Up Close and Personal With Hurricane Irene In New York

The rain has started, but only drizzle thus far. Early this morning we went out and collected everything that could become projectiles - 2 sets of patio furniture, numerous planters and lawn decorations, even the cover on the hot tub to keep it from tearing loose and coming through the living room windows.

It's rather eerie outside - truly the calm before the storm. The atmosphere is very heavy with heat and humidity, and there is not even a hint of a breeze - yet. The forecast is for tropical storm winds to begin later today, and hurricane force winds by early tomorrow morning.

The South Shore of Long Island is being evacuated at this time, running from NY City all the way out to Montauk. The North Shore is also being evacuated as the storm surge will hit Long Island Sound as well as the Atlantic Ocean. They are telling people to find friends/relatives to stay with because the shelters only have room for 70,000 people — not much when you consider the millions of people in the evacuation zones. Where I am is where they are evacuating people to, so we're not too worried about flooding except from ground water. The water table is quite high from the torrential rains we have had the past few weeks, so there is concern about where the 10 inches of rain they are forecasting will go. The biggest concerns right now are the unavoidable power outages and these large and very old oaks out here which tend to topple over in hurricane force winds.

We went on a grocery run night before last and most of the bottled water had been sold out, as well as most of the beer!! Seems a lot of people are planning hurricane parties. I just hope that people take the evacuation order seriously. As for what being in a hurricane is like, think of a tornado lasting 24-36 hours, without being able to hide in the basement because of the flood threat.

I will keep posting the conditions and what the experience is like for as long as we have power. My camera decided to die last night, so I only have my camera phone to use for pictures. Unfortunately, I do not have the required hook-up to the computer to send them to you yet. I will get one on Monday if the roads are passable and send them to you as soon as I can. 

Keep us in your prayers. There really isn't anything anyone can do now except to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

***Linda Motley of Greendale has been visiting friends in Long Island, NY since July. She will try to blog about her personal account with Hurricane Irene in NY — so as long as she has power.