Sunday, August 28, 2011

Eye of Irene

So...right now we're in the eye of Irene (or what little eye there is).  Here's how things stand:

1.  Water came in under the front door and through the front door.  The door was stained with marine stain last year, but it is 82 years old and has some cracking.  Towels in the vestibule have kept problems with this to a minimum, but we're going to have to do something with the door.
2.  Water came in under the caps on the chimney.  It dripped down the chimney, collected in the living room (a small amount) and dripped through the floor into the basement by going around an electrical box.  When we cleaned up the water in the living room and put down towels and a bucket, the water stopped dripping around the electrical box (phew).  But, it continued to drip down the chimney into the basement.  Again, it's not very much, but it is collecting in buckets, large bowls and a roasting pan.  So far, no damage but we have to repair the chimney and make certain the brick doesn't need to be repointed.
3.  Dogs aren't faring to badly.  The walk this morning was fine, just very wet.  I don't understand why they stop and try to shake the water off while it's raining, but I'm not a dog and they can't tell me.  They don't seem unhappy.

Now, what's going on around here...

Some friends of ours are without power, but nothing locally, as far as I can tell.  Good thing--no power means no coffee.

One of our friends said that his neighbor's tree fell across their yard, crushing their shed, part of their new addition, trees and car.

Another of our friends was called to a fire last night (voluntary fire department) and then to work at 5 AM to direct food service, etc. at a nearby hospital.

My hospital has fared fairly well.  Some minor leaks but at the moment, no major damage or issues.

Around the neighborhood, lots of rotted branches and modest sized limbs have fallen off trees, but aside from LOTS of water, nothing too terrible.


Living room around the fireplace.  Yicky, sooty water in the bucket.





Basement with things to collect dripping water.

We'll see what happens when the winds pick up this afternoon.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Waiting for Irene

OK, like many others in the tri-state area, we are waiting around for Irene.  Hatches have been battened down, yard furniture and potential projectiles have been stored and we got some wee-wee pads for the puppies in case they can't get outside.  We have a lot of food in the house, including stuff that can be cooked on the gas stove top in case the power goes out.  Bill bought a cooler that we can load up so that we don't have to keep opening the freezer after the power goes out.  We should be okay.

But I worry.  I don't know if we're prepared enough.  Now, it looks like we won't know for sure until late tomorrow night, although the rain just started.

In the meantime, here's the map of the current path of Irene showing where we are.