Good Grief, Irene

We're still in the beginning stages of the hurricane - quite a few areas in South Jersey have been issued MANDATORY evacuations - but, of course, if you don't want to go, well...... I'm at least about 50 miles from the coast, but we could still get a lot of rain and high winds. I'm part of the county emergency management group and I've been asked to report at the EOC at 6 PM this evening, working until midnight - then I get to come home, just when the rain gets bad! Hope those like jeane and others stay safe, see you tomorrow!

Jim

welp, since i looked in the garage (not snooping...i was putting the trash out and the cans are in there now) and saw there was only ONE crate i know there's no way i could evacuate. I could fit maybe two cats in a crate but i'm sure the crate would be used for Ms Puff upstairs. the dogs don't need a crate.
i honestly don't even think there's room in the car if i did need to go.
But this is the hills part of town and the house is on a hill. so,pray and hope and send out vibes that there's no flood around here. though in less than 4 blocks there's a lake and a reserviour so there is water.
high winds and torrential rain is what i've been expecting. as long as no trees go down ...break through the roof or window etc...we should be okay. but if its bad i don't know how i'm getting to work. the thing is,like with the snow...if you call out and they close the store you don't get paid. BUT if you don't call out and they call you and tell you not to come in because they're closing the store you get paid. so its a big delema.
about 6 stores in the next shopping center over had signs up saying they were closing early and wouldn't open til Mon due to the weather. our store will only close if the kmart in the same parking lot closes and then only if the powers that be allow us to close.
i hope warrior and her family have a place to go and hope lk does as well. i know someone on the news was talking about how the first floor of some apts were being evcuated but that if you were higher up you could stay.

Well, my "shift" at the county EOC ended at midnight and I was ready to come home - right when the rain was REALLY coming down and the wind was highest! I had the first problem just getting out of the parking lot - flooding in the low places, sometimes just up to the car sills on my SUV - then came watching for low points on the roads, sometimes turning around and finding another way (remember, it was now 12:30 AM on Sunday) and no police anywhere. I drove safely and didn't take any BIG risks, and, except for some flooding about a mile from my home, was back in my house by 1 AM. No flooding at my house, no power failures, Tat was quite happy to see me , and I slept until 8 AM this morning. Like a fool, after breakfast, I went to find a Sunday newspaper! WaWa was closed (Huh? ), Acme was "open", but they had NUTTIN' , no newspapers, no bread at all, for those interested - the tv guys said "Stay Home!! Really!" - believe me, they meant it! I may have to go back to the EOC or I may be on standby. But, for all of you out there, PLEASE BE SAFE!

we lost power around 2:30=3:00...i woke up right after it happened (light sleeper so even the sound of the fan turning off will wake me up)...the first flashlight i tried blinked out as soon as i turned it on (brand new batteries...and it was my big 'lantern' type light! but it was kinda old) seconds flashlight was a cheapo oldy and didn't even blink on. I was walking around using a flashlight the size of my thumb! Third flashlight had to have the back unscrewed(ever try finding a tiny screwdriver the the light of a tiny flashlight)when i finally got the back off i discovered it needed Cs...no Cs. Finally i look for another and that one needs unscrewing but used AAs. SO i spent the night with candles in the bathroom sink, a black cat Halloween flash light with its mouth open above my head and a little flashlight under the pillow;)
WE got electric about 12 hrs later.
i called in to see if the store was open there was one manager there ..everyone else had called out. so she told me just to call out (which means no pay for today even though i would have walked in...in my snow boots!..will have to use vacation hours to make up for the lost time).
I can't tell what the rest of the town is like, but here it looks like we're the only one who had even branches fall off on. just small one...i picked them up when the rain stopped and put them i a pile at the end of the sidewalk...don't know what to do with them.(i couldn't stay down here in the basement cuz its almost as dark in the day as it is at night! and i couldn't sit out and read for long cuz i was getting antsy so i picked up the branches...no big whoop. i'd rather do something than sit like a rock;) ).

hope everyone in NY is safe and dry!

My area in Queens did not get hit that bad at all. My sisters in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island lost electricity.

thanks for checking in Warrior...when the lights were out i was listening to the radio (only thing i could get in was the news from NY) and it sounded bad your way. glad to hear everything's okay. now we need LK to check in..hopefully tomorrow.

My brother is in Delaware and said that they had high winds and rain. Other than
that everything was fine.

everything is fine by me. Lots of torrential rain and wind, but the super closed my window in the bedroom that I couldn't close because of the dead AC unit in it so no rain and wind was blowing in.
We never lost power and were not in the part of brooklyn which was mandatorily evacuated (though that part, Coney Island) is only 3 miles away from me. In fact the hurricane made landfall on Coey Island about 9Am sunday. the rain slackend off sopn afer and the winds, though high were not too high,
I wnet to the diner for brunch and checked on the stater of the trees, non down in my area, though losts of leaves, twigs and small branches.
I was on the phone with a friend Sat evewith a friend who lives not far from Jimkt and as we were talking a huge branch from a neighbor's tree crashed into her deck.
Trains were up and running again this morning so i made it into work, just a few minutes later than usual.
Hope everyone is okay. I know they were expecting major flooding up Jeane's way.

Very glad to hear that everyone seems to be OK so far...hope the flooding is also not as bad as feared.

I was wondering if LK and Jeane would have to evacuate or not............glad to hear everyone is okay. I also hope the flooding isn't nearly as bad as they think it might be later on.

Interesting that the damage in Richmond, the city we evacuated to, had worse damage than out house. But, they did not flood. Most of the damage there is wind/downed trees. Our flooding was minor and nothing our coastal region isn't used to already. I do hope LK and Jeane are both ok. I heard that the storm wasn't as bad up there as originally feared, but still... That doesn't mean they escaped untouched. Please check in when you get a chance/power, guys.

though there were supposed to be trees and branches down all over the turnpike between here and work (one of the managers lives just a few blocks from me and she's the only person who went in yesterday until i don't know when...i called in around 8:30 to see if the store was open and she told me to call out cuz everyone else had..but when i went in to do the money this morning i discovered they were open...yep...not only do the powers that be not care about the store employee's safety there were idiots who went out and bought toys when both the pres and the gov had declared a state of emergency!) WHen i was walking home this afternoon i kept a look out for branches etc and really didn't see much so they must have done some major clean up.
there's flooding all around town and the towns around us that normally flood.
I have a friend who lives in Clark who does a sideshow ...very sort of Victorian...he paints his own posters and makes his own attractions...he lost some of his artwork due to flooding in his basement. But thankfully nobody i know personally has had major damage...just water in the basement and the electric going out which is to be expect if you live in an area that floods.
lk i was wondering in the other area what you meant about your landlord coming in to shut the window! now i understand..it had to do with an AC unit...i thought he was boarding them up for ya!

the windows in my apartment are off their tracks so if you shut them shey slide down again. Some of them stay shut by being locked but some dont. the ones that dont he propped them shut with pieces of wood. it did the trick until he has more time and can actually fix the windows, however he won't fix the one with the AC in it or the two with the security gates as they have to be taken out in order to fix the windows properly.

Isn't that a violation of the city building code not to fix those windows?

They aren't busted out or anything, they just need to be put back on the track, which the super will do. But as the gates and the AC were put in by the tenant it's there obligation to remove them so the super can do the work.

Jeane, how are you faring with the flooding. i keep hoping it doesn't reach your level. I'm hearing horrow stories about the flooding out your way

Even Paterson made it in the news. I have thought of Jeane too.

well nothing around this immediate area. but its all over the place. as i said in another area the pres is coming to the towns around us on Sun. we had the gov today and he just got everyone in those towns PO'd!

the store manager says he can't get into work and one of the assistant store managers was evacuated and is on a shelter (or whatever its called) right now! so we only have one ass. manager and one area manager for the rest of the week! (and everyone is crabby and jumping all over each other...esh)

but you have to slog in on foot.

well,i was willing to walk in when the tree branches were falling into the streets. i didn't go because when i called to see if the store was open they said everyone had called out and to just call out.

If things continue as they have been you might have to swim in to get to work Jeane. There's another hurricane in the ocean that they think will head your way soon.

At this point they have no idea what path Katia will take. They usually do not take the path Irene did so there's more than a good chance it will not hit the NY/NJ area. It still may skirt it and jeane's area floods if you spit at it