Hurricane Irene

Survivied the hurricane with only a wet basement, some branches and leaves in the backyard, and several dozen new gray hairs.

Saturday night was not a fun night. Things started picking up (figuratively and literally), early on in the evening, when hurricane bands started passing over us, with torrential rain and high winds. Conditions deteriorated through the night, with tornado warnings at 11 pm and again at 3 am. Stuffed the cats into their carriers, and headed to the basement with water, battery radio, and a lot of fear. Either the tornadoes never materialized, or they pooped out before they reached us, but I wasn't about to take a chance.

Our power lines are underground, and thankfully, we never lost power. I couldn't sleep at all, so spent most of the night watching TLC's "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding", a good, trashy series about gypsy and traveler weddings and lifestyles in Britain. At least it kept my mind off the storm to a certain extent. I was also on facebook most of the night, keeping in touch with my sister and brothers, my sons who were not at home with me, and several coworkers who were also hunkered down in their homes. I never thought I would say that I was grateful for facebook, but here it is: I'm grateful I could keep in touch and see what was happening elsewhere, and that my extended family was safe.

The worst of it was actually on Sunday, when the flooding began. Downtown Hightstown was under water; the fire department was flooded out of their headquarters. In Princeton, 80% of the roads were impassable due to floods or downed trees. Getting to work on Sunday night proved to be an ordeal for those of us who need to report to work, hurricane or not. Roads were under 3-4 feet of water; other roads weren't even visible under the debris of downed trees and power lines. On Monday morning, my 20 minute trip home turned into 90 minutes, and that was pretty good compared to some of my coworkers. I'm happy I don't have to work again til the weekend.