Hurricane Sandy: We're OK

Just a quick post to let you all know that we made it through Hurricane Sandy OK. There was a fair amount of flooding in Newport but not, thankfully, at my house. We have some tree limbs down and we lost power for 24 hours - off work for 2 days!! - but now power is restored and things are returning to normal.

It's kind of amazing how helpless one feels without electricity. It was sort of fun reading by candlelight last night, but I was too nervous to write. Hurricanes are not ideal letter-writing conditions!

I'm thinking of all my pen pals and mail friends all up and down the east coast, and hoping everyone is OK.

Post hurricane, we're fine!

We had no damage during Hurricane Irene but we did lose power, internet, and all phone service for 32 hours. It was a fun candle-lit evening last night. Just got power and internet back - hooray! Thanks for all your concern and comments.

Just to compare to my photos from Saturday's post before the hurricane...



Here's the same view on Sunday around 1:30. The hurricane-force winds were down, but we were without power... it was still blowing hard, but other folks were out walking and gawking so we went out, too. It wasn't raining but we got covered in sea spray. I don't know if you can tell by this photo how much bigger the waves were, but I couldn't stop and take too many photos because the wind kept blowing me back a few feet. Seriously. Had to keep walking! It was a little scary.



And then today brought typically gorgeous post-hurricane weather. This is what the ocean usually looks like right here!

I am ashamed to admit that I only wrote a few letters and postcards during our 32 hours without power. Frankly, I was just nervous and unsettled. There were little things to do, like get all the perishables from the fridge to the cooler, pick up branches in the yard, unstow trash bins and pots and bikes from hurricane-yard lockdown, make sure candles were in place ready to be lit for sunset, etc... I lost myself in a good book and played with the cats, and tried to keep my mind off not knowing how long we'd be without power, and without a phone to call my family and let them know we were okay. So. I'd like to say I was a flurry of letter-writing activity, but that is unfortunately not the case. Oh well. I guess a hurricane is sort of an excuse, no?

Oh, and one last thing: I couldn't get my mail today! To their credit, the postal trucks were out and delivering, but as some of you know, I get my mail at a UPS store. Most of Newport was without power today, including the UPS store, and people in our area were urged to stay home from work because stop lights weren't working, etc... not to mention flooding here and there. So, although the mail was delivered some places, my UPS store wasn't open to accept or sort it. I hope they have power tomorrow so I can get my mail! I know we are lucky ones who got it back quickly, because I can still hear generators humming a couple of streets over...

Hurricane Irene on the way

Thanks to everyone who has expressed wishes of safety and concern with the approach of Hurricane Irene. A few of you know, but most of you don't, that I used to live in Florida, and we had an awful lot of hurricanes down there in the 3 years I lived there. Our house flooded in Hurricane Wilma in 2005, a category 5 direct hit, and we were inside the house while it happened. It was a terrifying experience just 2 months after Hurricane Katrina did so much damage elsewhere, but I digress.

I've been through a fair number of hurricanes. It's hard to get too worried about a category 1, though I grant you things aren't built quite as hurricane-proof in Rhode Island as they are in Florida. I do live a quarter of a mile from the coastline now, but up high on a hill, and we have our fingers crossed and hope for the best. My superstitious side won't allow me to say "it probably won't be that bad," but optimism is good.

But anyhoo, apologies for a non-letter-writing post, but I've been getting so many emails and comments that I thought I'd better just send the word out that we're fine, we're not evacuating our little island, and maybe send your concern to NC and NYC and all the other areas that look like they may be hit harder.



UPDATE:
We just took our usual neighborhood walk, but I took my camera along this time. The waves are starting! I can't believe how many people were surfing. See that tiny little dot in the photo? That's a surfer WAY out. (The beach is behind him.)



More photos of the ocean by our house in my Hurricane Irene Flickr set.

Stay safe this weekend, everyone, wherever you are!