Irene's Aftermath

Shortly after I shut my laptop down for the night, we lost power for about 10 seconds. Thank goodness. But others have not been so fortunate. I expected to wake up this morning and see mass destruction. But there were only a few small branches that scattered our complex. The courtyards have reatined a lot of water. But all in all, we were extremely lucky.

My parents spent the night battling the water that was coming in their laundry room. The sump pump and shop vac have done their jobs and have helped to protect their belongings. They still have no power and the fight isn't over. There was so much rain and the ground is so water logged, it could be hours before the water stops seeping in. Mom and Dad are very tired. It's things like that that make me thankful that I live in and apartment on the second floor.

Through all of this, the one thing that has totally stressed me out is what is happeneing to my Dad's boat. I'm aure my parents are a lot more stressed about it than I am, but that boat is my Dad's pride and joy. He would be totally devastated if something happened to it. On Friday, Dad and my brother went down to the marina to secure the boat as much as possible. So, we are hoping for the best.

The Jersey shore got hit the worst. The sea has made it all the way to the boardwalk and in some areas, like Long Beach Island, the bay and sea have met and the island is flooded. I am hoping that all of those that have been in Irene's path from the Bahamas to New york have sustained little damage. However, their has been a total death toll of 8 people; some due to their own stupidity (going in the water to surf) or from that natural events of the storm (one boy in VA was killed when a tree flew into the apartment.

Looking back, we were well over prepared for what our complex endured. However, I am happy that we took every precaution that we could and did not have to put emergency plans into place.

Once I can get some pictures, I will post them.