3DD Hurricane Party

[Beebs]

Just really ramping up here. Power is out close by but not here yet. WInds are not yet anywhere near what they are predicted to be and the tree tops are whipping back and forth pretty good already. Got some scary big silver maples in front of my house

[Tequila Cowboy]

Downgraded or not it looks like this was/is one hell of a storm. Hopefully all of you affected are ok. Oh and watch out for the clowns, they're sneaky bastards.

[RevMatt]

I just woke up. I think it is now safe to empty out the rubbermaid containers in my bathtub. I only lost power for about five minutes last night and I live less than a mile from the ocean so I have to credit Jersey Central Power and Light for a job well done.. This was mostly heavy rain. No matter what they say, these were not hurricane force winds. In fact, the winds were stronger and more sustained during last December's blizzard where I got around three feet -- no exageration -- of snow. The storm itself came in waves. We would have an hour of heavy wind and rain followed by an hour of light wind and rain. It was like that from around 10:00 PM until 9:00 AM when things pretty much fizzled out.

Now I am going to take a shower and see if Starbucks is open.

['Scratch]

Creeks are ripping and we're pretty much cut off. Power out since midnight. Thankfully no real tree damage. Yet. Ground is soaked and it's still blowing. Checked in on older neighbors and they're all good. I'm about 3 miles from the Delaware which is due to crest tonight. I'm way up above it, but it may get ugly for the river towns and bridges.

You west-central Jerset coorespondent signing off.

[Clams]

Yeah the wind is howling right now. We have lots of big trees and they're really swaying. Supposed to be like this into tonight so it ain't over yet. Been a wild 24 hours.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

True cause of Hurricane Irene as phoned into WRAL-TV 5 in Raleigh yesterday:

[beantownbubba]

To quote myself from a recent email:

Mostly it just "feels strange." Like a really, really bad extended thunderstorm w/out the thunder and lightning. Tons and tons of rain, variable winds, quite strong at times, that really soaking, heavy humidity and very very dark. Also, when the wind's not blowing it's eerie quiet. But so far we have power and only some smaller to medium sized tree limbs and debris. If it stays this way i'll call it a win.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Squall line over Pensacola, FL

[RevMatt]

I ended up with five inches of water in my basement. We are pumping it out now. Funny thing is, I went down there at 2 AM before going to bed to make sure the sump pump was working and it was dry. I almost didn't bother to check this morning. Good thing I did. I don't keep a whole lot of stuff down there and what I do have that is mine is stored in rubber maid containers. But my guitarist/roommate has a bunch of stuff in cardboard down there that got soaked. I did manage to save some guitars that he was planning on restoring. I didn't know they were in the cardboard boxes. Good thing I checked. I also discovered that he had a stash of Playboys from the 1960's and 70's that are probably soaked to the bone, no pun intended.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

To quote myself from a recent email:

Mostly it just "feels strange." Like a really, really bad extended thunderstorm w/out the thunder and lightning. Tons and tons of rain, variable winds, quite strong at times, that really soaking, heavy humidity and very very dark. Also, when the wind's not blowing it's eerie quiet. But so far we have power and only some smaller to medium sized tree limbs and debris. If it stays this way i'll call it a win.

I believe I read somewhere yesterday that even though Irene was downgraded to a Category 1 Hurricane before hitting the NC coast, she has dumped as much rain on us as a Category 4.

[Clams]

To quote myself from a recent email:

Mostly it just "feels strange." Like a really, really bad extended thunderstorm w/out the thunder and lightning. Tons and tons of rain, variable winds, quite strong at times, that really soaking, heavy humidity and very very dark. Also, when the wind's not blowing it's eerie quiet. But so far we have power and only some smaller to medium sized tree limbs and debris. If it stays this way i'll call it a win.

I believe I read somewhere yesterday that even though Irene was downgraded to a Category 1 Hurricane before hitting the NC coast, she has dumped as much rain on us as a Category 4.

I think the category only has to do with the wind speed. It doesn't bear any relation to the amount of rain.*


* I'm not a meteorologist but I do watch the Weather Channel

[one belt loop]

I just heard from CooleyGirl. They are without power, but otherwise fine. Some big trees came down nearby, one next to their neighbor's house, but they didn't do any significant damage.

[RevMatt]

Penny Lane check in yet? Hoboken evacuated all first floor apartments and restricted driving. She decided to stay put and subsist on a diet of eggplant and vodka. Hope she is just sleeping it off.

[one belt loop]

i saw her 'like' someone's status either late last night or sometime this morning. but i have a text in to her.

[one belt loop]

She's fine. Said she slept through it.

[Tequila Cowboy]

She's fine. Said she slept through it.

Excellent. I will forever think of vodka and eggplant as Penny survival supplies though.

[one belt loop]

She's fine. Said she slept through it.

Excellent. I will forever think of vodka and eggplant as Penny survival supplies though.

Honestly, I'm surprised she likes eggplant.

[RevMatt]

I took the Triumph out for an inspection run in Asbury Park, Long Branch and Deal. Last night, early this morning the water came over the boardwalk in Asbury Park but it is still standing. Deal Lake flooded but the floods are receeding. The gazillionaires didn't lose a single beach front home in Deal. Here is the status of our rock and roll landmarks:

Asbury Park Convention Hall, where I saw The Clash in the spring of '82: Still standing
The legendary Stone Pony, where Bruce and East Street got their start: Still standing
The Wonder Bar: Still standing
The Brighton Bar in Long Branch: Still standing

Let There Be Rock!!!!!!

[Slipkid42]

We had 20 hours of rain & wind. We are now 20 hours w/o power. They don't know when we will be back on. This is my first post ever from my phone & it is a pain the ass.

[Clams]

We had 20 hours of rain & wind. We are now 20 hours w/o power. They don't know when we will be back on. This is my first post ever from my phone & it is a pain the ass.

We appreciate the effort. No power sucks big time (been there done that) but glad you are ok. Last night was effin crazy in my house but we were lucky to dodge the bullet. We all ate more of Rev Matt's Hurricane Chili for lunch and currently the wind has moved out and it's cool and breezy and beautiful. Fuck you, Irene!

[RevMatt]

I am about to have another bowl of Rev Matt's Hurricane Chili. After that, I will be chilied out. For the next weather event it will be Rev Matt's Blizzard Lamb Stew. I rotate between the two so I don't get tired of either one.

Here is an article about the flooding in Cranford, NJ, about half a mile from where I grew up. The Rahway river breached the dykes and a good part of the town is underwater including the downtown area.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/cranford_residents_are_dealing.html

[lynne]

Fuck you Irene is right - just got power back. Lost it at 930 last night. For the first time in the 18 years I've lived here the basement flooded thanks to the power failure, thus no sump pumps. At least a foot down there. Hot water heater, well pump and oil heater all were under water. Hoping that the sump pumps will get the water our quickly and that the well pump and water heater will fire up. Anyone have experience with this one? Its going to suck to have power but no water. Glad to hear everyone made it through relatively unscathed. Hope those of you waiting for power get it really soon.

[Jonicont]

back online after 18 hours. no damage thankfully. guy down the block lost an old one. my 70yr old behemoths stayed put

[GW in IA]

Looks like that one might not have been too healthy to begin with. roots never even cracked the sidwalk?

[garnersound]

"Yo Irene, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish. But New Orleans had one of the best hurricanes of all time!"

[beergut]

Good thing I checked. I also discovered that he had a stash of Playboys from the 1960's and 70's that are probably soaked to the bone, no pun intended.

The above is a genuine tragedy.

[Beebs]

Power is back on, out for barely 24 hours. Lost a few trees out back but no real damage. Had the chainsaw back in the garage and the lawn 75% cleaned up by 6pm. Basement will be dry by tonight.

Very lucky. Folks just west of us here in NY and east of us in VT are in bad, bad shape.

[RevMatt]

The Stone Pony is still standing but Sebastian Bach lost all his vinyl and memorabilia.

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebri ... _home.html

Over the years I have been Sebastian's nemesis and have had some pretty funny stories about my celebrity encounters with him. But all that aside, I feel badly for the man today. No one deserves that. And our back and forth over the years was really just in good fun.

[dogstar]

Glad everyone seems to be OK. From the coverage we've got over here looks like the people in Vermont got it the worst.

[CooleyGirl]

Uncle Rickey and I and our cat are ok. No damage to our house. We don't have electricity or water still, though, and they say it might take 5-10 days to restore. Thank goodness we leave for Austin and New Orleans soon!

There are big trees down right near our house, we got really lucky. Here are some pictures:





I'm here at work where we have power, so I thought I'd check in really quickly. I hope all are ok.