BE SAFE ...

[Cindy]

... and hunker down if you live on the east coast, especially PA, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and north. Sandy is looking pretty terrible. I've been talking to my brother in Cape Hatteras and the flooding is about as bad as he's seen in the 20 years he's lived down there. My sister, on Chesapeake Bay, said the water is already coming up her street. Then I have another sister on Long Island Sound in CT - I haven't been able to reach her and suspect she is moving all the furniture off the 1st floor of her house! Here in VA we are just supposed to get high winds. We have a loaner generator coming tomorrow and my brother in law is hooking it up so everything in the house will work except for our heat pump (no big deal). It will just be nice to have water for the horses and TV to see what's going on. Please everyone stay safe and check in when you can.

[kat]

Absolutely! I've been thinking about everyone back there, the news out here sure makes it sound like it's going to be bad. Prayers and good thoughts for all of you out there from Colorado. Keep us posted. They talked about Cape Hatteras and I thought of you Cindy, glad you'll be ok.

[Cindy]

They talked about Cape Hatteras and I thought of you Cindy, glad you'll be ok.

We had planned to go down there last Thursday for a week but obviously canceled our plans. The pictures my brother has been sending are unreal - water is EVERYWHERE! When they let their Springers out to go to the bathroom they have to swim to get to the only patch of dry ground. Of course, the dogs think it's a blast!!

[MaggieRocks]

So far so good here in PA. It's been raining since yesterday evening, but no major flooding (yet) in my area, and no loss of power. But the worst is supposed to hit us this afternoon/evening.

My only worry is losing power for more than a few hours. We don't have a generator, and we have a freezer FULL of venison and veggies from our garden. Keeping our fingers crossed!

[mkilcz]

My only worry is losing power for more than a few hours.

I'm with you on that! We're in MD (north of Baltimore) and BGE has been issuing statements that if power is lost, it could take up to a week to restore it! We don't have a generator either, but we've stockpiled all the essential items (candles, water, chocolate, wine, dog food, lol). Nothing else to do now except wait it out. Good luck to everyone in Sandy's path. Stay safe!

[Barb Wright]

Oh, just watching all this unfold is so scary Paws crossed that all our friends on the east coast, and even inland from there, are going to get through this okay......hoping everyone will check in if they get the chance.

[dmedric]

In Northern VA -- about 15 miles outside DC. Lots of big wind and rain. Hoping that the power stays on. A tree fell on a house in our neighborhood -- no one hurt, but significant damage to house.

[MaggieRocks]

We survived! Lost power for only about 3 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon. After that, it was on and off all evening, but mostly on, thank goodness. Still raining buckets out there, but the wind seems to have really subsided. I haven't been out today, but DH called from work and said there are lots of roads closed due to flooding. Where I work, they closed yesterday at noon and remain closed today. Not really how I wanted to spend vacation time, but the dogs are happy about it and everyone is safe.

How are you MD folks and everyone else doing? I don't know if we have any NY or CT people on here. They seem to have been hit really hard. My sister is in CT, and was preparing for the worst.

[NYC John]

Here in NY City Jiggs and I are sitting high and dry and none the worse for wear. We are grateful. Other parts of the city did not fare so well. Large parts of the city including Manhattan are without power. Like other parts of the northeast I don't expect power to be restored for several days at best. All the bridges and tunnels are closed and it looks like the subways may be out for several days due to flooding in the tunnels. About 10 blocks from my house a 165 ft. tanker broke loose from its moorings and and floated downriver and beached itself just north of the Verrazano Bridge. A beach front community in Queens (Breezy Point) suffered a terrible loss. Approx 50 homes burned to the ground. Because of the floods the Fire Dept. had difficulty accessing the site. That community is not far from where the airliner crashed just after 9/11.

[MaggieRocks]

Oh, how horrible! I'm so glad you and Jiggs are safe. Sounds like it is going to be a long week for you guys. I hope you get power back sooner than expected. Please be careful and stay safe.

[Cindy]

A-OK in VA. We had a blizzard warning last night but didn't get any snow. Only had about 3" of rain and some gusty winds but I've seen worse in a summer thunderstorm! Power only blipped off once for a couple of seconds but that's because we borrowed a generator and were all prepared for power loss!! I feel like we really lucked out. My brother in Hatteras has been out of communication for the last 36 hours. Last I heard he said the water under his house (which is built 18' up in the air) was the highest he's ever seen but that will drain and he just has to pick up the mess. Sister on the Chesapeake is fine and I talked to my other sister on Long Island Sound late yesterday afternoon. No power and the sound was in her yard, over their dock, and draining into the basement. She didn't seem overly concerned so hopefully I'll hear from her today.

[janet909]

It give me butterflies in my stomach to read all these posts and know that so many of you are dealing with all of this while those of us in the west are watching from afar. I just hope that everyone stays safe. Please know that you have lots of folks praying and wishing the best for all you, your families and your pets. Hopefully, the worst is over.

[Cindy]

Hopefully, the worst is over.

I think it is now, but I went to pick up some groceries this morning, got about 10 minutes from my house and heading over the Blue Ridge mountains and it was snowing like crazy. Almost white out conditions. Guess the predicted blizzard just didn't make it quite as far as my house - thank god. But it's so cold (in the 30's) and just 4 days ago we were at Lake Moomaw, the dogs were swimming, and I was in a bathing suit!

[rtropeano]

Survived the Storm - lost power from Monday night through Friday afternoon. Daisy and the kitties made it through just fine.
But at one point she was soo scared, she just froze and stared off into space. I also had to take her out in the middle of the storm because she had to go and the wind was blowing soo hard - I grabbed onto her collar so she woudn't get blown off her feet. Definitely an experience, but we're better for it.