We made it through minimal damage, a lot of trees down but nothing hit anything important (my car as another fist sized dent in its butt...something about my car's rear end attracts very large branches >_>. Wind broke one of my windshield wipers and put a branch through my bedroom screen. Gambit got chased around the yard with clumps of slimy airborne leaves (this was a recurring thing...they've plastered the side of the house too)...Ryuk and I though it was hilarious, Gam's giving us the silent treatment XD

So no real damage for us thankfully Hardest part was convincing the dogs to get off the deck and pee in the yard.


Driveway drained properly, the river down the hill got fast and a bit wild but stayed in its banks, there was some minor flooding downtown that put a few shops at risk but they'd over prepared and walled everything up with sandbags and made it though no problem. Overall the extent of the damage here in MA is trees being where they shouldn't and some power outage and surges. We got lucky, Sandy turned away from us before we got the bulk of the storm ^_^

WHEW!

Do you have power?



PS: "Gambit got chased around the yard with clumps of slimy airborne leaves (this was a recurring thing...they've plastered the side of the house too)...Ryuk and I though it was hilarious, Gam's giving us the silent treatment"

LOL

The news today looks morse than yesterday, now that they are getting into places they could not yesterday.

There are members we haven't heard from who are in the hard-hit areas. Here's crossing fingers that they are all OK and will have power soon.

My cable went out right after my last post...taking my tv, phone & internet.

Lots of trees down everywhere & it will take weeks to get them cleared up. People will be without power for at least until next Monday or Tues is the power company estimates. But will most likely be alot longer then that if it is anything like the Irene storm delays. Temps dropped last night & will be in the nightitme 20s & low 30s & daytime 40s next week.

There was a fire in my old home town that started on one house & with the winds...jumped the road & engulfed 2 more homes..all totally destroyed. Fireman had difficulty even getting to the first house due to downed trees & wires. Horrible. But no one died in the homes. Fireman in another town died from a head injury from a fallen tree.

They just reopened train service into NYC & the subways, tunnels etc are still flooded in some areas....as are office buildings alone with still many power outages. My understanding is that a parking lot where the city had parked many of the busses & city cabs flooded & damaged many of the them.

An unbelivable amount of homes on or near the coast have been totally destroyed. Some of these were in the process of still being repaired after last years Irene damage.

Tides were 15-17 feet above normal high moon tide anmounts.

CRAZY!!!

Gas stations here (70 miles north of NYC) are starting to form lines. 10 minute wait to get gas.

3+ hour waits around NY and NJ, I saw this morning.

Seeing entire neighborhoods wiped out is just .... no words.


There's something about New Yorkers, New Jersey folks, New Englanders ..... in fact, Americans, periods. I marvel watching every single news story at the resilience, the constant extension of helping hands, the determination to rebuild .....

And the first responders brought tears to my eyes, from LE to Coast Guard: heroes all.

I know .... I got a little sappy.

They were giving away sand bags & had huge piles of sand available behind several of the fire houses in some towns & my son took a shovel & went to get some to put in front of my garage door to keep the water out. (the major point of entry to my home & cause of flooding in my house repeatedly).

There were people there all helping each other shovel sand into bags & others holding bags for others so they all could get bags filled to help save their homes.

He said that if it hadn't been such a sad reason for this to be happening...it was heartening to see folks that normally would not have much reason for contact with each other all pitching in to help one another. Too bad they can't do this without the excuse of a hurricane!!

As a former firefighter/EMT I saw firsthand the determined spirit of Americans, especially New Yorkers. I worked at ground zero for just one day two weeks after September 11. There's a unique quality in all people, not just NYer's, that shows up when confronted with this type of devastation. They will do just about anything to help their family, friend, neighbor or complete stranger.

The people of NY, NJ, and CT will bounce back. They always do. There's a tower in lower manhattan that proves they will.

Sorry Connie....I got a little sappy too.