Hurricane Irene…

So, with much pomp and circumstance, Hurricane Irene made her way up the East Coast this weekend, and I figured I’d post some pictures for those of you who missed her. Although, with all of the media attention could anyone have missed her?

Anywho, Irene didn’t hold a match to her awesome predecessor, Gloria, but she tried. My neighbors South of Montauk Highway, felt her wrath, but as for us, we just lost a few branches that we were too lazy to trim back after the nasty schlew of winter storms we had this winter.

We had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be any worse than the Nor’Easters that we’re usually blessed with, but we did take precautions all the same – we have children, and pets, so we had to be responsible! But on Saturday, we were bored to tears, so we packed up the car and took the kids “Storm Chasing“. (Never fear, no one was in any real danger – Irene was still very far away!)

The clouds sure looked ominous, but we only made it to Captree State Park because the roads were closed. Regardless, the kids didn’t know any better and were psyched to be on such a cool mission.

We went into town afterwards to pick up some donuts and milkshakes because, I mean, really, what’s a hurricane without a box of Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins milkshakes, eh? We were interested to see that some of the storefronts had taken precautions…

…while the others tempted fate…I’m not sure how I felt about a bunch of drunk people out in the middle of a hurricane, but to each their own…

When we got home, my husband and I kicked back with a bottle of Simi 2006 Merlot and just hung out with the kids. The winds didn’t get really nasty until 4:30 AM, at which time we checked in on the kids, and the property. Afterwards, we couldn’t sleep, so we flicked on the t.v. and were surprised to see that there was a tornado watch for our area until 5:15 AM. It was coming up from Captree State Park and the Robert Moses beaches.

After the tornado watch was over, I crawled into bed with our daughter while my husband kept an eye on our son. The rest of the morning was B-O-R-I-N-G. Again, it jut seemed like a regular old Nor’Easter. So after the storm had passed, we packed up the kids and went to check out the damage.

Again, it was mostly flooding – and it looked as though many people prepared for this storm, which was good, but if I had a boat down on the water, I’d be a wee bit nervous. The water had risen so high that you couldn’t see where the road ended, and the docks began. (See that green strip of grass behind the boat, that’s where the street should begin.)

The Brightwaters Concourse is a bit treacherous right now – and I don’t advise going down there unless it’s broad daylight out. The streets are about 18″ deep at some points; the kids thought it was awesome, but we also kept a very close eye on them as they swam down the street.

Overall, I think it’ll take a few days to sort everything out, but if you were expecting another Gloria, Irene wasn’t it.

Thanks for reading,
Denine

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