Bye Bye Irene

Everybody is just piling their waterlogged possessions out by the road.  I have spent every day for the last few weeks working on the house, stripping out wet items, hauling stuff to the dump, repairing damaged woodwork, power washing, cleaning out the garage and separating the damaged items from the clean, making lists, trying to get the air folks out to replace the flooded ducts under the house and patiently waiting on the flood insurance adjuster who still hasn't made the full assessment yet. These are the last pics I will post of Irene's aftermath.  Tomorrow it will be back to something better:o)  Quality is not the best as they were taken with an I-Phone.

She'll Buff Right Out

Tree fell on this truck during the hurricane.  I will get back to more cheerful pictures soon but my life for the last two weeks has consisted of stripping out and cleaning up a flooded house.  I haven't been in the picture taking mood and haven't even taken many pictures of the damage out here.  A lot of people have lost everything and I haven't felt right about taking pictures of the aftermath.  I will probably post a few more pictures of this area but next Thursday I will be finally heading back to Baltimore to re-enter the work force.

Waitin

Not exactly a hotbed of Democratic activity down here.

Swimming Pool

I have decided to turn my living room into a swimming pool! Pretty cool huh?

Prime Waterfront Property

Finally got power back. Hurricane Irene created a 9 foot storm surge which got into my home and created a real mess. The last week has been nothing but dragging damaged items out of the house and garage. Finally had an insurance flood adjuster come out to do a preliminary assessment. He said it will be another week to ten days until he is back for a full assessment. For now I am trying to get the air-conditioning folks out to replace the flexible ducts under the house that are full of water and not moving any air. The pic below is one my stepdaughter took out the back patio as the water was rising. I am posting this by email since I don't have my laptop with me so the pic is probably small.

Entire county is without power, i have never seen it so dark, house is wet and soggy. Trees down everywhere. I can only post blogs by cellphone email. And i am laying here in a wet muggy house that is about 80 degrees so sleeping is going to be real fun.

No phones, no lights, no motorcars, not a single luxury. Like Robinson Crusoe, it's primitive as can be!

Flooded!

Latest report from the house - water has risen and is 2 feet inside the house.  Separate garage totally flooded.  Car sitting in driveway under water.  Several trees down, one crushing the large garden shed and another taking down the power lines.  Our house was built in the early 60's and has never flooded until now.  I'm already mentally totaling the damage - MANY things in the garage like riding lawnmower, trimmers, chain saws, power tools, bikes, fishing gear, sails, outboards, etc. etc.,  in the house furnace, central air, hot water heater, chest freezer, washer, dryer, fridge and of course furniture, carpet and who knows what all else salt water will damage like wiring, etc.  Going to be a BIG mess.  I'm going to try to drive down there tomorrow to assess the damage after the storm moves on through Baltimore.  And to think I have been cussing the National Flood Insurance Premiums that I have been making every year.

It's going to be a mess!

This is a cellphone photo I just received from my 24 year old stepdaughter.  It is looking out our bedroom window at the water that is against the house and rising from the storm surge.  She is frantically moving stuff higher in the house.  The remnants of the eye are at the house now so I am hoping the wind will soon shift and the water will recede.  Our home is located on a tributary of the Pamlico Sound so the strong winds from the East are piling up water on the West side of the Sound/Bay.  I was hoping the weaker than expected storm would not cause any problems but the direct hit made up for it.   Power has been out since yesterday evening.  It's very frustrating not being there.  Now the whole mess is heading up this way so it's going to be a rainy one for sure.  Looks like Nationwide will be getting a call this week.  (Oh, and I just got a text that a tree fell across my nice garden shed that you can see in one of the previous hurricane pics that I posted a day or two ago)

Batten Down the Hatches

Looks like Irene will pass right over my home in NC and I am sick that I am not down there to 'hold down the fort'.  Here is a link to several webcams in Oriental, NC, a fishing village just a few miles from my house.

http://towndock.net/harborcam

Unfortunately, a great deal of the storm will be moving onshore during the night with major landfall being tomorrow morning.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Hurricane!

Wow, first it has been severe thunderstorms, then an earthquake, and now it looks like a hurricane.  Hurricane Irene is now forecast to make landfall right over my home in coastal North Carolina (Stonewall, NC) Saturday afternoon then it is supposed to be here in the Baltimore area not long after that.  The governor of Maryland just declared a state of emergency for Maryland and they are talking about possible 100 year flooding which will flood downtown Baltimore.  I'm sure the University of Maryland Medical Center, where I work, will be going into emergency status soon so I'm sure I will be there for several days.  Best place to be though if the power goes out here.  I have a daughter, a dog and a neighbor at my home down in NC though that I am very worried about and will probably be urging to pack up and move inland.  Below is a pic that I took out my back patio in 2003 during the last hurricane in NC.  It was only a Catagory 1 and the water rose about 8 feet and made it all the way up to the foundation of my house.  Also lost several large trees during that last one.