What I learned as a child was that the best thing to do was place the mattresses in an interior hall. They also advise to not venture out in the streets as flooding is an obvious risk, but many get electrocuted from downed power lines. Hear that, stinky? Even if your electricity is on, it doesn't mean that your neighbor's line is not lying there, and it's sometime hard to see what's under the debris.

I know how frightening this is and I'm continuously asking the forces to spare as much misery as possible. Be safe all!

Oh gosh, you all...I'll be sending energy like abundant, to spare as much misery as possible. Strange weather and so much danger these days. Please update as you can.

I hope everybody is doing well this morning. We've only had some rain so far, winds are just beginning. Those who are able please update this morning.

South shore of Long Island here. High winds and heavy rain. I live on the Great South Bay which is between Fire Island and the ocean-no flooding yet but high tide is about 11am. As for me-one ceiling leak but otherwise from inside the house we look okay right now. I have the news on and Long Island closer to NY City is getting hit hard right now according to CNN. I think the worst is coming over the next couple of hours.

Thanks AB & others, for the concern! It's a beautiful morning! Sun is brightly shining. Debris everywhere, but you know what they say, "Life is messy...clean it up!" DH has already started in the back. I'm sipping some coffee & checking in with my GW friends! Surely DH & I will both be out there all day!

Judie, so far so good then? Hope others will check in...NOVA & other NE people, how are things?

Joshuasmah...thinking about you! Be safe. Let us know how you are later!

I heard a small crash early this AM and thought a large branch fell out of the tree that I was worried about (still am - it's still raining). When I looked out my bedroom window this morning it turned out to be the other tree in front of our house. The whole thing came down at the roots and by the grace of God missed our patio and our neighbors porch roof. It landed squarely in the walkway betewen our 2 houses. The space that it landed in has app. a 7' clearance between their house and our fence.

It's so cold and gray here in Montreal this morning, they are calling for us to get torrential rains starting at noon; so basically we are getting the tail end of what New York is getting.

I do hope no more casualties arise from this weather, so sad there have already been some deaths.

Stinky, glad you checked in . Good to hear you are okay. Coffee....I already ground up a bunch in advance, preparing to lose my coffee grinder, possibly the most important appliance in my house! :-)

Ttodd...that is a merciful fall. I am watching our old beech very closely. The hurricane track shifted to the west some, which makes us more vulnerable in an ESE wind direction. That tree is right over my daughter's bedroom. Hearing about that 11 y.o. boy really was a little too close for comfort.

Be safe everyone!

Glad all is good for you Stinky.

Ttodd, wow. That is one of those amazingly wonderful occurrences! Glad the tree missed everything and hope the other tree stays standing.

Joshuasmom, hope you pass through this unscathed as well!
Polly, I heard this morning the storm passed right over Little Egg Harbor in NJ. Having a 105 year old house means it has withstood many storms and hope the same is true today.

We were very lucky-lots of smaller branches down, but the tree is holding steady for now. We had SO much rain (as did everyone) that I don't expect it to hold on, but perhaps the tree guy will come early this week (yes, DH finally broke down) before it falls. We lost power around 1 am, but got it back around 7 am, so that worked out perfectly.
Robin, hope your story is the same.

I hope all of you in NJ, NY, CT, MA and north find that your experiences are much like ours.

DH & I were literally just talking about how we needed to schedule to take both trees down out front. Now i only have to pay for 1 tree to be taken down! Since everything and everyone is fine I can say YIPEE!

cyn, I read that it slammed into Little Egg inlet at 75 mph.

Is that different from Little Egg harbor? I hope it's not where Polly is, she sounded pretty scared.

I'm glad you came through okay. Ttodd and stinky too!
I'm waiting to hear from joshuasmom and robin also.

Ttood, what a stroke of good luck!

thanks for your good wishes-we are still under water here but safe. I will attempt to attach my first picture which I took from my front yard looking down my street.

Here is a link that might be useful: my street

I should add the last pic in the album is from the back of my house--all these were taken before high tide-it looks awful now. My backyard is washed out-under about 3 feet of water, we just fished a mouse out of the water that was swimming up my driveway-poor thing!

Joshuasmah, I guess you decided not to evacuate. Did you get any water in the house?

Hi Natal,
We didn't evacuate although it was mandatory. We were so worried about the boat and water coming into the house and because we are coastal no trees to fall on the house. No water into the house from the street-we are elevated a few feet but most of our neighbors have water on the first floor. Lost roofing shingles so we have water damage on the newly repainted ceilings, fencing and gates damaged, landscaping out to sea, but we are okay and have been helping neighbors fish out things from the water they didn't tie down. Checking houses of those that did evacuate, checking boats up and down the canal to tie lines etc. Hope your friends in Merrick made out as well as we have.

Joshuasamah, I have been thinking about the animals, not just the ROUSs, but all of them, after cyn's aching post about the little bird...I hope they were able to get to safe ground, as animals seem to have the capacity to do. Bless you for saving that little guy who couldn't get to safety...

And WOW, ttodd, you been livin' clean : ) (I kind of thought that about the tree that fell on our house, too -- the roof was actually not too far from the end of its life, and I didn't like that tree anyway...)

ttodd, looking again at those pics -- are those pin oaks?? The root structure was practically nonexistent : (. No one ever had any business planting those majestic trees in such a narrow strip in the first place. Poor things. They just attest to the stubborn power of the life force.

Nancybee, the township is Egg Harbor Township and we always used Little Egg Harbor and Little Egg Inlet pretty much interchangeably, although maybe we shouldn't have! We really meant the water when we used inlet and not necessarily so when we talked L E Harbor, We spent our summers in south Jersey, but Little Egg is up near Beach Haven further north of Atlantic City. Sounds like they got pounded and I also hope Polly isn't there!

Those pictures of LI are incredible Joshuasamah. Glad your damage is not worse and that you are all okay.

Ttodd, your pictures really show how lucky you were!

Checking in. I am so grateful that our house and trees are all still standing. We got very little water in our basement, and some water in our fireplace in our master bedroom. However, my entire town with the exception of a handful of streets is completely submerged. Our police department, municipal building and first aid squad had to evacuate. They are 8 ft. under water. The river is now 2 blocks from our house. We are at a high point so I think we'll be ok. The house we sold 4 years ago has 3 ft. of water in the basement. DH just went to our friends house, directly across the street from our old home to help them clean out their basement and get out of there! My heart is broken to see all the pics on facebook of my town underwater. But at the same time I am grateful all of my friends and loved ones are safe....for now.

This picture, taken by a friend who climbed onto the tracks of NJ transit (train is closed today). This is 2 blocks from my house.

And this one is 3 blocks from my home. I am heartbroken. My sister in law and her husband spent the night bailing sewage from her sink. And their street flooded waist high. Her neighbor dove under the flood waters to clear the storm drain. I can't believe this is my town. You see this stuff on TV and think, Oh Lord I hope they are ok, but never think it can happen where you live.

We are not out of the woods yet. River is still rising and very well may make its way to our house.

Wow, Polly. I truly hope that doesn't reach your home! It is so difficult to clean up from a flood and please be careful because that water won't be clean at all and can cause some nasty infections. Very brave of the neighbor to dive under to clear the storm drain!

I will keep sending every good thought your way and to Joshuasamah as well.

Good luck everyone !!

We had heavy rains all day and wind also, but nothing compared to the pictures above.

Polly, I can only imagine how gut-wrenching it is to see something like that. Praying that you stay dry.

Wow Polly that's incredible!

Fly - we sure did luck out! And we also lucked out when we needed to rebuild our entire front porch but couldn't afford to so it kept falling into more and more disrepair. Eventually a car drove into our house. Our house was fine but the porch had to be demolished and rebuilt and their auto insurance paid out $18K to us.

I remember that, ttodd! The insurance gods clearly favor you.

And Polly, please update us as you can. Sending energies for strength and endurance...

Polly, I'm sending positive energy too. You have been through a lot!

Checking in from Baltimore-All fine here no damage at our house.
It is good to have power again- the radio said it could be 3-5 days.It was not a good night trying to sleep without our CPAP machines- we both have sleep apnea. we had adaptors but apparently our deep cycle battery was not taking a charge- got about an hour sleep before it quit. ( got home with new $$$ battery to find the power had been turned back on 15 minutes earlier!)
All fine here no damage at our house.
Hoping the waters stop rising and begin receding very soon in your areas.
Stay safe.

Well, I'm sending best wishes to all you folks who've been hard hit by the storm. I'm in Bucks County, PA. No pictures to show but there are some big trees and electrical wires down in town and some traffic is diverted. People in the town next door who front the Delaware River have had some serious flooding, likewise for those who live near some other rivers and creeks. We are not near any big bodies of water. Our lights flickered a bit and I had my flashlight ready but we didn't lose power. The storm was noisy and we were impressed by the wind but all in all it was a non-event for our household. There are about 100,000 people in our county who have lost power though and the school openings this week are delayed by a day. I went out this afternoon and many of the traffic lights were off or have been turned to blinking red lights. I could hear power generators and pumps going. The supermarket was open but it was dark inside except for a few "emergency" lights. It was so creepy! People seem to be in a daze. Even worse, our local coffee shop which is THE Sunday morning hang out was closed and it NEVER closes. Hopefully our heroic municipal service people and tree people and PECO people will put us all back together over the next few days.

My family is fine, and we dodged a bullet. But I just heard from a friend who hosted the fire fighters at her house for dinner because the fire department had to be evacuated (completely submerged). She said they told her most of the homes on the other side of town are a total loss. The elementary school is completely under water. Most homes will probably need to be torn down and re-built. I'm in a state of shock and I can't stop crying thinking of what all my friends on the other side of town will do. I noticed their absence on facebook and was hoping it was because they lost power, not their homes.

Thank you all for your kind words.

I'm hoping the sun will be shining for all of you tomorrow.

polly I am so sorry that your area was so hard hit. I rode all along the Delaware river this year on my bike ride. An impressive amount of river...I hate that so many have so much damage.

I hope everyone will get back to normal soon. There is a lot of work to be done. c

Polly, those are some frightening photos.

And here I moaned and groaned waiting for the power company here in N.Va. to restore electricity to my townhouse section of my subdivision after a mere 8.5-hour outage.

Again with this storm, there are folks in various parts of Maryland (D.C., too, perhaps, but not sure) who always seem to have to wait days for power to be restored.

(Thank you, Dominion Power, for being my electricity provider.)

There's already a lot of sad, very sad stories: a woman swept away by a raging river after she and her boyfriend just went out to see the storm (stupid, I know, but...); the Virginia boy crushed by a tree; a Va. student killed when her family's vehicle and another vehicle collided while going through an intersection where the light was out (neither vehicle had stopped before going through); a woman crushed by her chimney after it was hit by a tree; and a man who was electrocuted in NY when he went to help a 5-year-old boy who went outside after the rain stopped and touched either a downed wire or a metal fence it had fallen on and been burned.

We made it through unscathed here on Cape Cod. Lots of wind, but not much rain at all. Lots of branches down, but nothing major. I'm so grateful, it could have been so much worse.

Beth P.

Ttodd, whew, close call! Thanks for sharing your good fortune...with pics! Even better...your tree removal costs cut in half!

Polly, the flooding in your area was of epic proportions. So sorry. Hope the water recedes asap & the clean up efforts are swift & sure. So sorry this happened. Best wishes you to in the days ahead, Polly.

Joshuasmah, those are amazing pics you shared as well. Hope you have the help you need with restoration efforts this week. Take care!

Amy, it's so good to hear from you! I haven't seen you around in ages. You must have had a busy & fun summer! Was wondering where you were in the storm's path, knowing you're in the NE.

Cyn...glad you didn't lose power for long and...you're getting your tree work done...yay!

So thankful that all our GWers seem to have made it through Irene safely! Polly, hope the floods didn't get to you. That is awful! I cannot imagine the clean-up.

Ttodd a couple of questions, if you don't mind, cuz I'm nosey like that!! LOL So lucky with where the tree fell, but I couldn't help noticing a couple of things. Do none of the houses have garages? Are those homeowners parking on the street or others? And why no parking between certain hours? Boggles a country gal's mind LOL.

Perhaps the media went a bit overboard on the predictions, but they are just that, predictions. I would think that weather, partcularly storms, tornados, etc. are very hard to forecast. Seems like they are constantly changing. I'm another who thinks that it is better to be safe than sorry. There WAS loss of life in this storm and much property damage. Whatever could be done to save lives first, and then lessen property damages, IMHO was worth it.

tina

I'm glad that eeryone here is OK.

Polly- I can't imagine what it is like for you and your friends/neighbors. I'm glad that you're safe.

Ttodd--that was a close call!

My street was pretty unscathed, and as far as I can tell we didn't lose power. There are lots of tree limbs down on the surrounding streets, but no significant damage.

I'm late to this party but am so happy to read that everyone made it through the storm ok.

Polly, I feel your pain, years ago we had 7 feet of water in our home and lost everything from the water surges of a hurricane. The clean up is nasty and horrible.

TTodd, so glad you're safe and your home is undamaged.

Glad to hear everyone is okay following Irene. I lost power and internet on Sunday afternoon and still waiting to have it restored. Much of my work is virtual and I am lost without internet so I stopped into a Starbucks today to download my email. While Irene was a wicked storm on Long Island, I am glad to say most of the damage seems to be minor in the scheme of things.

Here's a pic of what DH & I came home to at 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Saturday we spent the day taking DD back to school and prepping for Irene. Being flooded a few weeks ago, we had a bit more time to prep our first floor. While it came very very close, the water did not enter the first floor.

The water has receded, and we have managed to find all of our gates to our split rail fence, along with many other outdoor things that were carried away by the rushing water. I am so thankful that we didn't get water on our first floor, however, the water filled our crawlspace which houses everything that runs our home. We will need to replace our h/w heater, water softener system, heating and a/c, all duct work, etc. While we were getting our feet back on the ground after the flooding 2 weeks ago, many things were replaced, but not everything that was damaged by that flooding. Significantly more flooding/damage from Irene.

Thankfully, we do carry flood insurance although we are not required to do so! I almost didn't renew the policy this year as we've carried it forever, but have never made a claim. Being on the west side of the storm, we received about 7 inches of rain. Ironically, we moved our municipal trash cans to the end of our driveway, tying them closed. When we arrived home, they weren't moved an inch.

We decided early on Saturday morning that we would evacuate before we were surrounded by water (like occurred on the 14th). Fortunately, my MIL has a very large home and we spent a few nights there along with the 2 dogs and 4 cats. What a couple of days!

I am happy to read so many GW friends weathered the storm with no loss of life. Material things are easily replaced.

Well, guess what we will be doing over the Labor Day weekend? lol

Oh my, workinprogress, I feel for you! Hope you are able to get everything up and running soon. Although we have some damage, no internet, etc. I know how lucky we are to have our major systems operating and a roof over our head and electricity. I will keep my fingers crossed for you that things proceed smoothly-so glad the water didn't reach your first floor.

Good G*d....

I'm glad all my "friends" are physically OK anyway!!

WOW...the pix on the news, etc. are stunning. And to think it could've been worse if Irene had strengthened....

I'm thinkin' of you guys out East!

Glad I'm from the "Land of the Ice & Snow" as Led-Zepplin's MN Vikings intro-song goes!!! (The Immigrant Song)

Faron

Yes, we are slowly getting things replaced. However, with so many affected by the hurricane, we are on waiting lists. Fortunately our electrician got us up and running to a point. We have running cold water, and the tech just replaced our hot water heater this afternoon.

I have been boiling water in order to fill buckets with disinfectant to wash things down. Although we had no actual water on the first floor, the duct work that was contained in the crawlspace was flooded. As as result, there is a bit of odor from the flood water that I can smell on the first floor.

Hopefully we will have hot water within an hour or so, and I can then take a nice loonnnggg shower in my own home, something which hasn't been an option for days... Thankful for every small accomplishment toward normalcy!

Thanks so much for the good thoughts!

I live on the coast of ct and just got power back. We are lucky but some a few miles away were not. 25 houses in my neices neighborhood washed out to sea. No one was hurt thankfully but lots of sadness. I have attatched a videofrom my town it is an amazing thing mother nature. On the sound waves almost never reach the height of street lamps.

Here is a link that might be useful: two story waves crashing over street.

OMG, WorkinProgress! Your screen name has never been more fitting, I would imagine! So glad you are safe & sound. So sorry you have all the hassles & inconveniences to deal with, but you sound very organized & together in the midst of the chaos. Wish I could help!

You were so smart to continue your flood insurance! I know you're so glad you did.

Wishing you, your DH, & your menagerie all the best in the days ahead. Keep us posted.

Natal, don't know if you're still reading this, but wondered if you are worried or if you are in the path of the new tropical storm that is supposed to bring huge amounts of rain to your area?

I don't know how we managed to keep our power because 1/2 of my community was out. I'm sure we didn't lose power because my hub drove 8 hours to buy a generator.

That was one scary night; to say the least; my heart has never pounded so hard. I stayed awake until 4am.
I'm in an area where tornadoes were spotted; my TV went out pretty early; I then turned my computer off because the power blinked a few times. My Blackberry kept freezing; a friend texted to see if we were ok; I asked what was going on & she told me to get the kids & go in the basement. I hated not knowing what was going on so I booted my computer; rebooted the TV & saw the news screen lighting up with tornadoes. My 1st thought was how much I want my dad. I was signed up on the state radio station FB page so was getting SMS updates when my BB wasn't frozen; I then managed to sign up for a Philly & South Jersey TV station for texts; so I had those coming in.

Had over 100 gallons of water in the basement; thankfully none on the floor. It's leaked since hub's cancer 2 years ago; usually only in heavy rain. I tried getting one company to look at it but they wanted both homeowners home & I hadn't found another company yet. I'm lucky enough that I figured out how to hold a towel against the crack & have it drip in a bucket. During the hurricane; I used a rubber made bin & was dumping it every 15 minutes.

Over all; I feel fortunate that we don't have damage. I';m thinking about doing some volunteer work if I can get my back pain under control.

Polly; I forgot you're in that town. I don't ever remember it flooding like that in the 70's & 80's- I'm from the next town over.

This is Bound Brook; there are Cranford links to the right. Horrible. My heart goes out to everyone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hurricane Irene: The Aftermath (Middlesex, NJ & Bound Brook, NJ)