There's Always The Weather

[moi621 (imported)]

It has been a day since last inquiry of Irene victims. Over that night Irene moved through.

No EA members have reported their experiences with her. Are those touched by Irene without electricity or internet?

Was she too boring (a storm) and not worth sharing the experience?

Was it ever the kind of a storm a storm lover could bundle up and go out and enjoy? Obviously not at the maximum.

Moi

[Riverwind (imported)]

well I think I herd a million people without power, 11 inches of rain in NYC, just to name a couple.

River

[Dave (imported)]

You might have to wait for power to be restored to people for them to comment.

Remember, the repair priority is electric first, telephone second and cable TV and internet last.

[Riverwind (imported)]

To add some reality to this, years ago I lived in the Santa Cruz Mountians, Red Wood forest. Moi, that is living in paradise, the winter I lived there it rained, over 100 inches, and because Red Wood trees have a small root ball one of this 1000 yr old trees decided to leave its home and travel down the hill. Cutting a 30' path to the road below, it hit in the middle of the high way and then toppled over taking the power lines and guard rail. PG&E arrived and cut the power from the live wires. By the time they got the tree cut up and removed and the power turned back on it took 4 days. This tree cut the power to half the people that lived in the canyon about 10,000 people, ONE TREE 4 Days.

It could take weeks for people to get back on line after this storm if not months.

River

[moi621 (imported)]

I just heard from Bob3.

He is Ok!

Grateful the nearby market had emergency power generators to stay open.

The power is coming back on.

Moi

Where is the New Jersey National Guard anyways?

[gareth19 (imported)]

I just heard from Bob3.

He is Ok!

Grateful the nearby market had emergency power generators to stay open.

The power is coming back on.

Moi

Where is the New Jersey National Guard anyways?

I think some former Texas governor deployed them in Iraq.

[Riverwind (imported)]

Last I herd they were near Newark.

more to the point, glad Bob/3 is ok.

River

[bobover3 (imported)]

Thanks, River. You may not feel the same after you read my latest political post.

Things are still bad in Morristown, NJ. Most of the business district remains in the dark. My apartment seems to have been one of the first with power restored. (No doubt because a Jersey Central Power & Light exec posts here.) Even so, it was 24 hours of hell. No light (except for a flashlight and one candle), no hot water (so no showers), no refrigerator (worries about rotting food), no computer, no elevator (I live on the top floor of an apartment building), no washing machines (would have been a big if this lasted a week or more), no radio until I got batteries. The lobby of my building was flooded. The halls and stairwells were pitch black (no windows), so anyone going in or out needed a flashlight (those without one were trapped). I passed the night by calling people (thank Alexander Graham Bell for insisting his phones have an independent source of electricity) and taking a long walk. It was eerie in the streets - people walking, cars passing, no lights at all. There was one office building lit from emergency generators. It gleamed beautifully in the dark. My super told me it would be at least a week - cause for major depression. Well, things will be back to normal when the whole town has power. The residential areas were lit first, business areas not yet. Traffic lights are off, so cops are at major intersections. This all made me think how much we depend on electricity, and that I had been returned to "natural" living. I prefer unnatural living. Must be why I'm so fond of EA.

[Dave (imported)]

Get yourself a cranked flashlight. At least the battery doesn't die. I've been through a couple night long power outages and the one I have gives enough light to walk around in the dark. I got in on sale at a Brookstone years ago.

It's hell to be stuck in the dark.

[bobover3 (imported)]

Good idea about the cranked flashlight. I think I will get something like that. I've also seen crank-powered radio/flashlights. It's hell to be stuck in the dark.