As you know by now, Hurricane Irene was pretty intense storm and it was HUGE! just check out the satellite image from NASA/Goddard. It was at least 1/3 the size of the whole US and affected areas on the coast of Florida through Maine, in addition to its prelude in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. This was not a storm to be messed with!
Here is some video close to the center of the hurricane in New Bern, NC, 30 minutes from my front door. Thankfully, the good Dr. M of this very blog took me in Durham, NC, with my wife, 2 kids and dog. We were joined by Andrew and Amy of Southern Fried Science, our friend Luke and Amy’s 2 goats. So it was quite a madhouse with us all under one roof! But as I said before, this wasn’t a storm to be messed with! Irene made landfall where I live in Beaufort to the Outer Banks, the latter of which had some tremendous damage from the wave action and raining. See this video courtesy of Coast Guard News.
We returned on Sunday with no power and LOTS of damage to the yard. Thankfully our house was well intact, only a crack in the window pane, probably not even worth the deductible to repair. Power returned 9:30 pm on Sunday, which I would like to thank Carteret-Craven Electric Coop for their prompt attention and readiness for the storm. Unfortunately, was just a little too long for my meats and dairy to survive (hurricane casualties!) – try a little harder next time guys!
Luckily my wife is a photographer so we got some really good photos of the damage in the area, to our house and what Andrew and I lovingly refer to as Failboat Bay. It best viewed as a slideshow over at her webpage, direct link here. Here is my favorite picture from Failboat Bay though the best stuff is at Linda’s slideshow.
So we consider ourselves lucky that our roof was undamaged, there are several ominous oaks and tall pines hovering over our house! None impaled it though. I am disappointed though about the conversation going on media hype about the storm. This was a bad storm, no doubt about it! I summed up my feelings about it in a few tweets this morning with feedback from my tweeps @sfriedscientist, @snailseyeview and @spinydag among others:
Many people gave me and my family kind thoughts on facebook, emails, twitter, etc. It’s always nice to know so many people care and sorry if I couldn’t respond individually to everyone. Finally, I give you this hilarious Fox News Reporter, hat tip to Greg Laden who dug from Wikipedia: “Where polluted stormwater from rivers or drains discharges to the coast, sea foam formed on adjacent beaches can be polluted with viruses and other contaminants, and may have an unpleasant odour.” Something maybe the reporter or his crew should look up…
Do you have any Hurricane Irene stories? Let me know in the comments!
Reporter Gives Update Covered In Sea Foam: MyFoxNY.com
Aw, was that a Snowy Egret dead in the yard? :( I’ve been trying to get a shot (with little success) of one that’s been hanging out at Greenfield Lake, but that’s not the kind of shot I’d like.
Linda has a nice print of one she shot at Pine Knoll Shores. http://www.etsy.com/listing/80004485/perching-egret-on-dock-8×10-antique-look?ref=pr_shop
Glad you fared well – was thinking about you and your fam during the storm. We sustained no damage, but are still without power…currently crashing at my folks for the time being. National Grid predicts we’ll have power back this evening, but they also predicted we’d have it back Monday night, and then last night…so it’s really anyone’s guess.
The University delayed the start of the semester. Extra time to get my first lecture ready! Cheers, for now!
Kevin, Thanks go to you and your wife for the videos and slide show here. It gives us a hint of what the experience must have been like for you and the others. Of course, as Craig can tell you, the Weather Channel is on my top 5 list to watch, especially during storms. I am thankful you all are ok and that upon returning home there was no major damage. As for the complaints being over-played, tell that to those who lost loved ones, face major repairs, or are now homeless! Thanks again.