In Nj. About 5 miles off the Delaware but about 1/2 mile off a large creek. Its windy, raining off and on. I'm on my way to the gym right now. Hoping my clients keep their kids home today. I hate daycare with conditions like this. The kids anxiety feeds my own and it sucks hiding it all day.
Near the Key Bridge in Baltimore/Pasadena. Just rain so far. Baltimore news is saying the winds should hit around 8am. I'm going to wake H up at 6 so he can get in before they hit. He has to pull storm duty at the inner harbor. Joy.
Just to babble, yesterday was crazy prepping. Turns out, our truck cannot pull our boat. Found this out the hard way. We think we burned about 10k miles off the clutch. Had to find someone else who could pull it. Then, we had a flat tire on the trailer. Then the spare was flat. Finally got it up and parked. H was cleaning it up while I went to Costco. My car had a flat tire! 3 flats in one day!! Joy. We didn't finish yard and gutter prep until about 6pm.
One thing to possibly ease your anxiety, carrots. It's hitting north of us. Around here, we are expecting it to be more like Irene last year. Storm surge in Baltimore should only be about 1-3 feet. We are on the back side of the storm, which is good for this area. Not that it's not bad and we shouldn't be prepared, but it's the north and east sides of the storm that get the worst of the surge and winds. So if you are worried and surge flooding, it shouldn't be too bad. Not an Isabel surge around here. Lots of rain flood though. And trees down.
Folks in DE, NJ, NY - don't listen to this downplay. You all get the worst of it and my thoughts are with you!
Post by marclovesme on Oct 29, 2012 6:05:41 GMT -5
Metro New York. People are going crazy - stores were totally out of batteries, water, etc. and all the gas stations near our house were out of gas. I'm about 50 yards from a mandatory evacuation area, so technically "safe," but a little nervous. We didn't lose power during Irene because our lines are somewhat protected, so we keep hoping for the best, but are under no illusions.
It's a little windy outside now, no rain. And, I have to go in to work this morning...
We're supposed to fly to Europe on Thursday, and the storm will have passed through by then. Just called the airline and they claim we can't be involuntarily bumped...we'll see (fingers crossed!).
Central NJ near the PA border, our lights flickered on and off. Wind and rain are starting to pick up. We've both showered and the tub is filled up with water. Stay safe every one.
Post by heliocentric on Oct 29, 2012 6:34:08 GMT -5
Central Jersey. About ~ 1/2 mile from the Delaware River and 40 miles from the shore. We have some wind gusts and sprinkles, but that's all for now.
DH works for the city and has to work even though he's non-essential. I am not happy about that. I am starting freak. Things are already flooding at the beach and it's still far away.
In NJ and so far it's just wind gusts and a little rain. I keep asking MH if we did enough to prepare. I'm going to go fill every vessel I can find with water in case. We keep charging phones and laptops to make sure they're at 100%. We did our food shopping on Saturday night and were surprised that it wasn't chaos, it was like a normal day. I am sure if we had gone yesterday, that would have been a different story...
And the morning prediction is far worse than when I went to bed. Although I've been focusing on storm surge. We just hit high tide and the winds are still pushing south, so that is good.
eta: I never said it was a joke! I've been freaking out over this thing for days while I was stuck on a ship. I'm just not panicking. And, like I said, being right on the water, storm surge is my huge concern. Only so much that can be done about rain flooding and power outages.
We're just south of Boston. It's very dark outside, and windy. We're getting minimal rain and some pretty steady wind, but it doens't look like it's going to be too bad unless people are on the MA coast. DD's school is closed, DH is going to check on work (he probably has to go in)
At least in New England, the worst of it is expected 10am-10pm
Western edge of NoVa here. Raining pretty steady, wind is picking up but so far so good.
I am already worried about taking the puppy out later today. I heard that no one should be outside after 2:00 or 3:00 this afternoon. We still have a couple of piddle pads from when we first brought Toby home so I guess we can try that. But if the power goes out and we can't use our Bissell to clean the carpet....blech.
When I told H about not going out this afternoon he seemed unconcerned. Until I told him that most deaths during Irene were from falling trees. His solution? We'll take Toby out front where there are fewer trees. 8-D
Central NJ here- windy, lightly raining. Very dark outside. H went to work but is planning on being back by noon. My office is closed but boss just emailed that he is going into the office anyway.
S RI/ECT. Windy, few trees down this morning. Work is not cancelling, but they "are looking out for our safety" - got that from an email this morning. Isn't that precious. I am home to watch for down trees and my animals. Work can piss off right now.
Fwiw, this is my backyard right now. That is the storm overflow pond. The kids usually play softball there. Add in a constant stream to the sump pump and I'm praying we keep power.
Southwestern VA. At the moment, it's just raining. It's actually less windy right now than it was last night, but we're being told that the winds will increase as the day goes on.
Post by krisandgrace on Oct 29, 2012 7:38:12 GMT -5
I'm coastal Maine right on the boarder of NH. Mostly wind and rain with a few good gusts. I took the dogs for a quick walk in a wooded area earlier because they will be stuck in all day. A tree snapped after a large gust and we got out fo there pretty quick. It is amazing to me that a cat1 storm hitting NJ can be snapping trees in southern Maine, they said it was 1000 mile wide.
Pittsburgh checking in.. so far we've had consistent rain since Saturday evening from another storm system and now this one. Wind is supposed to pick up around rush hour and continue overnight.
Yeah, I saw the Steelers game and it looked miserable.
Post by phoenixrising on Oct 29, 2012 7:50:20 GMT -5
I am in the Lehigh Valley in PA. I was at work from 3A to 7A (I am a nurse) and have to go back at 3P for four hours and then have to work 12 hours tomorrow. It started raining here at 8A, just as I was trying to get a walk in with the dog. We just did a loop of the parking lot of our apt. complex instead.
My parents landed in Philly last night and said that it was POURING there, and then it was not raining when they got home. We are expecting the worst of it to start later today and go through the end of tomorrow, with up to six inches total. I live near an area that frequently floods (but I am on the third floor, so I am safe), so I will probably have to take the long way back to work.
I prepared by buying a rain coat and a poncho, a little bit of water (our area's water system is gravity fed, and the filtration system has back-up generators, so barring a water main break, our water should stay okay), and plenty of dog and cat food. If we lose power, I may head to my parents' house, although they are close enough to me that they also would probably not have power.
Northern Virginia - just rain but the wind is supposed to pick up around 1pm.
My folks live at the Jersey Shore (Ocean County), a few blocks from the bay. The folks at the end of the street evacuated. I'm a little concerned - their newspaper is reporting power outages and flooding already.