Taking a brief break from my just-in-case possible-evacuation packing* to wish all who are in Hurricane Irene's path a safe weathering of the storm.

*The southern part of Delaware is already under evacuation orders -- mandatory for visitors and voluntary (but strongly encouraged) for residents. This order doesn't apply to me, since I'm in northern Delaware, but the situation may well change in the next day or so.

Keep safe,
Lynn

As someone who has had her share of hurricanes, I am really feeling for the people of the Atlantic coast who will get this huge storm. I am thrilled that it didn't come into the gulf, but sorry for those of you who will be bombarded
by this storm. Stay safe! Don't ever think you can win and take chances with your life. A short trip to anywhere else is a good idea.

Pat

Wishing the best to all of you who live in the (possible) path of Irene. I'm hoping that you have all gone inland to a safer place.

Stay safe!

malu

Stay safe folcs! We're supposed to get hit here in CT on Sunday. I need to stock up on candles and stuff in case we lose power.

Good luck. I'll be praying for you FoLCs.

If anyone is wondering how bad a hurricane hit to New York city would be...I don’t often listen to NPR since I’m polar opposite to their political views, but in 1995 I found myself listening to a meteorologist giving a fascinating analysis of what would happen if a category 3 or above hurricane came through New Orleans. He had it all right. The guy could have been reading a newspaper printed the day after Katrina.

In the same interview he also described how the coastline around New York city would concentrate the effects of a category 3+ hurricane tracking along the Atlantic seaboard. I hope Irene runs out of steam or goes offshore because geography, structure of the bay, location of the city and building codes add up to a very ugly scenario.

Good luck to all those in the effected areas. Take care and stay safe.

Please remember drinking alcohol dehydrates you and if water is in short supply, probably not a good idea. (This reminder brought to you by my sister in NYC whose co-workers told her that they were buying champagne and pate and having a "Hurricane Watching Party" with their neighbors. Sadly, a true story.)

***

On a related note...

Hmmmm. I wonder what L&C would do if a hurricane hit Metropolis? How would they prepare? Would it be like Nightfall?

I hope everyone is still save. My thoughts are with you as well.

Well wishes to all from me, as well. Stay safe, keep dry, and come out of this with renewed hope and vigor!

Hi all,

Just popping my head in to let you know that all is well with me. Irene was blessedly anti-climactic (I almost typed a Freudian slip of 'anti-climatic') for me. I have a little water in my basement, but that is the extent of property damage for me -- no broken windows, no roof being torn off, nothing like that. There aren't even as many downed branches in my yard as I would get in a typical storm. And I still have power and water.

My thoughts and prayers go out to people who can not say the same thing.

Joy,
Lynn

Popping my head in here too. So far, so good here. It's still raining and the winds are occasionally gusting. But so far, nothing really huge has happened. No trees down, no power loss. Hoping it stays that way!

Here's an eerie picture of NYC...

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/338964/thumbs/r-HURRICANE-IRENE-2011-large570.jpg

Never have I ever seen the city empty.

Hoping all of our eastern seaboard folcs are ok!

That *is* eerie...

Again, keep weathering the storm!

been without power since ten am

Here in MD it was definitely yucky, but not as bad as it could have been, so praise God for that. We went lost power around on Saturday evening and just got it back today (Monday around 4 pm). So a day or two without power and a really messy yard (we have lots of trees!) but no serious damage... I'll take it!

There are lots of roads around that have trees down, though, and still a lot of people without power. Several counties canceled the first day of school (including us) so that was quite interesting... I've never had the first day canceled before! We'll see about tomorrow. I really want my first graders to be able to come!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Tracey

In MD. Lost power from 6pm or so to 8am. Couple of trees down in the woods but none hit the house. A friend of mine had the big tree across the street from them come down and fall across the street into their driveway. Haven't heard if all the cars are totaled or just badly damaged.

We did well here. No power outage, no downed trees, no flooding. We did lose the internet, cable, and phone for somewhat more than 40 hours. But all else was just fine here in CT.