rebuild...it's gone again. Lost power Mon. night and only just got it back (maybe 3 hrs. after I finally found and purchased a generator wouldn't you know). 5 days and nights without heat, lights, any info other than a radio, and hot water can get tough, but there a lots and lots of people much worse off and still without power. Of course, the temps have been below average, downright cold even, and another possible tough storm is coming next week. It's tough when you grew up in the water like I did, learned to swim like a fish in it, learned to play in it, most importantly, learned to respect it above all else, then watch it come once in a lifetime to literally change the landscape. Will never ever leave though. I'm a "clam digger" from way back, and next Summer, my son and I will be right back there in the waves.

And...some pics...

Have posted pics of this house before. One of the queens made it.

As for the washingtonias on the side of the house...well, I don;t know where they are...

A christmas palm that somehoe made it through a few doors down from the home above. As you can see, they started cleaning up the streets.

That pier was built in the late 30's and only a few feet at the tip was lost. It withstands every storm. Amazing.

Picture doesn't do it justice. Cleanup had started, but there is now no boardwalk and untold amounts of sand are somewhere else.

Glad to hear everyone is doing well and escaped the heart of the wrath. Damage around my town was confined mostly to roofs and trees although there was typical flooding issues in the usual spots. These pics are just from my immediate neighborhood. We are the highest spot in the city so nothing blocks the winds. Mets nailed it for us...4-5" of rain and many local weather stations recorded 40-45 sustained with 65-75 gusts.

My roof

Tree that just missed my fence

Other neighbor trees. I heard of a 250 yr old tree falling in the city...ouch.

Sub-tropicals did just great and seem unfazed by the winds.

I hope the potential storm for Election Day goes out to sea, especially for coastal NJ/NY residents!

Trishmick..

Those pictures say alot.. I can't believe the boardwalk and the loss of the beach. I am sure it is hard to see when you have lived there all of your life. I am also born and raised here in VB. "clamdigger too!" Will always be here at the ocean... it is in our blood.

SO glad to hear you are alright. I saw your post over at Plumeria and had to come check in on you all.

Thanks for posting the pics.. I am still in shock at what i see in your area.

PJ.. Glad you are alright too! Those trees do some damage and you are one lucky family!!

Thanks for sharing those with us.

I am also watching the northeaster brewing for our area again... Sheesh!

Take care..

Laura

Trishmick, great pics! Glad to see those homes and palms made it out alright, too bad the boardwalk there, and in so many other places, has to be almost completely rebuilt. The Shore has a long road of rebuilding to go, I really hope things are somewhat normal there by the time the summer season starts, but it seems almost impossible to get all that work done in only a few months.

Laura, There has been so much help in the area, I'm sure that a lot of people are really appreciating it! The community is helping each other which is really nice to see and the help from all over the country (I have even seen people from Canada) is really incredible! A little bit of help goes a long way and there has been a lot of help!
Things still arent good for many here. Some are without power, lines for gas stations are still a good 2 hours long, sometimes longer, and people are lining up wherever they can to get food, clothes, water, etc. But every day it gets a little bit better! I hope to see things cleaned up soon, but the whole region has a long way to go!

Glad that the damage wasnt too bad in your yard PJ! Looks like Sandy left a mark there too though.

Hopefully the noreaster this week won't disrupt cleanup efforts! Looks like it might be a nasty storm. The noreaster this week will be nothing like Sandy but it will probably have enough wind to knock out some power and cause some flooding along the Jersey shore.

-Alex

The hurricane did alot of damage in staten island. I brought in all potted plants before the hurricane. I lost two trees in the backyard that both missed the house. All the plants outside were torn up. I had no power for a week but I cant complain because some people near the beach dont have a house anymore. Near the beach flooding damaged many homes and boats washed up and crashed into houses and blocked roads. Gas is hard to get and people wait on line for hours just to get gas.

I did not lose power in my area--might beones of the 5%ers because te vast majority here did. But I had no structural damage or water issues. Two large trees on adjacent park land came crashing into my yard and have been busy cleaning up the mess. It looks like a tornado went through! An unsightly mess and lots of work but I was lucky to shelter people w.o. heat and power as it got cold after te hurricane. I have out soe Washys and date palms in large pots--hope they will be okay tonight dropping to about 31 degrees for a few hours. People will begin to freak about the next storm once they find out it will be named--Athena. Batten down, same ol..same ol'!