Hurricane Irene
I was born and raised on Long Island, NY. I still have family here and always drive down from Rochester to be with them. This time around, I was here for my nephew’s first birthday. My parents are in town, too, and I have my other sister’s kids here so I decided to stay awhile. (Love my sister’s couch…)
Then the impending doom of hurricane Irene threatened the East Coast.
Did I leave? HELL NO!
I never experienced a hurricane. I was just a mere fetus for Hurricane Gloria. So I was curious as to how this would turn out. Besides, earlier that week, I had experienced my first “earthquake” so.. why the hell not. I was gonna have Irene Rock me like a Hurricane!
I listened to the hype .. err.. Reports on the storm. I took them seriously. I couldn’t take Bloomberg or Cuomo or Christi seriously because they just seemed scared. It was supposed to be a good storm, but Irene’s PR definitely oversold her talents. Or maybe she just worked too hard on the southern states… Didn’t have to blow EVERY guy you met, Irene.
I was at my sister’s house on the South shore of Long Island. Only 13ft above sea level. South of Merrick rd had a mandatory evacuation (that we didn’t listen to. whoops) Slept through most of it. There was flooding near my other sister’s house. but because she didn’t have basement, she’s good.
But once it settled, I took a walk to survey the damage. Then ran home to get the camera. thought I’d share what Irene’s fury hath done.
Just debris
My sister’s house. Like most people, her lawn is littered with debris (leaves, twigs, etc.).
Survivor
This guy. He flew down next to me during my second walk. No idea where he hid, but he did alright. There are another little guy, a mouse, that wasn’t as lucky. No picture of him, though.
Leaning poles of Oceanside
There are two poles.. seem very attracted to something down the street…
Tree fell flat
… And that would be it…
Totally Treed
That side walk and truck were TREED!!! If you look carefully, you’d notice that the tree is still being supported by the wires. The sidewalk adding a nice counter-balance. But those wires are pretty much stressed…
Pretty sure that's on fire...
That’s a telephone pole that’s taking the strain from the last tree… Yes. It’s on fire. Something also seems to be missing though…
What's that doing there...?
… That would be it.
that's what the top of those poles look like
What I ASSUME happened. The tree (the one that is currently devouring the truck), fell over from the wind, and was being held up by the wires. However, it tugged one of them just a bit too much, causing sparks, a small fire. Singed the top right off.
I didn’t explore too far. Some flooding south of us. Nothing catastrophic. Now it’s just there is some leftover rain and wind.
Thoughts to those who were deeply affected by this storm. She was a nasty bitch. We can only come together and help one an other clean up and move on.