Goodnight Irene

Hurricane Irene hit us Saturday night and into Sunday. Many lost power before we did but we were soon to follow. The coast got the tides, inland got all the rains, we got the wind and a considerable amount of rain. Everything was closed (thank goodness it was on Saturday so most people were not at work) and it was a good thing. If a tree didn't get you, the flooding did.
My daughter lives upstate (inland) so she got the water and it did indeed flood her basement. We didn't flood (I live on a very large hill) and had a sump pump, she had electricity and she had the generator...so I traded her for use of the pump for the generator. (Best trade I ever did). So things were not so bad. I mean they could have been worse....much worse. My heart goes out for those who did get it worse.
When the ban was lifted on driving we ventured out to do our swap. I snapped a few pictures of my neighborhood. I am talking in a 2 block radius of my house. This should give you some idea of the winds here. (Note our power lines are underground but it comes from the bottom of the hill which is above ground and our sub-station was closed and all power shut off as that was flooded).

How lucky they were it missed the house and landed right next to the driveway.

another tree lost

and another

another

and again...remember this is all in the 2 blocks by my house before I get to the main road down the hill 

When I got to the bottom of the hill and turned to the main road that takes me to the highway it was much the same as this where ever you looked. Only they had (some) water issues too. When I got further inland there was hardly any wind damage at all. I didn't see one tree broken but water everywhere. My daughter had 2 pumps working and still she was flooding. She hooked a third one up and it was keeping up and then I came with the forth. When we pulled up on her street we noticed a small river coming down the side of the road.

We followed it into the driveway of her house!!! This is only one of 3.

So what do you do with all this water? Just ask Wynter.....LOL.

I am just glad it is over for us and all is back to normal somewhat. I still have two trees to chop in my backyard that fell....then it will all be but a memory. I do want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all the crews restoring power. We have crews from TX and CO just to name a few. I know there are many other states here too. They are working around the clock and I am sure they hear it from residents who are sick of being in the dark. Tempers tend to flare especially when you can't buy a generator as they are all gone and a truck (FEMA Approved) finally rolls in yesterday. Yeah....I'd be angry too. However, the crews are fantastic and doing their best. Hats off to you all!!!
Also....we have the reverse 911 here. I really didn't care much for the Mayor of Naugatuck but I will tell you what... We were aware of many things going on such as the driving ban, when crews were thought they'd have us up and running, where to go for showers, gas, etc. I really loved that information that kept coming. (They call my DH's cell phone with each update). Fantastic job there Mayor! Only thing I wish you would do is have a tree pick up....what are we all suppose to do with all these trees??? You (Naugatuck) have the equipment (or can get it) to pick these up and chip them up and use the mulch/chips on the green or where ever needed. (Bag it and sell it instead of raising taxes!)

Now that it is over I only have one last thing to say....Goodnight Irene