all y'all along the coast OK?

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Hoping that any of you in the path of the hurricane are alright and haven't gotten any damage....

[peternap]

Whooo Hooo!

Just got Internet back.
We went to the coast ad stayed just ahead of it. It was worse than I had expected. We did the same thing with Isabel which was a much worse storm but the damage was different this time.

I videoed the storm for about 12 hours and flooding aside (Which has it's own story) the damage was inland from trees. All the trees I videoed were uprooted and all had small root balls from grading.

Idiot developers and too darn many people.

Anyway, power was out until a little while ago and I've been videoing Soccer Moms at the only place with power. There is nothing sadder than a Wilted Soccer Mom .

I'm going to Tangier tomorrow to video the damage tomorrow, then I'll put it all together.

[MountainDon]

   Glad you are safe, if wet.   

[glenn kangiser]

I can't believe you used all y'all, Homey.... and you....and English teacher.....tsk, tsk, tsk...... 

[Squirl]

Everyone I know is fine.  Most was wind and water damage just like most bad thunderstorms.  Upstate NY and Vermont got it pretty bad.  All the rain falls on the mountains and turns into white water rapids in the valleys. Guess where all the towns and roads are.... next to rivers in the valleys.   There was a lot of crop damage because, wait for it, many of the farm fields are in flood zones next to rivers in the valleys. I had a branch break off of a tree.  It was rotted.  I noticed most of the tree damage was from individual trees with nothing around.  The wind picks up speed and has nothing else to absorb it.  The trees in fields and around roads also have wide sweeping branches. When the trees are grouped the branches are more vertical from competition. All of the apple trees I saw lost half their apples. Most accidental fatalities were from falling trees, either they directly fell on someone or downed a power line that electrocuted someone.  Around half of all fatalities were what I would classify as self inflicted.  Such as deciding to go surfing, swimming, or boating in a hurricane.

[h0rizon]

Myself and extended family are all fine.

Properties, not so much.

Schoharie county in NY had heavy damage.  The town that my girlfriend's aunt lives in was half flooded.  The local school had several feet of water, completely destroying the gym floor and I believe also some school supplies/equipment.  School is supposed to be open for students on Tuesday.

Her aunt's house may be totaled.  Waters got to almost the second floor.  Entire house is covered in 2-3 inches of mud.  Their garage is completely gone - only the foundation left.  He is a mechanic and lost most of his very expensive tools.  Estimated damage for just them is probably near or even over $100k when you consider the house, appliances, infrastructure, garage, tools, and 2 lost cars.  They are considering abandoning the property.  Local authorities say that there were dead cows in the water and everyone should consider anything that got wet as a disease risk. 

I don't know all the details but they believe their insurance may not cover anything.  In order for them to be covered Cuomo has to declare this a natural disaster.  Last I heard that has not yet been done.  At least the insurance company was nice enough to accept their insurance payments every month 

Their story is not unique in the area.

Thankfully the upstream dam didn't break as they feared.  Had it, the entire town/valley would have been completely submerged and lost, along with alot of lives.

But at least everyone is OK.  Lives are certainly changed forever but they'll pull through.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Glenn, I may be an English teacher, but I speak Okie.  

Glad that you are all starting to check in, and sorry to hear about the damage.  Hopefully more will be salvageable than expected.  Here y'all are flooded and here everything is on fire.  Early this morning a church burned down, and since yesterday, there have been 33 homes destroyed by it.  This time it is a little west of us instead of due south and headed our way, but you can see the smoke, and unfortunately it is in a more populated area than where we live, too.

[peternap]

Got back from Tangier last night which pretty much finishes up my filming for the hurricane.
As I expected, they were tight mouthed about what really happened but a few did talk to me. Those people have no sense of humor BTW. One quietly asked my wife "Is he always like that?"

The island was completely covered by water which isn't a surprise. The highest point is 5 feet above sea level. Winds were around 75MPH but there was very little property damage.

The real damage was hidden and is almost a secret. The main business on the island is crabbing. The storm broke the buoy's that mark the crab pots, loose.
Without it the pot was unrecoverable so hundreds of the crab pots are lost. One crab shack (a shed on pilings in the harbor) was destroyed and some piers were damaged.

One man on another island was electrocuted.

The bottom line is that damage inland was a lot worse.

[peternap]

Just an idea what a little extra water will do on the island, here's an undamaged Cab Shack:


Here is one that was destroyed: